Major Aspects Of Social Media – A Complete Guide

I’m the sort of person who has more social media friends than in real life. Last night, my Japanese friend, Ryo, and I were sharing Naruto reels on Instagram when my German friend, Ernst, texted me on Messenger.

I connected with Ernst on a professional LinkedIn while hunting clients for my freelance gig. Anyway, as I had to complete his project at the earliest, I got on with it straight away.

After delivering the project, I called my Australian friend, Noah, and asked if he was up for a Call of Duty match.

I met Noah in a gaming community on Facebook. Frankly speaking, he was an extremely good player of COD, and only when his internet lagged a few times was I finally able to beat him.

Anyways, I’m grateful for having such friends in my life, and it wouldn’t be possible without social media. Ever since its inception, social media’s popularity has only risen. Around 63.9% of the world population today, nearly 5.24 billion people, use social media.

But have you ever wondered how social media started or how it became so important to us?

Below, I’m going to discuss some major aspects of social media, starting with its evolution. So, keep on reading if you want to know how and why social media became a household product.

The Evolution Of Social Media

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Similarly, social media took a fair amount of time to evolve. Also, most people may believe that Facebook was the world’s first social media platform.

However, Facebook was launched in 2004, and before that, numerous social media platforms already existed.

The timeline below explains the important dates and events in social media’s history.

• 1978 – The Bulletin Board System (BBS) was launched. Users could log into a computer system and socialize with other users via messaging boards.
• 1997 – Six Degrees was launched. It was the first recognizable social media website. Users could create a profile and connect with friends.
• 2002 – Friendster was launched. People could share content, such as picture,s with their friends and connect with new people via social circles.
• 2003 – LinkedIn was launched. It was a social-professional platform where people could network with other people and explore job opportunities.
• 2003 – MySpace was launched. Besides connecting with friends and meeting new people, users could share music and create customizable profiles.
• 2004 – Facebook was launched. Initially, the platform was designed for inter-campus social communication between Harvard students. However, soon, it expanded to different colleges and universities and eventually to the whole world.
• 2005 – YouTube was launched. It was the first video platform where users could upload, view, and share videos.
• 2006 – X (formerly known as “Twitter”) was launched. Besides sharing pictures and connecting with new people, this social app was focused on sharing short messages, known as “Tweets”.
• 2009 – WhatsApp was launched. It was a breakthrough in social communication as people could easily send and receive text messages, pictures, videos, etc., from anywhere around the globe.
• 2010 – Instagram was launched. It was a picture-focused platform where users could upload, share, and view pictures uploaded by other users.
• 2011 – Snapchat was launched. Users could send “Snaps” (pictures and videos) and maintain Snapstreaks with friends.
• 2016 – TikTok was launched. This app allowed users to create and upload short and captivating videos.

Having said that, let’s move on and understand why social media is necessary in this digitally connected world.

Importance Of Social Media In Today’s World

Staying connected to the world is just one aspect of social media. Today, I can explore what is happening worldwide without getting up off my couch.

I can find out what my favorite celebrity is up to these days, or get real-time news about topics I’m interested in.

That said, social media’s importance is far greater than just staying connected to the world. Below, I’ll explain why social media has become a must-have for us:

Learning New Things

There is hardly any doubt about social media’s power to spread information. While there may be some downsides to it, social media has surely paved the way to learn new and exciting things that we may otherwise not even know.

For instance, I always had a knack for learning new languages. So, after befriending Ernst (my German friend), I asked him to teach me German. And, would you believe that he taught me German on WhatsApp video calls?

Even though I faced video quality issues in the first couple of days, it was a fun way to learn a new language.

And, only when I switched to a better connection, Spectrum Internet, for the best video quality, did I realize the significance of social media platforms.

Besides mirror-practicing, I conversed in German with Ernst over crystal-clear video calls, and realized that if I had chosen a language school, learning German would’ve been a much difficult and dull job for me.

Huge Business Potential

As I mentioned above, more than 5 billion people use social media, which translates to potential customers for businesses.

By leveraging the power of social media, businesses can easily target their potential customers with an effective marketing strategy.

A few decades ago, it would’ve been impossible for a small Australian company to market its products in the United States. But now, all it takes is a reasonable budget to launch a marketing campaign on social platforms to let people know what you offer.

Jobs Creation

Social media has also become a source of livelihood for millions of people globally. You can create and post engaging content, become an affiliate, manage digital marketing campaigns, and do much more to make a living through social media platforms.

Moreover, professional social media services, such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed, and more, have made the job-hunting process easy.

Now, even a person in the most remote part of the world can explore and apply for job openings in a bustling city without ever setting foot in it.

Entertainment

Without all the hilarious memes on social media apps, our lives would have been dull, for sure. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that for most people, the entertaining content on social media is a getaway from hectic daily life activities.

Plus, it’s a piece of cake to find the content you want to see on social media platforms. Be it memes you want to laugh at memes or informative podcasts to learning about a new skill, every form of entertainment is available on social media.

Moving on, let’s explore the advantages of social media and see how it may be dangerous for our digitally connected world.

Pros And Cons Of Social Media

Before discussing the pros and cons of social media, it’s vital to understand that every coin has two sides. In the case of social media, it cannot be truer. That said, it’s also a fact that anything is as good as the person utilizes it.

Now, let’s see some major upsides and downsides of social media.

Now, before I wind up, let’s have a quick look at the top 10 social media platforms in the world.

Top 10 Social Media Platforms

It may not be possible to count all the social media platforms that exist today. However, there are only a handful of them with “billions” of active users every month.

The table below ranks the top social media platforms along with their monthly active users.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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