Social Media's Impact on Society

This assignment analyzes the multifaceted influence of social media on modern society. It examines how social media has revolutionized communication, bridging geographical distances and fostering global connectivity. The discussion also delves into the role of social media in shaping entertainment consumption patterns and providing new platforms for artistic expression. Additionally, the paper explores the economic implications of social media, highlighting its impact on businesses and entrepreneurship.

Running head: IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON OUR LIVES
IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON OUR LIVES
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1IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON OUR LIVES
The technological advancements over the past two decades, coupled with the advent of
the internet, has revolutionised the everything. Human lives and the societal norms or ways have
been completely and irreversibly changed. The way things were perceived or done in the olden
times were no longer needed and digital medium completely took over us. With the rising
popularity of the social media, every human is connected to the internet all the times (Hudson et
al. 2015). There are a number of different aspects and sides of this and the collective human
society across the planet has been significantly changed. The current essay discusses this point in
a more detailed manner: how has the widespread use of social media changed or altered our lives
in a positive manner.
Almost anyone can be on social media with the help of any electronic device and an
internet connection. This lets every person to be always aware about the activities of their friends
or family and see what they are doing, where they are, which movies they are watching, what
music they are listening to or which book they are reading. Social media platforms like
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest all facilitate any person who wants to
know anything about any of their friends. While social scientists argue that being connected to
the internet has huge implications and often has sever negative aspects to it, there are also
arguments in favour of using social media, that can greatly enhance the quality of the lives of the
humans (Ngai, Tao and Moon 2015).
One of the most major thing that social media platforms have helped in is, instant access
to information. In the digital age, there is a huge amount of data that is created every day and
most of it available to the people who have internet access (Hajli 2014). Twitter and Facebook
users can spread the news of any event almost instantly, even before actual news media and other
sources of news. The raid of Bin Laden’s hiding place to the mass uprising in the countries like

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Turkey or the civil war situations in the Middle Eastern nations, as well as any natural calamity
in any part of the world, have all been leaked through users of social media rather than news
channels (Houston et al. 2015). This has helped countless people to become aware of what was
going on and also made sure that those who did not live in their native countries, could check up
on their families and beloved ones through these social media platforms as well. One of the best
ways that social media helps humans is by serving as a platform to promote small scale
businesses. Digital advertising on social media costs no money and it can virtually reach a huge
number of people at a single go. Friends can be made aware of the new business venture and
even their friends can be notified about a new initiative that has been started by a person (Bright,
Kleiser and Grau 2015). This can be immensely beneficial for the people who aim to do business
with a small capital and cannot invest too much on advertising their products or other services.
Business venturers who cannot afford too much physical publicity, can always resort to the
social media platforms and promote their own products for free.
Exposure to the different cultures of the world and exchange of the cultures can also be
done through the different social media websites or platforms. The virtual world has been
successful in almost erasing all the barriers and international borders by being accessible by
every person. The free mobility of information through the internet and the ability for every
person to check it, has made sure that people are much more aware about other countries and
their respective cultures than they ever were before (Perse and Lambe 2016). Globalisation has
been fast forwarded and enhanced the most by the continuously rising use of social media and
currently the global culture has almost become a singular one. This has helped people to be more
accepting and more open minded towards other cultures and the difference in their own and

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others’ views and beliefs. The concept of a global village has been boosted significantly by
social media (Boyd 2014).
Granted, there are arguments that say that personal sphere of people has been invaded
significantly by this developed habit of being connected to everyone at all the times. However,
this very aspect has also benefited our lives in many other ways that were beyond comprehension
even just a few years ago (Boulianne 2015). Social scientists have argued countless times that
people who live alone can be given some degree of security through social media. In cases of
emergency, elderly people and anyone who is in danger can seek help from their friends through
social media. Many cases like this have actually happened and social workers and hospitals or
social care givers have reported to be notified of an emergency situation by people who learned
about the case themselves through social media platforms. Getting the news have helped the
social care givers and the hospitals to act on it quickly and this has resulted in a number of lives
being saved on a many occasions (Houston et al. 2015).
One of the most significant changes that has been prompted by the intense and all-
encompassing use of social media is how people view themselves. The social perception of
beauty has been altered drastically and the people who are frequent users of social media
websites have grown more and more accepting about themselves (Weller et al. 2014). Different
cultures have different notions about what is beautiful and what is accepted and which is not
correct. All of these perceptions and views have helped people to view themselves from different
aspects. In this manner, social media has been able to fight depression and other metal problems
of many people, albeit doing so unconsciously in most of the times. Expressing their own views
and ideologies or beliefs have become much easier when done through social media and this has
made sure that a large number of people understand each other in a better way than ever before.

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Facebook depression is a term that was given rise because of the mental problems faced by some
teenagers due to cyber-bullying. Mental health issues such as this has been also met with
resistance. More people have come forward in support of the person who were being bullied by
others and the offenders had to step down, eventually.
In the older times, when mass media was the only way of communicating and reaching
others in a mass level, companies and other organisations had to belt out millions, even billions,
of dollars at times to make sure that their voices were heard by everyone everywhere (Perse and
Lambe 2016). Today, a simple Tweet or a status update on Facebook can make sure that your
friends know what is going on or what a person wants to say or talk about, even if the time zone
difference between them are huge. This has radically curbed massive costs and organisations do
not have to incur any of it anymore (Weller et al. 2014). Organisations and individual people
have been brought down to the same platform and this has been a huge boon to entrepreneurs,
because social media does not discriminate and allows a fair competition among every person or
company.
Social media has also changed the meaning of entertainment and how can it be accessed
by the users of the platforms. Social media has opened the doors to a wide range of art in every
form, including movies, books, music or fine arts, so that a huge number of people can be
exposed to those collectively and pursue their interests through the virtual world (Hudson et al.
2015). Artists have been given a huge advantage by this and they can avail a greater number of
audience than ever before.
Social media has unquestionably become a large part of our lives, whether we know it or
not, accept it or not. Even those who do not use any social media platforms, are affected by it
indirectly. It can fairly concluded that, despite all the arguments against the use of social media,

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or social media addiction as it is called by psychologists and social scientists, it also has some
immense advantages in our lives and the excessive or widespread use of the same has impacted
our lives in positive ways as well.

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References
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Boyd, D., 2014. It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.
Bright, L.F., Kleiser, S.B. and Grau, S.L., 2015. Too much Facebook? An exploratory
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Hajli, M.N., 2014. A study of the impact of social media on consumers. International Journal of
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Houston, J.B., Hawthorne, J., Perreault, M.F., Park, E.H., Goldstein Hode, M., Halliwell, M.R.,
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