Rise of Social Media
The Rise of Social Media
“Man is a social animal”, goes the popular adage. Interaction with fellow beings is a vital part of being human. Community makes us feel complete through exchange of ideas and knowledge. It is therefore not surprising that we constantly try to find better and faster means of communication and information sharing. Our relentless efforts in these areas have led to a phenomenon whose far reaching impacts make it nothing short of a global revolution. That phenomenon is the rise of Social Media. If the internet gave birth to a revolution in the way we stored and sought information, then social media has brought about a revolution in the way we exchange and use information. “Social Media” is a term that is relatively young of age. It’s definition on “Wikipedia”, which ironically is also one of its most glorious examples, reads - “media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques”. Examples of social media include weblogs, social networking sites such as Facebook and My Space, information sharing platforms such as Wikipedia or Twitter, and media sharing platforms such as YouTube. Before the explosion of social media, dissemination of information on a large scale was majorly restricted to “mass media” such as internet websites, newspapers, television and radio. Broadcasting information using these channels required at least some level of technical or professional expertise. Over the past few years however, development of web technologies that simplify mass collaboration has revolutionised the way content is produced and shared. Now anyone with a computer (or a mobile phone) and internet access has the ability to almost effortlessly share information across the globe and make their views heard, right from their homes, without the need to have significant resources or technical skills at their disposal. The rise of social media has had a tremendous influence
“Man is a social animal”, goes the popular adage. Interaction with fellow beings is a vital part of being human. Community makes us feel complete through exchange of ideas and knowledge. It is therefore not surprising that we constantly try to find better and faster means of communication and information sharing. Our relentless efforts in these areas have led to a phenomenon whose far reaching impacts make it nothing short of a global revolution. That phenomenon is the rise of Social Media. If the internet gave birth to a revolution in the way we stored and sought information, then social media has brought about a revolution in the way we exchange and use information. “Social Media” is a term that is relatively young of age. It’s definition on “Wikipedia”, which ironically is also one of its most glorious examples, reads - “media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques”. Examples of social media include weblogs, social networking sites such as Facebook and My Space, information sharing platforms such as Wikipedia or Twitter, and media sharing platforms such as YouTube. Before the explosion of social media, dissemination of information on a large scale was majorly restricted to “mass media” such as internet websites, newspapers, television and radio. Broadcasting information using these channels required at least some level of technical or professional expertise. Over the past few years however, development of web technologies that simplify mass collaboration has revolutionised the way content is produced and shared. Now anyone with a computer (or a mobile phone) and internet access has the ability to almost effortlessly share information across the globe and make their views heard, right from their homes, without the need to have significant resources or technical skills at their disposal. The rise of social media has had a tremendous influence