Where Social Media Will Take Us

Remember everything I spoke about in my previous post about the power of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to help develop modern businesses. It’s evident that Facebook creates opportunities for companies. Social media sites continue to increase sales for companies and widen their networks of connections.  The fact that Facebook hit 1 billion users means businesses have more potential users to appeal to. Customers appreciate how easily accessible information can be found online. The benefits of sharing information online are that it’s quick and easy. This generation wants everything at the tip of their fingers. Social networks are becoming a new kind of virtual currency for companies and corporations. You may ask yourself how much social media will evolve over the years? Companies are behind the eight ball when it comes to adapting to the newest technologies and change. Social media provides companies with power and allows them the opportunity to become market leaders and influencers.

Companies should know the following about social media:

1. They know what their consumers are interested in. They know what you’re interested in buying, selling, and seeing. With a simple "like" on Facebook or "follow" on Twitter companies know what their consumers are looking into.


2. Companies know before they know. They do their best to know things before their consumers know. Companies want to know what the customers thinking of. They are sites like Chango with information about what their prospects and consumers are looking at. This benefits the company because it will lure the potential consumer into their services or products.


3. It’s not who you are it’s what you know! The power of networking will benefit you in the long run because the contacts you gain may help you book an interview or meeting with a potential employer. To measure your online influence, visit Klout and login with your social media accounts. The site will generate a score that measures your influence among the media platforms you are active in. It also has a this cool feature, “pulse”, in which you can keep up to date with the world’s top influencers and see where they stand among the rest.

Here you can see how influential Justin Bieber is compared to our President on social media

These many changes continue to shape how companies and well known corporations such as CBS, NBC, and etc., conduct their business. We live in a social media driven world, embracing change is optional but then again so is survival.

Revisited Wiki Post

In my previous post in regards to my Wikipedia edit, I explained how mind boggled I was. It was so easy to edit information on the World Wide Web. It’s fascinating as this site is very “creditable” because many people use it as a source. As I mentioned in my previous post, Wikipedia is used by professors and students to retrieve “valuable” information for their research.

Being that my topic is revolved around the addictions to social media, I looked into theories related to excessive need to be plugged in. “Uses and gratifications theory” , is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy needs. I wanted to analyze this theory and see how true it holds to my recent research and observations of Generation Y first hand.

The section that I felt needed revising was “New Media Examples of UGT”. I felt this section needed to provide users with real life experiences. I added the personal touch that would relate to the users instantly.

BUT, as I recently visited the page they changed my revision to:

New Media Examples of UGTThe application of New Media to the Uses and Gratifications Theory has been positive.^[20] The introduction of the Internet, social media and technological advances has provided another outlet for people to use and seek gratification through those sources. Based on the models developed by Katz, Blumler, Gurevitch and Lasswell, individuals can choose to seek out media in one outlet, all falling within the proscribed categories of need. The only difference now, is that the audience does not have to go to multiple media outlets to fulfill each of their needs. The Internet has created a digital library, allowing individuals to have access to all content from various mass medium outlets.”

Not only does technology provide an outlet for people who seek the need to fulfill that satisfaction but it also impacted our lives and how we communicate. I feel as though the examples provided aren’t sufficient enough. 

Social Media Developing Role in Business World

Companies do well because they invest in their brand image. Marketers want to humanize their brand. Why do you think about 80% of the top 100 fortune companies are using at least one social media platform to engage with their customers (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and YouTube ? The power of social media campaigns is stronger than anyone can imagine. It creates more room for the business to grown and gain prospective clients all across media platforms. Executives believe more that social media engagement leads to increased sales.

Social media plays a large role in the marketing and community functions for a company internally and externally. Companies use social media to communicate to their employees and their customers. All in all, social technologies have improved communications and collaboration within and across enterprises.

Furthermore, social media is used as a recruiting tool. HR departments use social media to connect with job seekers and streamline the application process. While other departments such as sales, operations, and distribution uses social media to track and forecast sales. It’s serious as to how social media is being viewed as a business tool in today’s generation.

The amount of information that social media provides the company is endless. Companies can stay on edge with the latest trends and fashions by maintaining their social sites. They have a direct connection with their customers and prospective customers. Which is why social media is such a asset to companies.

It has become a must have for any business to manage the “big three”, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. These platforms are playing a vigorous role in the business world. It changed how we interact and work altogether. The possibilities are endless because social media is opened to a large network of people around the world.  Social media has a developing role in the business world.

