Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ibibo, Zorpia and the list goes on. These are nothing but various means of social media networking. Social networking is a latest phenomenon on the World Wide Web that has gained immense popularity with the people. Social media is well-liked because in actuality it is for the people. Bringing all category of community together in one place and offering a platform for them to intermingle is really a big thing indeed.
Here the concept of Global Village as defined by Marshall McLuhan is in effect, where geographical distance is even less of a impediment to the real-time communicative actions of people, and consequently social spheres are significantly extended by the ingenuousness of the web and the effortlessness at which people can explore for online communities and network with others that share the similar interests and concerns.
In today’s day and age Social Media has evolved as the source of information, a public sphere for discussing matters of concern and generating public opinion. It is to be noted that the Web is filled with millions of individuals who are looking out to meet other people, to draw together and share first-hand information and experiences about job openings, developing friendships or professional alliances, building alumina association, business-to-business marketing, discussing hobbies like golfing, gardening, etc. The topics and interests are as wide-ranging and rich as the story of our universes.
Social media has definitely initiated a process of human liberty where people can carry out endless number of social activity without even venturing out from one’s own room / cubicle. Social networking has empowered us in the present day to climb the mountains of connectivity so easily cutting across geographical, caste, community, gender and religious biases.
Here is a quick run through the limitless activities people carry out via the Social Media-
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- On a basic level communicate and keep in touch with friends and family, by uploading pictures, videos, status updates, etc.
- One step up, connect with school /college /university friends or acquaintances thus creating a huge database of ex- students. Same goes out for members working within the same office / company.
- Further up, the most tempting aspect of creating association with unknown people based across the globe (definitely keeping in view the risk involved of communicating and sharing information with the wrong person)
- Yet another interesting area being explored by people through the Social media is Marriage. In India, finding ones soul mate in earlier days was left to the jurisdiction the elders of the family. But today youth who wants the decision making power in his / her hands is using the potentials offered by the social media to the best advantage. Websites like Bharamatrimony.com, Shaddi.com, Matrimonial.com, etc, have become common names.
- Higher up the strata is the advent of Social Media Marketing, today advertisers are leaving no stone unturned to reap benefits from the mass popularity of the social media. Like never before advertisers and sales persons can find the target audiences at one place and easily over haul them with pertinent information about a product /service.
- Any kind of information pertaining to current affairs, internationals relations, education, employment, hobbies, marriage, games and even tittle-tattle, all is readily available on one platter i.e. Social Media.
Having discussed about the varied activities carried out by means of the Social media, let us explore how it has brought Human Liberty. Social media has been successful in creating what Jurgan Habermas calls the Public Sphere. Through Social media the Public Sphere has been created in the virtual world where once can express ones opinion on grounds of anonymity having a high chance of finding people who share the same ideas. The recent example of Human Liberty with the help of the Social media is the mass mobilization of people for Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption. Also, the mass support which was garnered during the USA presidential election, where Barack Obama practically reached out to each individual via Twitter, are excellent instances highlighting the liberating process that has been triggered by the Social media.
Build Significant Associations
Social media enables people to be their real self. While intermingling with people online, one gets the opportunity to know them more and hence, break the ice. People belief one another which ultimately lead to meaningful relationships. Social media is meant to bring fresh opportunities, approachable followers and lifelong friends.
Spawns Traffic
The more networking an individual does the better are the chances to generate greater traffic. This process entails more real and valuable efforts and not just merely bombarding people with meaningless information or spamming. Sites like LinkedIn targeted towards professionals prove to be exceedingly advantageous. Hence, every social media has its own specific audience and user demographics which allows its user to find people as per their requirement and interests.
Augment Visibility
When a user creates more social profiles and generates more content on them while interacting more with the links, an individual is likely to boost online visibility. This helps advertisers to increase the visibility of the company site and the brand / product/ service too will gain popularity and fame. Also, people get a chance to meet leaders and players in the related industry and over time, new relationships build and grow.
Facilitates Mind-sharing and Insight
In the process of interacting with people online, one gets a exclusive perspective into their lives and their problems. One can help and counsel them and in turn, receive feedback and trust, thus ensuing in mind-sharing. Because social networking is human focused, it creates a great thriving atmosphere to get feedback, conduct research and gain insight. Although it is known that people do not want to be told, forced, spammed or made to do anything but when the entire process involve them, the environment changes and evolves into a society on the World Wide Web.
But all said and done about the liberating process that has been triggered courtesy Social Media. One thing that cannot be denied is that Social media is also a creating a generation of people who are at a fast pace becoming unsocial and evasive about the actual society they live in. It is notable that due to this feature of the internet, people are making friends with so many other individuals whom they never see in their lives but spend hours chatting with them without knowing who they actually are. Teenagers who need to go to the fields and play with their real friends are busy with unidentified people on the net chatting with them, emailing them, talking about their welfare and a behavior that projects that they are even more to them than their real friends.
Social media is breeding an environment where people are more engrossed in virtual communication and one to one interpersonal communication which forms the essence of the actual society is taking a back seat. Thus, in summation it can be said that despite the all pervasive process of Human Liberty which has been set off by Social media the drawbacks it tags along may be disturbing for the real society we dwell in.
