Social media started out as a few platforms that you’d check once a day to see what your friends were up to. Over the years, it’s grown to become something people can’t seem to live without. Think about it, can you think of someone you know that doesn’t have any form of social media account? They might not have every app going, but I guarantee they’ll have at least one or two!
Let’s chat
Being able to contact anyone you want, all with just the click of a button, has changed the way we communicate. You can reach out to friends and family at any time of the day and know that they’ll respond whenever is convenient for them. It also means you can interact with people across the world, so no more having to put pen to paper in the hopes your letter will eventually reach them. It’s definitely made it easier to keep in touch.
Many would argue that people no longer communicate properly, and texting isn’t the same as talking to someone face to face. While we may agree with some of this, modern technology has certainly made things a lot easier. Since COVID-19 kept most of us indoors for prolonged periods of time, social media has been key to us still being able to talk to our loved ones and check in on friends. Social media users have grown by more than 13% since last year, and it’s no surprise really.
Big break for small businesses
The use of social media to small, independent businesses is a blessing. It enables them to grow a following and gain customers without having to pay for a physical store and all the other expenses that come with this. So many people within the crazy year of 2020 started their own little ventures from their bedroom. It gives people an opportunity they may never have had before. Social media apps adding store options where customers can browse and pay, means you don’t have to have a website to sell your products.
A lot of people have realised the importance of supporting independent businesses within the past year. With social media platforms such as Instagram having the store feature, it means people can shop while scrolling through their feed. Having an in-house option is a perk for consumers. They don’t have to follow several links and be bounced about from site to site. Everyone’s a winner.
What’s trending?
This video gives a perfect insight into how social media usage has grown rapidly. With social platforms offering more and more, it’s hard to ignore them. Supply and demand comes to mind. The consumers and social media users want their experience to be as simple as possible. Social media platforms are happy to comply as it means their popularity increases.
I hope we don’t become complete robots. It would be sad to think of a world that is only digital. No longer do we speak to each other, but instead we send a meme from across the room. Stores are no longer needed because everything is available online at a discounted rate. However, it’s hard to think of social media as anything but a blessing. It’s played a huge part in keeping us all in touch and has made a huge turnaround when it comes to offering the little people a chance. We might notice our competition a lot more as we’re all in the same place. On the flip side though, it gives all of us a fair chance. You don’t need to go door to door selling your product to get your name out there, right? It’s easy to see why everyone’s joining now. If they didn’t have a use for it before, they’ll have certainly found one.
