We live in a world full of social media. Whether we’re browsing people’s photos on Facebook from our computers or updated a status on Twitter from a phone, social media is all around. This form of media happened so fast and is relatively new, so is it just a fad or is it here to stay?
According to Charlene Li, one of the most respected voices in social media, the future of “social media will be like air.” No offense to Charlene Li, but I think we are already there. People rely on social media heavily every day whether it’s to find out what they’re friends are doing, to get news around the world, or any number of other possibilities. Personally, I know that I don’t go a day without checking at least one of my social media platforms. It’s become part of my life, but I’m not sure it will always be that way.
I remember being in middle school and high school and the big thing was MySpace. MySpace began to disappear when Facebook started, and although MySpace just relaunched, it’s still not very popular. The other big thing I used around that age was AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). You’d say goodbye to your friends as the school day ended and then head home just so you can talk to them again. I can’t remember when AIM fizzled out, but none of my friends go on AIM anymore. Instead we use Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging to stay connected.
I’m not the only one that has witnessed this change. Geoff Livingston said, “I feel pretty safe in saying we’re looking at an AOL-esque decline for Facebook.” Facebook has been a huge part of the rise of social media. It even had a movie made about it. Lately, the stock for Facebook has been declining and it’s competing with more and more social media platforms.
I don’t see social media fading out anytime soon, but as technology continues to grow and people learn new ways to use media forms, social media will fade away to the next fad.
Muffy Lavens 