How social media has impacted our today’s world

With rapid technological development in the world and communication sector in particular, the traditional means of communication like the television stations and radio stations are fast losing grounds as a means of communication in our society. This is because there is a rise in the use of social media as a means of communication in our society. It is worthy to note that modern social media in our modern society is as a result of evolution in the communication sector as per the following paragraphs

Brief historical background to the existence of social media: in 1960, an American computer scientist Paul Baran developed a Distributed Adaptive Message Block Switching which was aim at improving in telecommunication method. Also in 1963, an American computer scientist by name Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider took upon himself and draw inspiration from the history of computer sciences to developed a new way of interaction between a human being and the computer.

The modern social media began to gain grounds in the 1970s when the technocrat upon getting inspiration from the great computer scientist like Joseph Carl, upgraded the system of communication in our modern society. The actual birth of modern social media was in the 1970s and in Chicago city of the United states of America. With the aid of ARPANET (Advancement Research Project Agency Network), social media was at the pick as circuit switching and the packet switching internet services were introduced.

With the development in the early 1970s, in February 1978 the first online social media came up in the city of Chicago called bulletin board system (BBS) in which many people could be connected and once connected you were free to enjoy benefits like downloading, reading of news, exchange of messages through emails etc. this was a great moment in the history of the modern social media. And in 1979 the more advance network that is Usenet came up. In the 1990s the family of social media experience a boost when the internet forums came up with the ability to login many people without any defect. From this period, the population around the world become in contact with this technological advancement within the communication family.

 With these advancement, so many websites were developed. For example, classmates were one of the earliest internet website that was created in 1995, the Six Degrees was also created in May 1997, this was followed by the Open Diary in 1998, Ryze Website in October 2001, in march 2002 the Friedster was also developed, in the year February 2004 the famous Facebook Website was also developed, Google+ came up in July 2011 etc.

As the means of communication took a different dimension with the advancement in social media, our society has been impacted both positively and negatively. This is because in our modern society people mostly depend on social media as a means of communication and even when it concerns the news and information. The most widely used types of social media in the world of social media are networks such as Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp which is the most recent, Instagram etc. have jointly impacted our society as will be seen bellow.

                                       Positive impact of social media in our society

1. The positive effects of social media on communication

Advancement in social media contribute as an affordable means of delivering information to the public than any other means of communication that has ever existed. It is worth to appreciate the technocrat in the communication field for improving the way of delivering information in our society.

 Social media has impacted positively in the communication sector and in the world of social media in that one can be able to enjoy raw news or information from a far off part of the world while seated in his or her home without any stress. For example, with the use of Facebook in which some traditional media houses now have their website pages in which one can watch live broadcast, previews broadcast of news or information. Event such as football can also be watch through telephone using Facebook platform, YouTube etc. Social media is also quick in delivering information. For example, an America information can reach like in African continent with pictures or videos within a second in a good and affordable cost. Thus the positive impact of social media in our society is worth to be appreciated

The world of social media has also impacted our modern society by making it possible for the far off staying family members to be closer to each other. That is, with the use of social instrument or devices like the WhatsApp, to make video calls, Skype etc. families and friends are able to communicate and see each other’s face unlike other normal means of communication that one can only hear but voices for example normal telephone calls.

positive effects on communication and business world. Effects of social media has also extended to the area of communication in contractual agreement in which the parties are not staying in the same place. That is, when there is a contractual agreement between the two parties, there are possibilities that the contract can perfectly run to an end without both parties meeting face to face. The above practical idea reflecting the world of social media, is important in all the business transaction for example in the contract of the construction of a house, the contractor can be doing everything let’s say in European continent while the owner of the house is in American continent. The contractor upon direct prove of the work well done can call the owner through a video called or video tape and sent it through WhatsApp or face book or Instagram and it is very effective.

