There was a time when being social meant picking up the phone book and the old dial hand receiver and making a call. Nowadays, people are as like to ‘tweet’ or ‘instant message’ each other in order to communicate, as they are to share a blog post containing their thoughts and opinions, or upload photos to their social networking profiles.
As another decade rapidly draws to a close, it’s fascinating to take a quick look back at the impact of social media and how it has affected almost every aspect of our lives.
By all accounts we shouldn’t really be here. Remember all the fuss about the Millennium Bug? People hording supplies of food in the belief that the world would enter meltdown.
Well, far from driving people away from all things digital, the noughties saw us throw ourselves head first into the ever spiralling digital realm.
Social media has meant its never been easier to stay in touch with each other, to consume, to share our opinions, to understand each other better and the world. It has changed the landscape of so many areas of our lives.
The emergence of citizen journalists saw the shape of news capturing change forever. Take for instance the role of the Iranian people in using social media to expose the oppression and widespread protests following the 2009 election. From opinion sharers to music makers and lovers, social media has impacted each of us. Bloggers became more influential than journalists who had been plying their trade for years. Music bands found that through sites like Myspace they could rapidly connect with a new fanbase. The list goes on and on.
Social media has undoubtedly broken down barriers and brought each and everyone of us closer together. It has also shifted our habits, thoughts and perceptions in a more rapid way than any other phenomena over the last 100 years. But for all the changes, it also throws up another question. We’ve come so far so quickly; what does the future hold?
