Social Networking Sites

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are all social networking sites meant to foster relationships and keep people connected. However, they are each unique.

Facebook posts can be tailored to a specific audience (everyone, friends of friends, only friends, or just you) which is a great feature. You can post pictures, videos, and status updates as well as say how you are feeling and check in to different places. You can also say if you are interested or are going to an event. However, there are too many links and advertisements on it which fill up my feed. I think that this social media site is very content heavy in terms of words. I have noticed that my older relatives use it more than my friends or myself.

On the other hand, Twitter provides a platform where one can get to the point faster which can save time. It is a form of microblogging which allows you to be updated on what happens in the lives of the people you follow no matter how small the incident.

Instagram is focused more on visual content rather than words or links. I think that it is a more personal platform since it is specifically dedicated to sharing pictures or short videos You can share the location of where a picture was taken. It is a platform where you can show off what you have been doing, where you have been, and with who you have spent time with by tagging people in a picture or in the caption.

I think that Snapchat is even more personal than Instagram since it is mainly for sharing 10-second short videos along with pictures. You can add the location of where you are. Unlike Instagram, to share your location at any moment, you have to be at that place when you share the video or image. For example, you cannot be in Midtown and say that you are in SoHo. You will only be able to use the SoHo location in your post. However, Facebook and Instagram are incorporating a feature like this. They recently introduced a feature where you can post a video or picture for 24 hours just like Snapchat.

Social Networking

Social media can be used to inform people about what a company sells as well as build relationships with their current and potential consumers. It also allows their audience to provide feedback through comments and ratings which the company can use to improve their service or product. A society has many choices for its people. Thus, a benefit of social media to a society is that it can help its businesses differentiate itself and bring in more consumers. The more unique a society is, the more tourists will go there and increase that society's profits. These profits will improve the lives of the people there. 

As mentioned earlier, social media can increase a company's exposure which may lead to more profits. For example, Chicago Tribune's article "Facebook Search: Facebook Adding Search Feature" mentions that Facebook would use users data to provide advertisers with more targeted pools who would potentially be interested in their services or products. Thus, companies would be able to target potential consumers more to increase their market share and revenue. However, there may be a "dark side" here regarding privacy and security concerns. We provide our information on these social media sites to show our friends and family. But there are outsiders who may want this information to harm us. How will we prevent this?

An advantage of these technologies is mentioned in a National Public Radio article called "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting." It talks about how a recruiter was able to find high-quality candidates on the social networking site called LinkedIn. 

In my opinion, these technologies might evolve into something that will end up hurting our human interaction. We are using social media so much that some people get social anxiety and are now afraid of face-to-face communication. Companies are using our information to show us targeted ads. What effect will this have in our decision-making process in the future? These technologies may become a part of how we live our everyday life.