Essay 1 - Social media and me

What is social media? To answer that question I would like to quote an already established social media and their answer about what it is: “Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings” (Wikipedia).

How do I use it and what does it mean to me? The social media’s of internet is used every day of my life. I think that the usage of social media are so intertwined in my normal life, and to that degree, that I probably do not nearly even half of the times even think about that I am actually using one. They are used from small things such as getting information about a product from a forum and talking to people over Skype to more clear social media’s, such as Facebook.

Since most of my family members do not live in Stockholm or in Sweden, the use of social media has become increasingly important over the years. Reasons for this might be money and time. To travel to someone costs both time and money. And a phone call can get pretty expensive when calling someone abroad. Social media of internet deals with both of these issues, it is free and it saves time. Skype makes it possible to talk to someone wherever they are for free. To give an update about what is happening in our life is easily done now today through Facebook, MySpace and blogs.

The way that school work and assignments is done has also changed. The need of going to a library to find information about a topic has diminished throughout the years. Today most book, articles and reports can be found on internet, legal or illegal. The use of forums, blogs and Wikipedia has changed the way answers of questions are sought. But still, reliability of the information found on internet is an issue. It is still not as reliable as information found in a book.

What social media mean to me is possibilities to stay in contact with people and get information whenever I can and want to. It means also to me one word and that is: effectivity. It makes it possible for me to do a lot more in much lesser time. In a few minutes you can get updates and give an update to friends and family all over the world. When searching for a product that will satisfy your demands and wishes you can within a few mouse clicks find information about other people’s user experiences with that product.

The danger of these social media´s is that the more we use it, the more other people (in some cases unwanted people) will know about us. But the positive is greater than the negative and it is hard to imagine how to live an effective life without these communications.