Social Media Roles in My Daily Life, Essay Example

It is hard to think of an aspect of our daily lives that has not been affected by the internet and social media has arguably been the most revolutionary internet technology over the last few years. Facebook has now more members than the entire populations of every single country except maybe China and India and if the current trend continues, it is only a matter of time before Facebook takes over India and China as well. Social media may be addictive but I believe it has helped me become better at managing my real-life relationships as well as information needs.

Facebook might have started the social media revolution but now a number of other companies have also become major players in the social media sector. Nevertheless, Facebook continues to be the leader of the pack and also the social media I use most often. First of all, Facebook has helped me become connected to my friends and family members more effectively. Before Facebook, I would call everyone more often to stay in touch as well as catching up with what may be going on in their lives. Now Facebook helps me stay informed about everyone without any need to directly communicate on regular basis. Thus, it has made it possible to stay connected more effectively as well as more easily. I also use Facebook to stay up-to-date on relevant news material and global issues, thanks to sharing features. Facebook gives me a good idea of the issues that are currently attracting widespread attention. I also use Facebook to interact with brands I really admire and whose new offerings I eagerly wait. Some brands often post the latest new on their Facebook page so this ensures I stay up-to-date on the news related to my current brands.

I am also an active user but I primarily use Twitter for my information needs rather than communication. I am interested in a wide range of subject matters including business, politics, technology, travel, and popular culture and in each industry there are certain experts and personalities whose views are closely followed and who have a consistent track record of being right on current and future trends. I have made a personalized list of such experts so that I can follow their opinions as well as the articles they share.

I also lead an active social life, thus, Groupon and Yelp are other sites I frequently use. Groupon posts daily deals and not only these deals give me the opportunity to try new restaurants at deep discount but also often introduce me to new restaurants and food items I have never heard of before. I like Yelp because the information content on Yelp is controlled by an average person like me, thus, they are often objective due to minimum conflict of interests. More often than not, Yelp reviews give one a great idea of the quality of total experience they can expect at a particular place.

I also use Pinterest from time to time because people share some of the most impressive images one may have seen from time to time. These images often have greater information value than what most may realize. I have often taken cues from the pictures to shape my personal sense of fashion as well as interior decoration of my room.

Social media is here to stay because it gives more power to the people and also makes it possible to create and share information in intuitive manners. Internet was supposed to democratize information and social media might have been the answer to internet’s original purpose.