Social Media and its Effect on Society
According to Google, social media consists of websites and applications that enables its users to create and share content. Social media has come a long way and is still growing rapidly. It is not used by just adolescents, but by everyone. Although teenagers are active almost all the time on social media, grandparents and even toddlers know how to work Facebook, Instagram,or any other source of social media.
According to Small Business Trends, the three main social media applications in order are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Instagram is number seven on their list of the top ten social media sites, but anyone who is avid on social media knows that Instagram is very popular. Small Business Trends is a website that covers marketing and social, management, technology, finance, and advice. According to its website, it is an award-winning online publication for small business owners and the people who interact with them. It is an independent, but credible source for information such as social media. Small Business Trends estimated that companies such as Walt Disney Company have spent up to $2.1 billion on advertising “Frozen.” Twitter, on the other hand, is known to have revolutionized social media with its 81% of advertising revenue coming from mobile phones. LinkedIn is a more professional type of social networking site, which is like an online resume for possible future employers. It has over 332 million users and each second, two new members are added.
Small Business Trends’ number one popular social media site is Facebook and there are multiple reasons why. Facebook is not just used to reconnect with old friends or to keep in touch with family that is long distance. Facebook is used by large companies to advertise. It is a huge marketing tool for companies. On the right hand side of a Facebook page, there is an advertising link which a company uses to lure in customers. Another way that companies advertise on Facebook is by paying a celebrity to endorse their products. This is not just on Facebook, on Instagram as well.
Instagram is a social media site where pictures or videos gain the attention of the audience and allow them to comment and like. Teen Mom stars such as Jenelle Evans advertises 310 Nutrition Shake and talks about how it has changed her life. In these photos, these stars are typically smiling big with a workout outfit on, holding the cup in their hand. The caption talks about the product as if that is the only thing they drink to attain a healthy lifestyle. She got some backlash for this, though, since one of the photos revealed a pizza box in the background.
Jezebel’s Kara Brown reveals the truth about these advertisements. She mentions that celebrities are paid to advertise such products. She mentioned that each celebrity’s product promotion is worth a different price. For example, Scott Disick charges $15,000-20,000 to advertise something for a company. Even Blac Chyna charges $2500 a week to promote an item for a week on video. As the video entails her curves while wearing a cheetah-print waist trimmer, she captioned, “This thing really works Use Discount Code: Xmas20 and get 20% Off your entire purchase.”
Social media gains its audience by relating to them. More people tend to click the “like” button or share a photo or video that relates to them. One example is the comparison of 13-year-olds back in the early 2000s compared to the 13-year-olds today. For the older generation, kids are seen wearing mismatched outfits, playing outside. For the current generation, girls are wearing makeup that look professionally done and constantly on their phones. This puts into perspective the way that society is changing. Some people do not follow CNN or the GOP debates that are on the television, because they can use Twitter or Facebook to keep updated on that type of information. Even if someone does not really know Donald Trump, they can see the memes that have been made about him, and get an idea. This is all thanks to social media.
Social media can also be a scary thing as cyber bullying is increasing. Before all these social networking sites, kids would confront one another at school, go home, and leave it at that. Nowadays, bullying online is 24/7 and can lead to the worst. People feel more bold when they are at home, talking bad about someone because they know they cannot be confronted at that moment. “Sometimes, I can tell when a picture or video has a lot of negative comments. It’s like I expect it because I know not everyone agrees with what is shown,” stated Marissa Alaniz, fourth year at California State University, Fullerton.
It is 2016 and social media has come a long way, but it is not done. Every day, new changes are made and we can only imagine what it will look like when our children are our age.
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