Social Media Change

              Preparing for this blogpost I researched scholarly articles about the affects that social media has had on communication and I would start reading and see that some articles were written in 2004 or 2007. Although these articles seem recent, the information is irrelevant because of how quickly social media has evolved in just a few short years. Social media changes so often that it is hard to stay up to date with new trends. The presence of social media in our world has caused a great shift in the way we communicate. The effects of social media on society has been a well-studied topic. Experiments and studies have been conducted to discover how society has responded to this new form of communication. The changes that they have uncovered have both negative and positive effects. It’s vital that everyone knows and understands the benefits and the dangers that social media can pose.

              In our nation’s history, there has never been a presidential election that has been covered and followed as closely than the 2016 election. Not only did American citizens play a huge role in the progression of the election on social media, but so did the candidates. Donald Trump was and still is notorious for posting extremely controversial tweets. Social media acts as an outlet for people to vent and share their opinions even if they would never say the same thing to someone face-to-face. Many people feel like they can say or post things online without a filter because they are able to hide behind a screen. Keith N. Hampton wrote about this phenomenon, particularly with political issues in his paper: “Social media and political discussion: when online presence silences offline conversation”. This breach in vital interpersonal skills poses another issue that social media has on society and that is a lack of social skills. If people are feeling more comfortable saying things online that they would never say in person, what other social skills are being neglected? Will personal and intimate relationships be affected? The short answer is that they already have been. Social media has played a huge role in how up and coming generations foster relationships. This does not necessarily mean that interpersonal communication and relationships will cease to exist but simply, that they too are evolving.

              When social media began, the sole purpose was to help people stay connected. Now, there are over 2.8 million people across the globe that use some form of social media. Families that are scattered all around the world can talk and stay connected. My sister currently lives in New Zealand and sending letters takes about 2-3 weeks to reach her, but I can call her on the Facebook Messenger app or WhatsApp and reach her in a matter of seconds. I still consider this a interpersonal interaction because I can see her face and talk to her. This helps to maintain my relationship with her even though she is so far away. Velga Vevere wrote about how social media plays a part in interpersonal communication. We are also able to get news from all areas of the world in a matter of minutes. Social media has provided us with access to events that are happening hundreds of miles away as they are happening. Social media has revolutionized how we stay connected so that we can have the whole world at our fingertips. 

https://www.mruni.eu/upload/iblock/b49/09-Velga%20Vevere.pdf
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1218526?scroll=top&needAccess=true