How do you think social media will change in the future?

I think social media is going to keep changing in the future, since it’s already popular and it’s just going to keep growing.

According to WebFeul on Canadian Social Media Statistics 2011, over 17 million people across Canada are on social media sites. This number has grown by 4 per cent in two years. And the amount of Canadians who have visited social media sites at least once a week has grown to 50 per cent.  While 35 per cent of Canadians stated that they spent more time using social media.

Through these recent statistics, the amount of social media usage has not only drastically increased in Canada, but globally. Facebook is no surprise to be one of the top social media sites not only in Canada, but worldwide. It is number one dominated site with over 750 million users as well as Twitter. In 2009, less then one per cent of Canadians used Twitter. But today, that number has grown to almost 20 per cent.

With social media’s rapid growth in only two years, there is no doubt that it will continue to become a trend for users nationwide and become the norm. Certain field areas are taking advantage in the advances of technology in social media to benefit them. For journalists, there is a new form of journalism called citizen journalism or collaborative journalism. This type of journalism is where individuals can use social media sites such as Twitter, to help journalists with materials for evidence in news cases, such as a picture or video that they have shot. Journalists use social media when they need to get a hold of any witnesses for additional evidence to prove someone’s guilty, or to prove their point on a matter.

Also, people are using YouTube to try and broadcast their talents. A well-known artist named Justin Bieber was discovered through his YouTube channel. Now, Britain’s Got Talent, is a British TV show, allows people to upload a short audition video to the BGT YouTube Channel where people are able to vote for their favourite act, and the one with the most votes gets to audition for the judges.

In the future I believe that social media is going to be used even more often, and by more people. It is going to help people advertise for their businesses more, and also be even easier for us to communicate worldwide. Social media is going to progress even more as the years pass, so making the best of it and adapting to it will benefit your career and help ones self promotion in the long run.

Do you think that social media has the potential to bring about real social change?

I believe that social media has the potential to bring about real social change. Social media has come a long way over the years, and it’s just going to keep getting more dominant. However, there are downfalls towards the usage of social media for children. For instance, kids aren’t outside playing as much and getting exercise. Instead, they’re indoors on their computers or cell phones on social media networks like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. But social media networks are so powerful and people are starting to realize this and use it to their advantage. For example, KONY 2012 is an international campaign created by Invisible Children; aiming to bring Joseph Kony to justice for abducting children and making them become child-sex slaves and child soldiers. I would have never heard of this campaign if it weren’t for social media. On the weekend, I signed on to Facebook and my whole news feed was filled with people “sharing” the link to the campaign. Later I signed on to Twitter and saw that “#KONY2012” was a topic trending worldwide. The campaign leader knew that if he got their campaign to go public on social media networks, then the video would go viral, and people would want to help internationally. And that is exactly what happened. People all over the world are now buying the Kony 2012 Kit where the proceeds go toward the campaign. People all over the world are joining together to volunteer for this campaign. It’s pretty crazy to believe that all because someone made the video about the KONY 2012 campaign and posted it on YouTube, how fast and how many people got involved and are trying to help. Social media can be a wonderful thing. So yes, after witnessing first-hand what social media can help accomplish, I definitely do agree that social media has great potential to bring about real social change.

Has social media incresed the quality of news or decreased it?

I believe that social media has increased the news and information that we read, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the quality of the news has gotten better. Everybody has access to posting their own information on to the social media websites, which could be a good or bad thing. We don’t know if all of the news that we are reading is actually the truth. Even with everybody knowing that, most people still get their news through social media because it's so much more convenient. Using social media you can get your news on the go for free, instead of having to go out of your way to go and buy a newspaper. There are now apps that you can download onto your phone to access everyday news. In our society today, people are too lazy to go and buy a newspaper. They would rather just click on the application on their phone and read the news that this social media provides them with. Personally, I don't remember the last time I picked up a newspaper and started reading it, or even watched the news. Instead, I use my blackberry to find out the weather on my "weather app" or read the news online via Twitter or Facebook. Nowadays, most teens prefer social media websites over watching the television to find out news worthy topics. To me, that is pretty unbelievable since the TV has always been a main leisure activity for the average teenager. I also fall into the category that uses social media more since I use Twitter and Facebook throughout the whole day. I have easy access to Facebook and Twitter through my phone so it's easily accessible whenever I want it. In comparison, the television isn't portable or convenient. 65% of people get their news through social media websites which means more people get their news and information from social media rather than a newspaper or radio. Social media has increased the amount of people who read the news and the quantity of news that we read, but this doesn't mean that the news we are reading is necessarily better quality.

Social Media

Is social media a fad? In my opinion I believe that social media is definitely not a fad. A fad is a trend, and I don’t see social media ever going out of style. Social media is certainly the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution. People use social media to interact and communicate with people over the web on a daily basis. Social media includes: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, Flickr, MySpace, MyBlogLog, Digg and many more. Personally, I use Facebook and Twitter every single day, I can even say I’m obsessed with them. I spend over 10 hours a day checking and rechecking my Facebook newsfeed for recent updates such as status changes and newly uploaded photos. I’m a little more obsessed with Twitter. I check my Twitter right when I wake up, and I continue checking it all throughout the day until I go to bed, and I send at least 5 tweets a day. It only took Facebook 9 months to reach over 100 million users. To me that is absolutely crazy to have reached that many people in that short period of time. Facebook even tops Google for weekly web searches and has so many users that if it was a country, it would be the third largest in the World. Our society uses social media on a daily basis, and that is where we all get our news now. If I want to see the weather for the day, I don’t turn on my TV or radio; I go on my phone, go on my Twitter and see what CP24 tweeted about the weather for the day. I think it’s simply amazing how far social media has come in such a short period of time. I can’t even imagine what social media is going to be like in the future, and how much we are all going to rely on it.

this is my first blog :)