The Positive Effects of Social Media
American History
7 March 2013
The Positive Effects of Social Media In the winter of 2004, a networking site based out of Harvard University known as Facebook, launched. Drawing from its predecessors, such as MySpace, the site made social media relevant to the masses. This began the era of Social Media. Two years later, another social networking site, Twitter, came onto the virtual scene, bringing with it more than 500 million users in just over five years. With social media phenomena gaining popularity worldwide, it is impossible to ignore its effect on the fabric of society. Despite its critics, social media has affected the global society in a positive way, creating a the “digital citizen,” enhancing the way young people learn, reforming the way in which the people of the world interact with one another, altering our views on privacy, and by changing the online paradigm to create the most connected era the world has ever seen. The “Digital Citizen” is something that many of us have become in the last five years. Now more than ever, people are utilizing social media to force change in their cities and countries. Due to the ease and accessibility of social media, it is easy for world citizens to collaborate with one another to bring about change. The world has seen revolution and rebellion break out within the last four years, with people airing their greivances online for others to see. Angry citizens in the Middle East made use Twitter to talk about their governments’ mishaps (Kan). The Arab Spring, as the revolution became known, was able to take place solely because its participants were able to avoid their governments’ direct control by speaking freely on networking sites. Through these Tweets, citizens were better able to coordinate rallies and protests that would never have taken place without the real time connectivity social networking offered (Kan). Because of this connectivity, the citizens of the Middle East were able to bring about the fall of
7 March 2013
The Positive Effects of Social Media In the winter of 2004, a networking site based out of Harvard University known as Facebook, launched. Drawing from its predecessors, such as MySpace, the site made social media relevant to the masses. This began the era of Social Media. Two years later, another social networking site, Twitter, came onto the virtual scene, bringing with it more than 500 million users in just over five years. With social media phenomena gaining popularity worldwide, it is impossible to ignore its effect on the fabric of society. Despite its critics, social media has affected the global society in a positive way, creating a the “digital citizen,” enhancing the way young people learn, reforming the way in which the people of the world interact with one another, altering our views on privacy, and by changing the online paradigm to create the most connected era the world has ever seen. The “Digital Citizen” is something that many of us have become in the last five years. Now more than ever, people are utilizing social media to force change in their cities and countries. Due to the ease and accessibility of social media, it is easy for world citizens to collaborate with one another to bring about change. The world has seen revolution and rebellion break out within the last four years, with people airing their greivances online for others to see. Angry citizens in the Middle East made use Twitter to talk about their governments’ mishaps (Kan). The Arab Spring, as the revolution became known, was able to take place solely because its participants were able to avoid their governments’ direct control by speaking freely on networking sites. Through these Tweets, citizens were better able to coordinate rallies and protests that would never have taken place without the real time connectivity social networking offered (Kan). Because of this connectivity, the citizens of the Middle East were able to bring about the fall of
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