Social Media

It's EVERYWHERE!

Social media could possibly be one of the largest epidemics of our time. As I watch Good Morning America this morning, I see social media all over the broadcast.

But how did we get here? Though I know many social media sites were around long before Myspace, I'd like to believe that MySpace started this epidemic. I'd like to think that MySpace was indeed the tipping point. The site welcomed you with open arms, providing ways for you to individualize your page, and gave you a place where you could have as many "MySpace friends" in one place at one time. Soon, it became "MySpace me" and not "call me." Why call anyone anymore when you can MySpace him or her and he or she probably responds faster...? Yes, calling pretty much became "for the birds." Side note: my MySpace page was pretty awesome! (If I say so myself)

I'd like to think that soon so many people got fed up with MySpace. They were looking for that next "social media fix." For some time it almost seemed that MySpace would be popular forever and it would have to suffice as the only fix we could get. But no, no, no here came Facebook! Facebook was so new, and so fresh why not jump on that bandwagon? I'm not entirely sure whether it was because the site was so new or the level of exclusiveness that made Facebook that new fix for people... but it to fed into the epidemic, and it became a tipping point all in its own. What happened to the Facebook that was for college students only? The one where you had to have an ".edu" e-mail address to even join or you had to be invited by someone who had a Facebook? I think I know what happened - it tipped all the way over. It opened up for everyone. Now moms, dads, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, cousins, even grand parents are now on the Book. Granted that I still have a Facebook, I was actually kind of perturbed when my parents got on Facebook.

And then there was Twitter...

Twitter seemed to start off slow. Not many people initially knew about this site and once they did it spread like wild fire. Now it seems like everyone is on Twitter – which is fine but just like MySpace, life has come down to “Tweet me” or “why didn’t you respond to my tweet?” and my personal favorite, “you can tweet but you can’t text.”

Twitters, like the other social mediums, have taken over our lifestyle. We use it for everything all day. It never fails. I use Twitter more than Facebook now and definitely more than MySpace. Every morning, I get up, check my Twitter, maybe send a peppy “Good Morning” tweet and I begin my day. I do this everyday and I am not afraid to admit that I could possibly have some type of reliability to social media.

I’ve said all this to express how all of this relates to “The Tipping Point.” Gladwell discussed all these points in which events and society tipped which clearly still happens now. Every new social medium that arises year after year has tipped off of another. It’s almost as if social media follows the six degrees of separation – each is connected and related in some kind of way.

However as a potential public relations practitioner, I need social media. This medium helps us get our news faster as well as any and everything else. It’s a great way to get our messages out but to the expense of face-to-face communication. We don’t communicate in person as much anymore as we do via these social mediums. As much as I personally use social media, I think it has began to cripple me when it comes to conversation with strangers. I find it so much easier to text, e-mail, Facebook and/or tweet someone before I ever pick up the phone to call them. Seriously, the only person I actually pick up the phone to call is my mother and that’s kind of sad. We definitely need to get back to a time where people really talk to people… if not this could be the indefinite, inevitable tipping point of our society into a complete digital age.