Essay Example: Types of Social Media

Social media refers to any application or website that allows its users to take part in social networking or to create and share content. Users can access social media services through a wide range of web-based technologies on different devices such as laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones. This factor, coupled with the increase in internet coverage around the world, has led to a drastic increase in the number of social media users globally. Various social media platforms exist today, with more than 100 million users around the world. Some of the most popular include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Telegram, among others. The different social media platforms are associated with various advantages. They help improve the connectedness of an individual to both online and real communities and also serve as a highly potent communication tool for corporations, advocacy groups, and individual entrepreneurs, among others. However, as more people get addicted to social media, it has been accused of leading to anti-social behaviors among users. This notwithstanding, the role of social media in networking cannot be overemphasized (Alwagait, Shahzad, and Alim 1095).

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Topic Announcement: Social media sites are powerful networking tools. Individuals, communities, as well as organizations, can create and share content, as well as discuss various issues across the various social media platforms. These interactions lead to the creation of networks. These networks dictate the way that groups of people communicate and interact on social media. Today, there exist social media sites to cater to the need of all groups of people in society. Therefore, social media has helped in the creation of networks across all demographics. Networking does not only help enhance relationships between individuals but can also help one make their business visible to a global market. According to research, more organizations no longer rely on advertising as the only means of recruiting new employees. Increasingly, word of mouth is increasingly used to fill vacancies. Therefore, having networks with professionals in one's field can effectively help them get jobs.

Thesis Statement: the lives of millions of people in society revolve around various social media platforms and networking sites. These sites have enhanced connectivity between people around the world and have also made networking easier and more efficient. This paper will explore the characteristics of various social media and networking sites with a focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Match.com and give examples of how these sites have enhanced networking.

Facebook

Despite being a latecomer in the market, Facebook has grown to become one of the most powerful social networking sites (Press). It was created by Harvard students, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Mark Zuckerberg, in 2004 to keep students in touch, help them share photos, and also meet new people. Though the platform was originally targeted at college students, its scope has expanded over time to include all types of people. It has also outgrown the borders of Harvard to become one of the most used social media sites in the world. However, despite these changes, the platform has remained committed to its original purpose. It allows people to share information in a way that is both easy and entertaining.

Characteristic 1: Once one has joined Facebook, they can join networks to help them find friends. Facebook categorizes networks into four groups, namely, regions, high schools, colleges, and workplaces. After joining the network, the user can then browse through the provided list of users to find people they know from their neighborhoods, high schools, colleges, or workplace. The option of sorting the people in terms of sex, age, political views, and relationship status, among other criteria, is available. Using Facebook's search engine, one can also successfully look for a specific person. This helps make networking easier.

Example 1: I attended different schools and constantly changed neighborhoods as I grew up. Resultantly, I lost contact with some of the friends I had made in my childhood. Growing up, I went to many schools, which caused me to lose contact with some of my childhood friends. In a world without social media, the possibility of meeting and connecting with them would only be left to chance. However, when after creating a Facebook account, I joined networks that enabled me to reconnect with friends from as far as the 5th grade.

Characteristic 2: Other than connecting with old friends and meeting new ones, Facebook can also be used as a blogging platform. A blog can be described as a journal kept on the internet where one writes posts and entries regarding their lives, opinions, hobbies, as well as other topics that interest them. Though Facebook does not feature a blogging platform currently, one can share their blog entries by posting the links to their blogs into the update status option, using Note features provided by Facebook, as well as through the use of third-party applications that post one's post to Facebook on publication. This way, users can inform their followers of what is going on in their lives.

Example 2: Communicating one's emotions face to face has become increasingly difficult in modern society. Resultantly, people have resorted to expressing their feelings on social media. This has, in turn, fuelled the rise of blogging on Facebook in recent years. Upon sharing their feelings online, the users can receive motivational advice from other users without having to meet them physically.

Characteristic 3: Facebook is also a leading source of information among its users around the world. The platform keeps its users up to date with the events happening around the world. For instance, a study carried out among university students in Hungary found out that Facebook is the primary source of political information for the students (Bene).

Example 3: Once logged into Facebook, users can access the news feed, which presents the latest events from around the world. One can also connect with various news outlets such as CNN, Fox5, and hence get access to news items posted by these media outlets. Moreover, one can get to know of the latest and recent happenings from the posts made by their friends on Facebook.

Instagram

Founded by Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom in 2010, the rise of Instagram has been even more rapid than that of Facebook. It has more than 1 billion users around the world today (Bruner). Initially meant to be a photo-sharing platform, it has grown to transform and define the millennial generation completely. Instagram provides an avenue for budding photographers and models to share their videos and photos with the rest of the world.

Characteristic 1: As mentioned earlier, Instagram was created to be a photo-sharing application. It allows the users to shoot, edit, as well as share photos with the rest of the users. This enables users to share their world with the rest of the world.

Example 1: Features such as filters allow users to enhance their photos before posting.

Characteristic 2: The network also allows other users to react as well as give feedback to one's post in the form of likes and comments. This can help boost the self-esteem of the user.

Example 2: Users with more followers as well as those posting better photos get more likes. This comes with a feeling of importance, a factor that has contributed to the astronomical rise of the platform.

Characteristic 3: The platform gives photographers and models an avenue to showcase their talents. The platform, therefore, can help them achieve fame.

Example 3: Photos that get most likes are put on the search page where users from around the world can view, like, and comment.

Match.com

Founded in 1993 by Peng T. Ong and Gary Kremen, Match.com is an online dating service. It has websites in more than 20 countries in 8 languages (Nguyen).

Characteristic 1: The social media platform allows individuals to build a profile based on their characteristics as well as the characteristics that they would want in a partner.

Example 1: When one is building a profile, they would include things such as their interests and hobbies.

Characteristic 2: The platform also helps pair up people when their aspirations for relationships match.

Example 2: People have been known to build strong relationships from the platform.

Characteristic 3: The platform also allows the users to meet with matches that they think are best for them.

Example 3: One can share personal information when paired up with another user. Over the course of chatting, a bond may develop, prompting the users to arrange a meeting. This could as well lead to a healthy relationship.

Conclusion: Social media has completely revolutionized the modern world. Through the use of the numerous social networking sites available today, one can easily connect and network with people from all around the world. Facebook is among the most popular social media sites in the world. It allows one to connect with friends, share their feelings, and get advice without any physical contact. Instagram is the most commonly used social media platform among millennials. It allows them to share their world with the rest of the world through photos and videos. Match.com is an online dating service that pairs users depending on their characteristics. These are some of the social media platforms that have redefined networking in the modern world.

Works Cited

Alwagait, Esam, B. Shahzad and S. Alim. "Impact of social media usage on students academic performance in Saudi Arabia." Computers in Human Behavior 15 (2015): 1092-1097. <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214004804>.

Bene, Marton. "Influenced by Peers: Facebook as an Information Source for Young People." Social Media + Society 3.2 (2017): 2056305117716273. <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2056305117716273>.

Bruner, Raisa. "A Brief History of Instagram's Fateful First Day." 16 July 2016. TIME. 17 May 2019. <http://time.com/4408374/instagram-anniversary/>.

Nguyen, Susan D. "Heterosexual Men's Experiences on Match. com." Diss. Alliant International University (2018). <http://search.proquest.com/openview/b28ad74cae4ed6b7c8aed7e69efe1f40/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y>.

Press, Gil. "Why Facebook Triumphed Over All Other Social Networks." 18 April 2018. Forbes. 17 May 2019. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2018/04/08/why-facebook-triumphed-over-all-other-social-networks/#73d0b3c76e91>.