My job as a full-time content writer for an upcoming social media app keeps me busy throughout the day. Prior to the onset of the current pandemic, I usually met a lot of people. One thing I clearly noticed is I am yet to meet a person who isn’t using one or more social media platforms. It’s amazing to see how social media has come to play such a significant role in our lives. We cannot imagine our very existence without channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so many others. Let us explore why social media has become so popular in last few years.
Better Connectivity
One thing that social media has successfully achieved is to improve our connectivity with people. In an earlier times, the interactions with our friends and family mostly happened offline. We usually met them in person by either visiting their homes or inviting them to our homes. For such meetings, we always had to plan in advance, and it took a fair amount of time. The advent of social media changed all that. We are now better connected to our friends, colleagues, and family members in faraway places. We can chat, exchange messages, and can see each other live on Zoom, or Google meet.
Social media is an incredible platform to interact with like-minded people. You can check the profile of a person, and once you are assured that both of you have much in common, you can decide to engage with that person. You don’t have such luxuries in the real life.
Better Opportunities
Social media isn’t just limited to making friends, exchanging messages, and sharing pictures. It’s a powerful tool for seeking employment, making professional connections, and getting recommendations for career advancements. LinkedIn, a widely popular social channel with over 750 million users is the most preferred platform by job seekers as well as prospective employers. You can upload your cv, article, blog, or video to grab the attention of potential employers. Normally, you don’t get every information about a candidate in his/her biodata, therefore, companies often check social profiles of shortlisted candidates to know more about them.
You will hardly find a business that doesn’t maintain an active profile on LinkedIn. The same is true for their employees. Of late, businesses all over the world have realized how important is social media for their growth and engagement with their customers. Social media has created new opportunities for businesses by successfully leveraging the power of digital marketing. Instagram, a primarily visual-based platform has given birth to many social influencers who earn millions only because of the tremendous reach of social media. Businesses also prefer to hire an influencer instead of investing money in a new campaign. Users have generally a lot of faith in influencers, who play an important role in making a product popular among a certain group.
Social Media is User Friendly
You take any social media platform – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, Connect app. It’s so easy to operate them. You just need a mobile phone with internet connectivity and some rudimentary knowledge of operating a digital device. You fill in basic details like your user ID and contact number, and once your identity is verified through the OTP, you are good to go. On some apps such as TikTok, you don’t even need an account to upload your short videos. You can’t expect a more user-friendly medium.
Excellent source of News
The popularity of social media has made newspapers and tabloids redundant. Why did you need to wait for the next day to know what is happening in your country or the outside world? Social media keeps you updated on every news in real-time. You just have to log in to your Twitter account to know what is happening elsewhere. Not only that, you can also like, share or comment on these updates. Isn’t it amazing? The right of expression has altogether taken a new meaning with courtesy to the power of social media. Now, you are not dependent on a television channel or newspaper to speak your mind. You can do that through your social channel.
Medium of Entertainment
There are all sorts of interesting videos and memes that are continuously shared on social media. You can watch concerts of popular artists, dance performances, and shows of well-known stand-up comedians, and magicians. The shows that you watch free of cost on social platforms cost a fortune if you have to see them in the normal auditoriums. Besides, you get to see important sporting events like the Olympics, Football World Cup, Wimbledon, French Open, and World Athletics Championship on these social channels without spending a penny.
Helps Learning
Social media is an excellent source of knowledge and skill development. You can participate in virtual classes, attend online lectures by stalwarts from their respective fields, and can take part in an online workshop. In fact, during lockdown caused by the pandemic, most schools and colleges started operating online. Therefore, despite the restrictions owing to social distancing, the academic life of millions of students remained undisturbed. You can learn virtually anything through YouTube. Be it singing, playing guitar or drums, learning contemporary music or classical dance forms like Bharat Natyam, Kathak, Odissi, Kuchipudi, or the western ball dance, you can learn all this and more through YouTube videos. There are many famous musicians and chefs who learned their crafts through these social media videos.
Moreover, Google has become the virtual storehouse of knowledge. There isn’t a thing that Google isn’t aware of. It knows everything. Now, all the knowledge and researches that have been done to this date is available to use with the click of a mouse. This is awesome.
These are just a few reasons why social media has become so popular. In the future, the trend will likely continue even further with new features like artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, and augmented reality (AR) becoming part of social media. The future of social media seems very exciting and its popularity is destined to reach newer heights.