Interested in knowing which top companies profit off of their social media outreach? 

The following list is the biggest numbers of impressions in clients:

• Kellogg – 1.89 billion impressions
• Comcast – 1.89 billion impressions
• Dell – 1.9 billion impressions
• Fab.com – 1.95 billion impressions
• American express- 1.97 billion

There are many other companies that produce billions of impressions.

But, which media is mostly utilized? Take a wild guess… YES, FACEBOOK! Companies are advertising through their company pages. Facebook gets $1 billion/quarter in advertising revenue. They use this platform for heavy promotion. The likes create clickthroughs to their page and etc. This will expand their customer base. You can meet the 30 biggest advertises on Facebook here.

Moreover, companies that want to enhance their brand image and strengthen their customer relationship will adapt in social media.  As new technologies are changing the world, companies must accept the change and adapt accordingly. 

Are We in Need of a Digital Detox?

Is social media the new addiction? What is it about social media that causes people to spend so much of their time trading information with friends, family and a large network of companies? People are so obsessed with checking their social media circles throughout the day and even the night. This may be troubling to some and may affect their attention span. Media fanatics check their phone constantly throughout the day and may check for more than a half an hour at a time.


View the following video to learn about Social Media Addiction:




“Gemini Adams is a self-confessed addict. Not drugs, not alcohol, but Facebook.” Some people just can’t get enough of friending, tagging, poking, and posting. Facebook addiction is real and unhealthy. It’s to the point that people are spending a lot of time not only on Facebook But, thinking about what they will post on Facebook. It may be used to release the tension of current problems in their lives. Do you suffer when you are prohibited from using Facebook? If so, then you might suffer from Facebook addiction.

FORMER FACEBOOK ADDICT GEMINI ADAMS, SAYING:

"I'd signed up to every aspect of Facebook and was utilizing every sort of part of it. Checking in wherever I went and I remember just feeling really kind of revolting and just, you know, gnarled up inside physically because I hadn't been exercising. And I was just in this position, hunched over a computer and you know my eyesight was worse."

Gemini Adams is now a part of a digital detox. She won’t use Facebook for more than an hour at a time and can go a week without checking it for 24 hours straight. Can you do that? She is working on her sudden temptations to just comment or post something on Facebook. We normally hear about a cleanse detox diet in which someone is cleansing their body of chemical and harmful toxins. But, now there is such a thing as digital detox in which you disconnect you reconnect with yourself again. I find this so interesting because everyone nowadays has that “always on” mentality which can be overwhelming. I found a fascinating website that provides digital detox retreats: The Digital Detox. They host retreats for both private and intimate parties including corporation and employee engagement. Maybe we should take a look at this and see if we are in need of a digital detox ourselves.

 The underlying questions here is, how much is too much? As mentioned in the video, if we are plugged into media and check it excessively throughout the day then we have a problem! We need to treat ourselves and that begins with going cold turkey. But in today's connected world, unplugging may be a lot harder than it sounds.

Facebook & Twitter More Addictive than Alcohol?

Social media is indeed very addictive. This generation (Y) feels the need to constantly be plugged in. It’s hard for people to resist the urge to check social networking sites for updates, it seems more difficult than turning down a drink nowadays. You would think the top two things the young generation long for during the day is sleep and sex, But, social networks are the hardest to resist. 

According to a new research on people’s daily struggles withself-control and desire, Facebook and Twitter are harder to resist than alcohol and cigarettes.  The findings explore the thin line between self-discipline and addiction. The researchers gave BlackBerrys to 205 adults and signaled them seven times a day at randomly selected daytime hours for one week. When they were contacted the participants reported whether they were experiencing any desires or urges for something and what it was they yearned for.

The majority of the reports proved that some felt strong desires for sex and sleep but cravings for cigarettes and alcohol were unexpectedly low. But in terms of behavior the participants had the hardest time refraining from checking social media when they preferred not to, and from working.

When you think of an addiction, one may think of it as being located in a substance or perhaps an activity and displaces everything else. In this special case, an addictive drug is viewed as changing the brain to make it unable to resist social media. However, addiction is a matter of imbalance between your personal desire to engage in the addictive behavior and your conflicting desire to avoid the negative consequence of the said behavior.

The participants in the BlackBerry research were mostly college students and employed people between the ages from 18-55. Aha! So, it’s evident that the younger generation fall victim to the unhealthy addiction of social media.  

