Social media is growing and becoming a larger part of my life everyday. From the time I wake up in the morning to right before I go to bed I am checking my social media.
Some might think oh my gosh how could you be on social media so much throughout the day and have it be the first and last things you do. In my defense I use a lot of my social media to keep up with my family that lives overseas, liking pictures, saying happy birthday, and keeping up on each other. I also do use it to keep up on old friends and family from my hometown. But I must admit that I fall into the holes of celebrity drama, the newest products coming out, and what new shows I HAVE to watch. Professionally I do not use social media much, however, I plan(hopefully) to get into a career working with social media.
I see others using social media personally and professionally everyday all day. Advertising is heavily intertwined with social media, some people have even made their entire life personally and professionally on social media. YouTube creators often use their social media as their main way of advertising their YouTube channel, which to some is their only way they earn a living. Specifically, personally many people use social media to keep up on friends and family, their community, and groups they are apart of.
Over the past few years I have seen social media explode across the world. Growing up MySpace was the main social media that I used and then Facebook as it became more popular. It was mostly used to keep up on friends, however now it is used increasingly by all ages for almost anything. One thing that has surprised me in how much it has grown is the online garage sales on Facebook, to me it’s almost heartwarming that people are still trusting enough to meet a complete stranger for often a small amount of money.
Social media however, comes with its own pros and cons. To me the most beneficial uses of social media is being able to communicate and keep up on friends and families lives, whether they are near or far. Professionally social media can bring your brand and or product across tons of different consumers, which can be very beneficial. Although there are huge pros to social media I think professionally it can be particularly detrimental to businesses and people if something bad or negative is spread about the brand or even a person that represents the brand. The public’s view of a business or person can be changed for the worst in a matter of hours. Personally social media harms us because it can suck us in and pull us away from things that are more important even if we don’t think so in the moment.
Social media is becoming such a huge part of our lives in ways I never thought they would. Although there are some huge ways social media could be detrimental to me both professionally and personally, I think it still helps me in a much larger way. I am curious to see how far social media continues to grow in the future and how my future career may lead to become involved in social media.
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