Benefits of Social Media

What would the age of information be like without social media? Invented in 1997 through blogging websites, innovations of these softwares are still developing today. It is one of the most immense sensations in the internet world, emerging from a single like of a picture, to a complex, in-depth web of knowledge. As stated by many social researchers, social media is proven to be both beneficial and inadequate to the 53% percent of the global population that use it consistently. Despite the fact that there are many cons to this, the advantages outweigh them significantly. Some of these key points being: crisis communication throughout the world, helping companies promote businesses, and helping teens by providing different resources for various things.

One reason social media can play a beneficial role is by crisis communication and awareness of both disputes, as well as developments going on in the world. According to blog.hootsuite.com/, “In a crisis, social media’s role is much larger and more complex than simply checking Facebook’s crisis tool. 55% of Americans get their news from social media.” More than half of America gets its daily domestic, international, or local political news from newer popular apps such as: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, etc…  Because of social media, our entire life to the outside world has become much easier. All the knowledge and information people need about the changing world is right there, broadcasted from different sources all into the common apps that everyone uses. Another reference to this statement from the same source is: “For teams working at a center of a crisis (say, government social media teams or healthcare professionals) social media platforms are one of the top ways to get authoritative information to the population, fast.” Like electricity, like fire, one matter can spread in a moment of seconds among tens of thousands of people. These apps getting more popular is a massive way of transmitting information around the globe, in a more accelerated way than any other. All in all, being fast, accurate, and efficient, growing astronomically in today's teens and adults of all ages, are a vast development, and a key solution for crisis communication.

Furthermore, considering the more than 3 billion users of social media, these platforms provide great marketing techniques to most of the businesses. A simple banner at the edge of a website could get thousands of people clicking the link to a businesses website, survey, etc… Not only can this be favorable in a way to improve a businesses’ well doing, but it can also help take a look at the competition. A reference relating to this from business.gov.au/, is: “If audiences are relaying their challenges overall (not direct challenges with the specific competitor), take note of these pain points. This is valuable information that you can use to address the market’s challenges with your products or services.” Regarding the audience’s perspective on other companies and businesses, there will be feedback, both satisfactory and substandard. Competitors can use these statistics to improve their own company, and make it stand out against others. Some types of improvements could include differing prices, start-up costs, market/demand, location, and many more. These pieces of information play a huge role and can drastically change the market of a company. business.gov.au/ also points to another important factor that says, “Social media can help you engage with your customers and find out what people are saying about your business… attract customers, get customer feedback and build customer loyalty.” Being an active company in various places on the internet is one of the best ways to attract and build strong relationships with customers. As more and more companies start to become crucial in the economic development of a country, people are attracted to the more popular and successful ones. Using this as an advantage could serve a great deal: Posting frequently, responding wisely to customers, and publicly organizing success parties are some of the strategies to achieve this. Taking all this into accountation, social media is the number one proven way of both large and small scale marketing.

Along with social media being important all around the world, it's also very crucial to the growing generation of teens. It is an enormous influence on this particular age group considering the 90% of their population being actively involved throughout their everyday lives. According to npr.org, it states, “Greater social media use, such as scrolling through Instagram and texting, was associated with some positive effects, including increased physical activity, less family conflict and fewer sleep problems… The time they spend interacting with others through social media, texting or video chatting outweighed TV, video games and Internet time.” Numerous social media apps such as Snapchat and Instagram can help a teen with their social skills, anxiety, etc. Communication has a great influence in a teen’s life. Whether it be video-calling friends, sending snaps, texting, or even commenting on others’ posts, social media allows everyone to interact with each other, one way or another. These apps can help a person make new acquaintances, find common interests, and many more other great impacts. “Social media is a vehicle for doing good.” As stated by verywellfamily.com/ “Whether teens are developing fundraisers or supporting an important cause, social media can help them make an impact in their communities. Some social movements have started when teens leveraged social media to build awareness for an issue.” These platforms are teens’ ways to make an impact in the world. Voices heard, and statements made. In many ways, the media exposes kids and teens to the issues of the world and gives them opportunities to speak their views whenever. This is their way to express opinions, beliefs, and feelings about everything from a small local volunteering program, to world politics. As expressed, the media undoubtedly assists in improving a teen’s knowledge and communication capability. Instead of spending all day playing video games by themselves, social media lets everyone interact with one another, as well as be able to express their own notions, ideas, and reasoning.

From blogging websites to rapidly traveling information around the world, whether it's about crisis or development, taking on one of the key roles of the economy through business marketing, and helping and guiding today’s teens in boundless ways, there is more of it to come in the future. Before the creation of the media, it was impossible to have contact with other parts of the world, and the only knowledge and interactions they experienced was what they were told. Now, a single person could communicate with others from across the globe, speak on their views and concepts, and be able to sell their own merchandise through ads and marketing on the media. There are thousands of innovations of these softwares yet to come. For now, the vast scope to social media’s possibilities for the future generations are nothing but limitless.