What's Next??

What's Next? This is what I have found myself thinking as of late as I go on Facebook or Twitter. What else can bring us together or can relay news in an immediate fashion? Facebook has been around for the past 8 years and Twitter the last 6, and we have yet to get bored with them. This is something that I find amazing. We have all become creatures of such a short attention spans, that we get bored of things quickly, in as short as a few months. But Social Media is the one thing that seems to hold our attention. Is it because Zuckerberg and his team keep updating the look and feel of our walls? Or is it the draw to find out what we are all up to, that keeps us tweeting? I'm not sure what the answer is but one thing is for certain, these outlets are here to stay and we will be using them for a long time.

Another thought that pops into my head when I think of the future of social media, is that there could be someone right now writing the code for a whole new social world. Someone spending long hours working on algorithms and fine tuning scripts, trying to get his/her work to validate.  That is the other thing that is so intriguing about the social media world. It came from nothing, just a small network at Harvard and then it spread like a rumor throughout the world. It has the power to take a group of hardworking kids and turn them into celebrities. And for me at least, is what keeps me coming back for more.

Get The Word Out

It is no secret that social media is a great outlet for people who want to get the word out about anything. Whether it be a band, a business, or family news Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are all great places to spread the news. There is minimal effort in spreading news, it is delivered to each of your friends in their news feed. This is how start-ups and bands get famous so fast. They spread the news to their friends who then share it with other friends, and eventually the whole chain spirals into a network of fans. This phenomena is a sign of the times. People used to print fliers and canvas a large area going to telephone poll to telephone poll, and business to business, to spread the word. Now all it takes is twenty minutes building a Facebook page and writing a status update to get the news out. Having a Twitter account is a great way to give live updates about shows and new releases and software updates. People who follow those bands and companies get instant news. And today the faster they get it the better. The global audience expects news to be received in real-time and thanks to social media they can have it.

Who's Dead?!?

In recent months there has been a new trend within the Facebook community. Fake celebrity deaths. I have seen fake news articles telling of the deaths of Tiger Woods, Lil Wayne, and Betty White all within the last six months. People generate these article to likes and page views, but their impact is far greater than their Facebook popularity. Facebook is a perfect avenue for news and for spreading the word of an event with significance. However with these new fake headlines, it has become harder and harder to dicern what is real and what is not. And Facebook is the one who is getting the short end of the stick. The more these fake headlines pop up the less credible Facebook becomes as a news site, and a place that people can post breaking news. This also hinders their ability to compete with social media counterparts such as Twitter or Google+. Especially Twitter, since it has been shown time and again that Twitter can be used for everything from rallying protesters to spreading word of political figures death. Fcaebook is definately loosing ground and needs to find a to correct they damage done by  fake headlines.

This week in social media I am going to talk about how people use social media to entertain one another. My main example of this is when people post YouTube videos on a friend's wall, or tag them in the post. Recently a friend of mine did this very thing and right after i got the notification he sent me a text message saying that he just posted the most hilarious video and that I should go check it out. (which of course I did) This got me thinking about how very often this type of thing happens, not just within my circle of friends but in groups all over the world. Humans love to laugh and love to share laughter, and social media has given us a new way to do that. Before YouTube and Facebook, sharing a joke was so much harder, and sometimes the humor was lost if a person couldn't tell the joke correctly. But now that a joke can be sent to numerous recipients at a time we never have to worry about missing the punch line or not being able to do that voice just right. We have infinite access to all the jokes and silly cat videos the web has to offer, and we just have to share the laughter.