A co-author, Wilhelm Hofmann of Chicago University said:

“Desires for media may be comparatively harder to resist because of their high availability and also because it feels like it does not ‘cost much’ to engage in these activities, even though one wants to resist. With cigarettes and alcohol there are more costs — long-term as well as monetary — and the opportunity may not always be the right one. So, even though giving in to media desires is certainly less consequential, the frequent use may still ‘steal’ a lot of people’s time.”

All in all, social media is harder to resist because it’s easily accessible and doesn’t cost much like other addictions such as alcoholic beverages. When the opportunity presents itself which is often, people are checking their phones to be constantly updated.


Below are interesting results signifying how addictive Facebook and Twitter are:

How often do you check or update your Facebook or Twitter? Do you check it after you go to bed...?

Dislike: Facebook Likes Reveals A Lot

Now if this isn't creepy than I don’t know what it is. There was a study to show that Facebook could predict everything from your race to your sexual orientation, political affiliation to your personality type from a simply “like”.

Researchers had studied more than 58,000 people who volunteered in taking the “my personality” survey application on Facebook, in which subscribers allowed access to their list of likes. The purpose of the research was to see whether such information, which is publicly available on many Facebook pages, could predict a number of aspects about its users lives that can presumably predict their sexual orientation, ethnic origin, political views, religion, personality traits, substance use, and even intelligence level.

I find it intriguing that such information that was once personal to us is now in the public eye. Online behavior like Facebook “likes” can make the connection deeper than I thought.  The link in which the user “Likes” can relatively give information about relationship statuses, logic, and personal preferences. Some "Like" pages may be "Gay Love", "Pro Obama", "Single Ready to Mingle", and etc.
Some links are very personal and will automatically give fellow Facebook friends an impression of your personality.

Although the research is fascinating in how much Facebook can reveal but it also strikes a concern about privacy. But- in the meantime, I highly suggest that everyone is aware of how companies and entities with whom you share your “like” information may ultimately use this data. We must understand that our hidden meanings behind our desires and “likes” may end up teaching us about ourselves. 

Post Later, Remind Me Later

I find it funny that I too find myself caught up in a trend. I used to tease my friends about ignoring my calls and texting me right after. Ugh! But, now, I too prefer to text than call. It’s crazy! I blame the influence of this generation. They prefer to communicate with each other via text message in place of causal conversation:

• What time are you out of class?
• Do you want to eat lunch together?
• What are you doing?

But as I get heavily involved in my professional career I find myself exchanging direct communication:

• Running late, on my way
• Review the attached document and edit it to your liking
• Confirm that you will be in attendance at our next meeting

If it wasn't for caller ID, you’d never know who called you because you barely answer the phone or at least I don’t. I also get impatient and find myself just deleting the voicemails before listening to it and just texting back, “What did you call for?" 

I found an interesting article that I’d thought was relevant to share, Disruptions: Digital Era Redefining Etiquette. This article uncovers the un-normal norms. What was once normal is now foreign to people.

Voicemail lost its purpose because people expect a text message rather than a voicemail.  I mean think about how long it takes to access your voicemail and actually listen to those lengthy messages. It may seem time consuming compared to shooting a quick text message to someone. Phone companies made it even easier for us to comply with this lazy way of communicating. For iPhone users, have you noticed the reply with message option and for droid users, have you noticed the reject call with message option? They are encouraging us to ignore calls! Why?!

It’s amazing how many socials norms just don’t make sense anymore. People are SO wrapped up in  digital communication that they lose touch with the polite and civilized ways people used to interact. Rather than just asking someone for directions, they prefer to Google something on their smartphone. Technology is taking away from our interpersonal skills. The author mentioned when he asked a friend for something that could be easily discovered on the internet, his friend responded with, lmgtfy.com, which means Let Me Google That For You. Aha! Now, that’s rude!

Fun Fact: "Google" became a transitive verb on June 15th, 2006 in the Oxford English Dictionary

But it's true! People lost their touch. Take the smartphone for instance, there’s an app for everything! You have a widget for weather, contacts, maps, store hours, and so much more. People no longer have a reason to have a conversation with someone nor ask any questions. It seems as unnecessary communication to this generation!  Why ask someone something that I can simply access by the ends of my fingertips? It’s even a verb! When my fellow classmates ask a question and are not sure about the answer, they would suggest, “You should Google that!”

The article hits home for me and I’m sure it will for you too. Will our politeness die out? Is it no longer a trending topic? Let’s hope our forms of communication become important again.