Social Media Change, Essay Example

Social media has the capacity and capabilities to change the world through such platforms as Facebook, twitter, and YouTube. Aydin states that Facebook is currently being used as an educational tool. Although the study focuses on harmful effects on Facebook it also states that Facebook has been integral in the educational environment. Moore states that Facebook, twitter, and YouTube have created a whole new way of communication among people and have “given individuals the capacity to disseminate information much more quickly and much more broadly than ever before” (81). This is so much true that our “human community” is changing, and changing quickly especially since the number of Facebook users have skyrocketed to over “500 million” (Lancaster 12) which is like saying that there are more people using Facebook “than there are people living in North America” (Moore 81).

Facebook has become such an integral part of society that in the 2012 election Facebook users over the age of 18 were encouraged to vote. When the users would log in they’d see a message in their news feed reminding them to vote, thus the social media tool was encouraging social change in a country-wide level (Ehrenberg 12). Friends could remind their other friends to vote as well by clicking the “I voted” button on their home screen thus encouraging similar behavior across the media platform.

Works Cited

Aydin, Selami. “A Review of Research on Facebook as an Educational Environment.” Educational Technology Research and Development 60. 6 (2012): 1093-1106. Print.

Ehrenberg, Rachel. “Facebook Prompts People to Vote.” Science News 182. 8 (2012): 12. Print.

Lancaster, Ron. “Facebook Tops 500 Million Users.” The National Council of Teachers Of Mathematics 105. 1 (2011): 12. Print.

Moore, Andres. “Facebook and the Liberal Arts.” The Journal of General Education 61. 3 (2012): 81-97. Print.