Change is a continuous process that is bound to occur as long as there is variation in time. Technology has brought change in the world especially social change. There are several technological advances in the world today which include computers, television, airplanes, fax machines, modems, radios and cellular phones.
These technological advances have brought social change in world. Indeed, they have changed the manner in which people interact, travel, conduct business, meet, work and learn. Technological advances have brought the greatest change in human social life. Social media technology is one example of modern technology that has brought social change what is termed as improved audience interaction.
Social media has changed the world in tremendous ways especially in work places, education sectors, businesses and all sectors in the world where people interact. Examples of social media technology include: video conferencing, you tube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, web meetings among many others (Inkeles 2000). This paper mainly analyzes how social media technology has managed to bring the greatest social change in human life. It describes in details both the technology and the social change itself.
Social media technology can be described as an interactive place through which communities and people form and share the content generated by the user. Social media is a collection of applications from the internet that fabricate on technological and philosophical foundations that gives room for creation and sharing the content generated by the user.
Social media comprise social software which facilitates communication. Social media technology can be accessed through the help of scalable techniques of communication. Today, social media is among the most influential sources of communication in the world where people obtain live updates through sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Social media technology exist in different forms, for example, they exist in form of magazines, social blogs, internet forums, social networks, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, video, social bookmarking, microblogging, photographs, ratings and pictures. These forms of social media technologies differ based on the level through which they focus on functional foundation blocks on conversations, relationships, identity, groups, sharing, reputation and presence.
A large number of these forms of social media technology services can be incorporated through social network cumulative platforms. The main social media network system websites comprise of MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and Bebo. Social media technology has brought richness in the social network increasing self-disclosure and making communication process easy and faster.
Mobile social media is a form of social media that utilize mobile device. Mobile social media have brought the greatest change in the communication sector in the whole world. It has actually transformed the social network and bridged the gap that exists in the world. Today, through the help of mobile social media, people can communicate in different points and different parts of the world at any time.
In the past before the introduction of mobile social media, the traditional ways in which people could pass across information was through a messenger who was to walk all the way to where the recipient was; sometimes the messenger could reach his destination tired and unable to pass a clear message leading to distortion of message (Leventman 1999). Other means through which people used to communicate in the past was through drum beating, lighting of fire or ringing of bells.
Mobile social media have saved world from message distortion and distortion since by means of mobile phones the recipient gets first hand information directly from the sender. Mobile phones are also easy to carry; people can take them anywhere they go. Mobile social media when run through computers can display time sensitivity.
There are four different types of mobile social media which differ based on time sensitivity and location sensitivity. There are those mobile media applications which can detect the location where the user is and at the same time show whether the message is still being processed or it has been received or if there is a delay in receiving the message (McKellar 2000).
There are space timers, space locators, quick timers and slow timers. Foursquare and Facebook places are examples of space timers since they time sensitive and send messages relevance with the specific time of the location of the sender. Qype and Yelp are examples of space locators since they are sensitive of the location of the sender; it indicates the specific location in which the messages are being exchanged by tagging the location which could be identified by other people when they view the message (Conant 2001).
People can locate where the sender was and the recipient was making it easy to tract down on people especially in incidences of crime or fraud. Quick timers on the other hand are sensitive to time only and they include Facebook posting and Twitter postings. They increase immediacy through the mobile devices.
This means that a person can get instant message or details concerning the status of a person based on their status update which normally indicate the time it was posted. Slow timers on the other hand include Wikipedia entry or You Tube video where people view or watch at their own leisure time. Slow timers are neither sensitive to time nor location of the message. People with mobile devices can decide to watch videos in You Tube at their own time and they can read postings on Wikipedia if they want to learn more about something.
Internet usage has caused several impacts on communication and brought social change. Social media has turned out to be addictive in today’s world since it is being used by majority of the people across the world. Internet is available everywhere across the world; it is in offices, schools, healthcare centers, and the mobile device has made it easy for everyone to access internet everywhere they go as long as there is network service.
Today, it is easy to communicate from one office to the other through the internet. Most government and private institutions have installed network services which have made communication much easier saving on time which is normally used to do other important things (Levy 2003).
Businesses can also be conducted through the internet whereby someone in Asia can decide to buy a product in the U.S. The primary method through which most students in colleges communicate is through the use of internet whereby they communicate through sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Today in the U.S., the government has introduced lessons on social media practices whereby students are taught on how to handle digital strategies for their future careers. Video conferencing and web meetings are examples of social change that has been brought by social media technology.
Today, it is not a must to be present at the venue of the meeting, you are simply required to have a computer with internet services or a satellite to be able to take part in the meeting. This has saved most companies money and time which they allocate to use on other projects. Managers can today do business across different parts of the world and be able to manage them equally and efficiently due to social media technology.
Political system has also changed due to social media technology. There is actually a great tremendous social change in politics. The politicians can obtain people’s views concerning their leadership through different sites in the internet such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.
The politicians are well informed in advance concerning their fate through the live comments people make on their posting on Facebook and Twitter. The politicians can also be aware of people’s expectations of them through the internet being used by both the young people and the old generation (Hans & Neil 2009). Politicians can also address their major concerns or ask for votes through the social media.
The politicians can also make the world aware of their next move or their major plans through the use of social media by updating it on Facebook or creating a blog to ask people to support their initiatives or project because, the majority of people use the internet; what is more, based on the recent statistics, most people spend more than 3 hours a day browsing the internet with the majority visiting sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
This shows that majority of the people across the world spend most of their time in social media making it the fastest and easiest way of communication.
In conclusion, social media technology has brought the greatest social change in human life. Communication process has become more easy and faster due to social media technology. Examples of social media technology that has brought social change include: video conferencing, You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, web meetings among many others
References
Conant, J. (2001) Science and Common Sense. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.
Hans, H. & Neil, S. (2009). Social Change and Modernity. California: University of California Press
Inkeles, A. (2000). Exploring individual modernity. New York: Columbia University Press.
Leventman, S. (1999). Counterculture and social transformation. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas Publishers.
Levy, M. (2003). The Structure of Society. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press.
McKellar, P. (2000). Imagination and Thinking: A Psychological Analysis. London: Cohen & West.