Communication
Are social media sites fulfilling their purpose?
Surely at this point in the information age, social media is a mania for a majority of people. But what is the purpose behind this hype? Evans and Evans (2008) states that the true purpose of social media is to create an opportunity for individuals and groups to share experiences, to communicate even if they are far away and to meet new friends. Basically it is to connect us to the outside world and introduce us to things we have never heard or seen before, there is no limit to what social media can serve. The real question here is: has social media fulfilled its purpose?
If you were to look at the information age, you would see people communicating with each other in the comforts of their homes, you would know what is going on in Africa even if you live in America. You would know what happened in your friend's wedding and how the ballroom looked like, even if you did not make it there. These conveniences are what social media is all about. They enabled users to employ technology in their everyday life. For instance, using webcams to chat as if it was face to face, or laptops to broadcast information on twitter, or phones to upload pictures of your cousin's wedding on Pinterest. These are simple examples from our everyday life that show how effective social media sites are for communication.
On the other hand, some people use it in a wrong way, where they create bad publicity for social media sites. I can’t say they are all good and at the same time I can’t say they are all bad, all I can say is that they served their purpose and they united different nations, they built relationships and they kept us aware of everything from Primark’s new collection to earthquakes happening in China.