Future of Social Media

I believe that social media will continue to thrive and expand further into our daily lives. Social media is everywhere. It's Facebook, twitter, MySpace,LinkedIn, and it's in our phones, laptops etc. Social media is used for much more than just entertainment proposes. It's used in classrooms in order to promote learning to a new generation that has grown up in an era where social media is the centre of communication. Social media has helped to build connections and allows people to communicate in a fast and efficient manner while opening up avenues for people. Social media has already begun to introduce itself into the classroom which exemplifies how significant it's impact has been on our society. Social media allows us to communicate our thoughts and opinions on topics to people that we would not normally be able to communicate. For example, on twitter a person may choose to express their opinion on any matter and that same tweet could be shared by another on Twitter. This is significant because it shows how fast news can be spread through social media and it also has lead companies to realize the importance of using social media to their advantage. New trends that have emerged in social media include the heavy usage of videos and images. For instance, using websites like Youtube that preview advertisements before videos allows for companies to showcase their products to a targeted audience.(Taylor,2013) In an article that I read called 4 Emerging Trends in Social Media & How They’ll Impact The Music Industry which discussed the impact of visual social media explained how even Facebook was evolving to support a more visual format. (Taylor,2013) With this being said, I believe that social media will continue to evolve and expand and that it is here to stay. 

The effect that social media has on the quality of news and information

I believe that social media has decreased the quality of news and information. Social networking sites allow an individual to post whatever they choose about any topic regardless of whether or not the information is factual and valid. There is no filter that prevents a person from sharing news and or information on any social networking site and therefore affects the overall quality of information that is shared on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  Information or news that is posted on sites such as these are validated through the use of “likes” and “retweets”, from a person’s friends, family, acquaintances and or peers. Since the information shared on these social networking sites is all too easy to post it becomes unnecessary for an individual to use valid sources in order to back up whatever they chose to share with the rest of the online community. Social networking sites have made it possible for a person share whatever they chose to at any time whether it be an opinion piece or article. The audience of these sites often do not seek to find the validity of the shared piece of information that they reading and therefore, can be repeated shared with multiple people which allows the quality of information to be poor. The internet is easily accessible which makes it that much easier for a person to be able share  whatever information  they chose to on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tubmlr, and imgfave.  Since, it is extremely easy for anyone to share whatever news or information they want without having to use valid sources and information, I believe that social media has decreased the quality of news and information.