Social Media Change

Social media has changed communication in many ways. There are the obvious ways, which include having the ability to communicate with people from all over the world, rather than just people who you see in person. This also includes posting content that is available for anyone and everyone to see. Mandy Edwards talks about the negative effects of social media in her article, “How Social Media Has Changed HowWe Communicate”. She says that social media has changed the way that we interact and has caused us to lose some of our social skills. She also says that it has changed our writing techniques which has caused us to use more abbreviations, leading to us “speaking a new language entirely.”

               The article “6 Ways Social Media Changed the Way We Communicate” by Audrey Willis talks about social media in a more positive light and touches on how higher education can utilize it for marketing campaigns. In fact, any business can use social media as a marketing tool. This article also talks about how social media can virtually transport you to any place in the world through snapchat or Instagram stories and provide insight from actual people that live there on what it’s like. Universities can also use these apps to show students who are thinking about attending the university what life is like on campus. Another thing that this article talks about is how journalism has been incorporated into social media. Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter have made news more accessible to their users. It’s no wonder being as findings have shown that “40 percent of millennials rely on digital outlets for their news, while 23 percent primarily get their news from social media” (Willis). Another interesting thing that this article touches on is Facebook and Instagram Live. These features have helped us to share our current moments with our followers and have even been used for more serious matters. They have also created a platform for people to have live conversations about those serious matters, which has led to positive change.

               Brianna Hand’s article on temporary social media (like snaps on snapchat) talks about how this particular form of social media has changed the way we communicate. She argues that there is “less at stake” on Snapchat because everything you post is temporary. She also argues that using temporary social media results in more authentic moments. Part of the reason for this could be that people don’t have time to think of a reaction and instead have to react in the moment, which creates more authentic responses and conversations. Brianna also states that temporary social media is a good platform for brands to communicate. One of the reasons for this is because it creates a sense of urgency being as the post can only be seen for up to 24 hours and no one wants to miss out on it.

               The above examples are just some of the ways that social media has changed communication. What are some other ways that it has changed communication that you can think of? Do you think it has a positive or negative impact on communication? I personally believe that social media mostly has a positive impact on communication as long as you’re using it the right way and for the right things.