Social Media Invasion - Lifestreaming Essay

    People do not realize the immense impact social media has on their lives.  Social media first impacted people’s lives with the invention of the telephone in 1890.  Following this, the radio entered many homes in 1891; this was the beginning of social media.  During the twentieth century, computers and the Internet began the modern rise of today’s social media. UseNet, in 1979 was a virtual newsletter, which began what people think today of as modern social media.  When home computers became popular during the 1980s, such sites as relay chats took off.  Then, in 1997, the first true social media site , Six Degrees, came about: “It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that’s still popular today” ( “Complete History of Social Media: Than and Now”). Although social media has some positive effects,  social media has changed the world for the worse because it negatively affects politics, privacy, and bullying.

Social Media began affecting our communication and relationships as early as 1969 when the first internet service provider become available to U.S. universities. In 2002, Friendster, the first social media website available to the U.S. was created and gained over 3 million members in just over 3 months. One year later, MySpace launched. In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, a 24-year-old Harvard student, created Facebook, an online social networking service. This service was originally a way for students to interact. Today it is the world’s largest social networking service and allows over a billion users to connect though posting photos, sharing links, and comments which all appear on a “News

The first type of social media was created in 1997 and it was called Six Degrees. It allowed you to upload a profile for yourself and be friends with other people on the site. It wasn’t until February of 2004 when Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg. When Facebook first came out it was an instant hit. Another social media that is trending is Twitter, which was created in March of 2006. Twitter did not become as big of a hit as Facebook in the beginning because Facebook was still the highest used social media in the world at the same time Twitter came out. In the book by Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, it helps shows how twitter and social media is more of a connector than a maven or salesperson. Without the use of social such

In the early 2000’s, MySpace became increasingly popular and in 2005 YouTube was created. This was a huge advance in technology, as it allowed users an entirely different and new way for people to share videos globally. A year on, Facebook and Twitter were introduced, and are still the most popular social networking websites. After this, many different social media sites began to surface – Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Spotify, to name a few.

Author, Senior editor of The New Atlantis, and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Christine Rosen, in her article “Virtual Friendships and the New Narcissism,” analyzes if technology can provide what it promises- “a surer sense of who we are and where we belong.” Rosen’s purpose of her article is to argue that social networking sites are doing more harm than good. Rosen uses multiple studies and quotes to present her argument.

Social media is a revolution that has taken the world by storm. So many times we miss out on important happenings due to a strayed second from online. Whether it is homework a teacher has posted on MyCourses or the latest breaking news released on twitter, without constant eyes on the internet, we are bound to be left behind and disconnected. The topic of being connected is dissected by Lucy Marcus’s article, “What It Means To Be ‘Connected’” and Steven Krause’s article “Living Within Social Networks.” These articles both dive into the question of what it truly means to be connected with the outside world and the online world. Marcus believes that now is an important time to be connected more than ever on both social media and real life (124). In contrast, Krause asks the readers whether internet connection is ultimately making them lonely and

“Social media is an amazing tool, but it's really the face-to-face interaction that makes a long-term impact,” said Felicia Day. In the world of today, social connection sites have taken over. During the last ten years the idea of the internet being used consistently has gone from a small idea ot everyday life. Studies have shown that constant use of social media in any form has led to a lower level of life satisfaction and a higher procrastination rate. It has also come under scrutinty based on the idea that the internet can be considered a high risk problem for creating morally corrupt standards that sporadically become accepted. If nothing else, a constant use of social media creates a wormhole where time is vaccumed up

The drastic enhancements of technology have lead this generation to what we know and what we are used to. Since the late 90’s social media has drastically changed and upgraded. In 1997 the first recognizable social media site, Six Degrees was created. It was for users to upload personal photos and communicate with strangers and friends via social media. As we entered the early 2000’s more sites began to appear. Some which are very popular and still used to this day such as Facebook and Twitter. There is a vast variety of social media sites but they all create and allow an environment for individuals to blog and communicate with friends or

Digital technology removed challenges of proximity, and allowed everyone to communicate (Tremetzberger, 2009). Several decades ago, some researchers theorized that face-to-face, place-based communities would become unnecessary because of technology (Bell, 1979). Virtual communities primarily developed around shared interests (Aufderheide, 2011; Boyd, 2011; Park, 2011). Online virtual communities engage in collective action, have social regulations, and participate in shared rituals similar to offline communities (Parks, 2011). Furthermore, while online content seeks to generate civic engagement, there remains debate over if online networks are more or less interactive than the offline communities that came before (Walther et al, 2011). In virtual communities people socially interact as they would in a physical environment but those actions occur in a digital location (Rheingold,

Social media sites have been around for about eighteen years now. The first recognizable social media site was in 1997, and it was called, “Six Degrees”. It allowed users to upload their own profile and make friends with other users as well; and starting in 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, which created a social media sensation that’s still popular today. After blogging was when social media really began to take off in popularity. In the year 2000, sites like MySpace and LinkedIn became prominent, and there were even sites such as Photobucket and Flickr that allowed people to share photos. By the year of 2006, Twitter and Facebook became relevant and available to users

For the young generation, in particular, the online relationships are as influential and evocative as the face-to-face relationships. In addition, as broadcasting and broadband technologies are being accessed by more and more people, the swiftness and suppleness with which the world inhabitants are communicating and socializing (both online and offline) is increasing day by day. As far as the virtual space is

This website allowed school students to connect among themselves but was later shut down due to improper maintenance. In 2002, Friendster.com was created and was an instant hit among the teens as it offered very unique features. The company was growing at a rapid pace and it became difficult for them to maintain their servers and hence turned out to be failure. In 2004, Facebook was founded which later became the king of social networks. After the rise of Facebook, social media became a platform for the people to discuss about social and cultural issues.

It’s quite fascinating that in the early 2000’s social media wasn’t even invented; yet statistics show that Facebook has accumulated users surpassing the entire population of the United States. The

Social media started becoming normal. Everyone was using it. Mainly for email, games, and business. But soon Social Networking sites would take over.

The world has never before been connected as much as it is today. One’s ability to communicate through various mediums is rapidly advancing, and this is much thanks to social media.