There is also a positive impact of social media to the traditional media. This is because when something is happening somewhere may be very far in such a way that the traditional media house cannot go to the field to cover the event, they will always rely on the social media for the credible information. For example, like the recent case of the Libyan slave dealers who sold humans to the Western world in return for money was made known to the world because of portability and quick delivery of information through social media. Also the recent case in the Syrian territory where there was an alleged use of chemical weapon by the Syrian authority on the citizen of the said country, the social media spread the news before the traditional media like the television stations could be able to reach to the public and even some of the television stations depended but on the videos sent to them through social media platforms.

Also, the positive impact of social media in our society is that the public is able to listen to news in any part of the world without any television or radio waves since most news of the mean communication devices like the television are now available online either on Facebook or YouTube for anybody who want to revisit or who did not watch the previews news. Thus making life easy to leave in the world of social media

2. The effects of social media have ease the method of research in our society

The world of social media has made it easy for an individual to carried out research and for the writers and the bloggers to express their views and also get additional ideas from the outside world through comment from social media like Facebook, WhatsApp etc. So when a writer shares his or her write-up to the social media platforms and in the various groups still within the social media platforms, the people will be aware and the message will be spread to the public very quickly and the researchers who also wants to carried out research on the same issue shared by the writer will also gain from the article since they easily visit the site through the shared linked. Thus the social media as help to bring the writers closer to each other since most of the various articles written by different writers can now be read by large number of people in the world through social media platforms

The social media has improved on the rate of reading in our society. When the information is being posted may be on Facebook or any other social media platform, due to the number of people using the social media, at least some who are desperate in the post must go extra mile and read the full article or the write up. For example, if somebody shared a link of the article concerning the crypto currency which is still a new idea under development, the researcher will likely go extra mile for the information and to know more about the crypto currency.

3. Positive impact of social media on business

The population now in the world of social media need not to go the traditional media platforms for advertisement but they rather prefer to advertise their product online through the social media platforms like You Tube, Facebook etc. This is because many people are using these social media platforms in daily bases. The social media and society today is in a transitional generation to which in the near future the communication system will mainly be social media. The possibility of business men or the entrepreneurs meeting their clients after advertisement is certain because the entrepreneurs can have direct discussion with the client and even with photos and videos of the product

With the advancement in social media, there is an improvement in online marketing. There is growth in the business world taking into consideration the effects of social media and society in which the business is being operated. For example, it is easy for a seller to sale his or her goods and easy for the buyer to have his or goods with the development in social media. When you are staying in a city, you will be able to sit in your house and request for goods of your choice through online marketing which is fast gaining grounds because of the advancement of social media in our society. These marketing is very good for the modern society or in the world of social media since an individual can sit now in his or her home and chose the product online and the goods will be delivered to him within a short period of time

4        The world of social media has also produce positive impact when it comes to campaigns for general cause for example the respect of human rights in our society

This is because most of the non-governmental organizations have turn to be using the social media platforms like the Facebook pages, website etc. in other to achieve their goals and this move in the world of social media is recording amazing successes more than before. For example, the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa headed by the Barrister Agbor Balla always advocate using the Facebook pages for the spread of information and ideas to the public. Hence the coming into play of the social media technology has given a good move and new strategy in fighting for the human rights and freedom.

4. Social media has provided employment opportunities to the society

Within the social media domain, there is a rapid advancement in job opportunities, since many websites have emerge  in which the population can now seat in their various places comfortable and be making money just by writing the articles online for example the website www.voticle .come which has employs more than thousands of the citizens around the world to be writing articles online

                                              Negative impact of the social media world

In life, there is always a saying that no matter how good or important a person is, he can cannot be perfect. This saying also applies to the effects of social media within our society, though the idea of social media technological development was for the good of the society. The negative effect of the advancement of social media cannot be blame on the technocrat but it can rather be blame to the generation of the world of social media or the people using the social media platforms.

1. Negative effects on the principles of public information or communication

It is rather unfortunate that the development of social media and society is affecting the way in which the information is being spread out for public consumption. This is a day to day calamity suffering by the population as a result of the miss use of social media by some individuals in propagating false information to the public. Today in the world of social media, most of the confusion and false news are being propagated by the use of social media through bad faith individuals for their personal interest or for the interest of a particular group. For this reason, there is always confusion between the real facts on the ground and the false facts about the information.

