The future of social media!

I think that social media has already changed in the fact that there are more social media tools constantly being created, changed or updated. There are already various social media tools that people have access to and with the ever changing and advancing technology, we are always gaining new ways to stay connected to these tools and to people around the world. The way i think social media will change in the future is that i think there will be new and easier ways to stay connected and interact with the various social media tools that already exist and have yet to come. I also think that there will only being an increase the number of people that use and interact with these tools; from businesses, to politicians and people of all ages. Also, to state somewhat of the obvious, we will be getting new and more creative social media tools that change or outdate existing ones.

As for technologies that i think will gain popularity or emerge, there is already a dizzying array of devices to chose from that allow you to stay in touch through social media. Smartphones, superphones, tablets, laptops and the list will continue to grow. The way technology is advancing, it is almost impossible to keep up with the new and most current technology and this will only become increasingly difficult as time passes. Technology is practically outdated the minute you purchase the device. Companies are constantly thinking of new ideas and creating new devices.

A perfect example of this Google. This already massive company has what they refer to as Google X labs, which is essentially a "secret" research facility, that google has recently admitted to, dedicated to researching and creating new ideas and technologies. They research everything from talking fridges that order their own groceries when low, self driving cars, tableware that connects to social media networks and even space elevators. A project Google X has been working on for over two years that is actually into prototype and perfecting stages, which will be released in the not so distant future, is what they call Project Glass or Augmented Reality Glasses. This is essentially a superphone built into the style of glasses that are fully voice activated. Google has Recently confirmed the speculation on Project Glass. This is a perfect example of technology that we have to look forward to that will keep us constantly connected to social media and the people around us. Below i have posted a video demonstrating what project glass is all about. This video is a virtual representation but is essentially what Project Glass will do.

Social Media = Real Social Change?

Does social media have the potential to bring about real social change? In my opinion, i would have to say it does. Social media has already become a way of life for many people. Even people who are not daily users of social media still do use social media in some form or another. This is true for people of all ages. The various types of social media tools are used everyday by people to stay connected, share information, find information, stay up to date with current events, and also to gain insight into subjects or ongoing events that otherwise would never have been discovered or had attention brought to it. Social media, in most cases, is also highly uncensored and information is being uploaded into the various types of social media from all around the world. Since the creation of social media tools and web 2.0, new information on almost any subject and current event are constantly being added to the massive database of information we call the internet. Videos/information can be found online related to any event, be it positive or negative, a second after it happens. Because of this, our awareness of things happening in our immediate surroundings and all over the world is becoming increasingly heightened. People are now getting the first hand perspective. This gives people more of an incentive to take part, because they feel more connected, engaged and important in regards to their opinion and what they can do to contribute to the subject or situation. This can be both a negative or a positive thing, and Kony 2012 is a great example of this. Because information travels so quickly and people are always connected they may make decisions and react before they know the whole story. As i said, our awareness is becoming increasingly heightened but this does not mean we always look at things objectively and take them at face value. We tend to take what we read/see seriously and don't always take the time to distinguish whether the information we are being given is subjective or objective. That being said, i definitely do think social media has the potential to bring about real social change. As to whether or not the resulting change will be positive or negative is another question and remains to be seen.

Information and news quality increased or decreased?

The introduction of social media has allowed everyone, anywhere in the world to speak their mind and share their thoughts with millions across the internet. It has enabled people to reply, add to, edit and/or contradict content shared by other users. This is just as true for the flow of information and news that social media has allowed users to share and add to the internet. Because of social media, information and news for just about any subject you can think of can be found in abundance and with ease from multiple different sources throughout the internet. Since the introduction of social media, users have been adding/editing news and information on millions of different subjects through various different social media tools. The ability of users to become authors, editors, and publishers of news and information through the use of these tools has massively increased the number of sources of news and information available. This has been a very positive thing, giving people a chance to get their news and information on various subjects from sources other than the big news and information publishers. When it comes to the question of information/news quality, it leaves more judgement to the end user on whether or not the source is a reliable/reputable one. That being said, you must always consider the source of your information and whether there is fact behind the information, just opinion or if it's motive/money driven, be it an individual "publisher" or a known corporate publisher. Always questions the validity of the information/news you find. There is and always has been an aspect of user discretion when it comes the validity of information. Social media has widely broadened the sources of information available and given the individual user the ability to be an author and publisher of information. Many independent sources still produce very reliable information. All the original, big name publishers still exist and are still very much available. Their channels of communication have actually increased because of social media tools. Social media might have slightly decreased the quality of news/information only due to the fact that there are now millions of "publishers" and information sources available, some being not as reliable as others but in exchange has opened the door to millions of new information sources and sheer amount of subject matter available to the common user. It has actually given the end user more sources to compare/evaluate reliability, relevance and validity of content to. I think social media has really only increased the need and awareness level of content users when it comes to questioning the validity of the information or news content they come across.

My perception of social media

When it comes to my perception of social media, i have a fair amount of mixed feeling. I'm 22 years old and have always been a little behind when it comes to exploring new social media. I resisted creating a facebook account for as long as i could until i finally gave in to the trend and had to see what all the fuss was about for myself. Initially, i rarely used it and could not understand why people were devoting their lives to this "slightly invasive/time consuming" site or so my thinking was at the time. That said, it has grown on me especially in the last year or so but i am still not a full time facebook guru. What i thought was initially just a fad, has caused a massive shift in the way individuals, communities and organizations communicate; from the way products are marketed, our sources of daily entertainment, how we get informed, gain insight into someone we meet, down to the shared thoughts of millions in 140 characters or less and everything in between. On that note, i have not adopted twitter as part of my daily routine as everyone seems to have done. I still have not even logged on to twitter/created an account for myself. I have a hard time understanding the need to constantly share, more often than not, every completely irrelevant thought that crosses your mind on a minute to minute basis but that's just me. In the spirit of social media, I am willing to keep an open mind on the matter and possibly even have someone teach me the ways of the little blue bird! To display my efforts in doing so, I shall even attempt to incorporate my first ever hashtag. #keepanopenmind

P.S. i know the last paragraph might be a little over the 140 character limit and would not work in an actual post but I had this uncontrollable urge to hashtag something! #dontjudgeme

Testing testing...

I would say it works.