The Role of Social Media in Modern Society

Social Media is perhaps one of the best things about the modern internet. Back during the 90s and 2000s when the Internet was starting to become mainstream and more and more people were logging on and businesses were starting to use it for their benefit, there really wasn't any way to really stay in touch with people as easily. Sure, cell phone usage was growing at an exponential rate, but if you wanted to talk to people through the internet you either had Instant Messaging tools, e-mail, or good ol' fashioned offline ways of staying in touch.

Now? You can easily log onto Facebook and see what your family is currently up to, organize birthday parties, movie nights, and more. See what your local community is doing, or even hit up Facebook's Marketplace and buy items from all across the country while also catching up on the latest news. Twitter allows you to log on, and in just under a few hundred characters, share any thoughts that you currently have as well as share photos, links, and otherwise 'tweet' at people to start small conversations.

Likewise, Instagram is a great place to log onto and share short videos, and photos of your day-to-day life as well as comment and share other people's photos as well. Tiktok allows users to upload small snippets of video content, and honestly, there are just too many other Social Media platforms out there to name.

Suffice to say though, Social Media is extremely useful in the modern-day, and since 2015, its usage has continued to rise exponentially. Not only are you able to communicate with people and make and maintain friendships a lot easier, but it's also an aggregated source for information, news, and can even in real-time influence decisions from Corporations to Governments and more.

In fact, there are several recent examples (as of May 2022 of course) where Social Media has been used to both influence and spread news and information

The first example is Will Smith's Oscar slap to Chris Rock. Immediately the moment it happened the news spread like wildfire through Facebook and Twitter both before regular news organizations had a chance. Video footage of the slap happened, and within the hour it reached the top of Twitter's trending page with over 100,000 tweets in the last hour alone.

The second example is the war between Russia and Ukraine. Ever since the initial attack had started, Ukrainian fighters had used Social Media - such as Facebook and Twitter - to organize and coordinate attack plans, showcase where enemy movements are going, and been able to essentially use a platform that won't get shut down to respond to Russian aggression instantly.

Of course, these are just a few examples - some more extreme than others - but it showcases just how far-reaching Social Media is in modern society, how it's used for far more than just communication and business marketing, and how it can be used for almost every facet of life; even far and above entertainment.

It just shows that Social Media is here to stay, and will continue to become more and more important in the following years .