The spread of false information as affected the profession of journalism and the traditional media platforms drastically. This is because most of the people writing online have failed to understand some principles of journalism. For example, posting of immoral graphic pictures which are frightening for the good consumption of the public. This has made the critic population to referred to the traditional media as political media platforms because of their attachment to the states in which there are found. This is because these platforms operate according to the rules and regulations of the states in which if disrespected they will be sanction. Unlike the social media in which there is no control, people post information with no credible sources without any fear of sanction since they can create false account to propagate false information

2. Negative effects on some cherish social values of our society

Some of the traditional values in which are worth to be remembered by the entire society are fast decaying because of the advancement of social media. For example, the respect given to one another by fellow citizens, the normal greetings of elders with respect especially in the African society etc., are fast decaying. It is hurting when you are may be communicating or speaking with your daughter or your son and he or she is concentrating on the social media platform with the far off friends. This is a form of disrespect in which is fast growing among the youth and even some elders. Thus social media and society in which we are living is a calamity to the future generation since some of this cherish traditional values like the physical visit of our brothers and sisters will be completely wipe out if care is not taken to remedy the situation

3. Social media is the major cause and promoter of conflict in our society

It is clear that most of the strikes which usually leads to conflict and riots around the world are being spread out quickly because of the use of social media platforms. This is because false information about the actual situation on the ground is quickly spread to arose anger within mind of the population. It is easy for the group of persons to organize riot with the advancement of the social media in our society. For example, if there was no social media it will be very difficult for people to be organize before the demonstrations. This is evident in the recent case of the Catalonians quest for independence which is in a progressing because of the use of social media to pass out information

4. Social media contribute to the rise of terrorism in our society

Communication between agent of terrorist and the terrorist group is easy when they gain access to the use of social media platforms. This is because the attacks are plan easily with the use of social media. With social media, the environment in which the attack is plan to take place is being video tape and sent to their leaders through the social media platforms for the proper information about the area which the attack is plan before their departure from their hide out to the place of attacks. This is why it is very easy for the Boko Haram terrorist group to carried out several successful attacks on daily bases in Nigeria. Thus the social media is plays a very important role in favor of the terrorist groups around the world.

5. The effects of miss management of the social media platforms

There is a gross miss management of the social media platforms which as lead to uncomfortable enjoyment of the social media by individuals and their privacy in our society. For example, the recent Facebook scandal between the European Union and the Facebook management body in which the body is suspected of the use of personal data for the benefit of the management body without the prior consent from the owner of the Facebook account. Taking into consideration from the analysis provided by Christopher Wylie one of the worker in the data analytics company Cambridge who releases the information that fifty (50) million personal data have been exploited so far by the Facebook management body without the consent from the individuals especially for the political reasons. The recent case is that of the president of the United states of America Donald Trump whose 2016 campaign is allegedly went successful because of the use of personal data for campaign with the aid of the App developed by a Russian-American Kogan a researcher who illegally extort the personal data of 50 million users, the political ideas of Donald Trump was allege to be posted in the personal data of these 50 million users during the campaigns of 2016. Thus the advancement of social media has leads to the invasion of the private information which is a breach of the principles of human rights and exploitation of the public for the benefit of the few individuals

The miss management of the social media as also lead to the rapid rise of cyber criminality in our communities. Cyber criminality is gaining grounds because criminals always hag peoples account for their criminal or immoral used. This come as a result of miss management because the social media management authorities have whole fully failed secure the existence of so many account per person or have failed to prevent the account of users from being invaded by the scammers or cyber criminals. This cybercrime affects our dignity negatively in the society since when this cyber criminal’s hag peoples account, they turn to use the account for immoral reasons on your name

6. Effects on employment opportunities on the youth

Sometimes youths miss job opportunities because of immoral information they post on their social media platform page or the information they shared to others. Since most of the employers now in the world of social media are very much concern with what the youths can produce in terms of morals on their job site. Because of the need for moral behavior, they will always investigate former activities of the job applicants right to their social media account to see their ideas toward the society and what they spread as information for public consumption

Berinyuy Cajetan, Publisher

Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.