Introduction
Social media is no longer a new thing in our society and this is a fact that we all need to agree to. This means that social media has become part of lives and this is expected to increase as time goes b y. In this case, our lives revolve around social media.
As a matter of fact, most of us have at one time or the other used social media for a specific purpose. This therefore means that social media is an expected thing in our lives. All of us acknowledge that social media has brought about a revolution that has shifted various aspects in our lives. The spread of social media in our lives has been brought about by various issues.
For instance, more than 50% of the world’s population is below 30 years and this has acted in favor of social media. This is because they are the most active users (Quan 12). Of this entire people, more than 90% have joined social media in one way or the other. Currently, most traffic on the internet is advocated for by social media and this is very commendable. People do not have a choice as far as social media is concerned. This means that we have to be part of social media instead of trying to avoid it. As a matter of fact, it is undeniable that we can avoid embracing social media.
Social media is affecting the way we relate, talk and write as far as our lives are concerned. Because human beings are social, we all speak social and this has been revolutionized by social media. As far as this paper is concerned, social media has a lot of impacts on politics like in Philippine and Iran. The most recent impact of social media has been witnessed in Egypt and Tunisia (Advertising Age 10). Social media has also brought about relief to the distressed like the recent earthquake in Japan. In addition, social media has also been used to collect donations for the needy and the distressed.
A perfect example is the earthquake in Japan and Haiti that happened recently.
Discussion
Social media and politics
Social media has had a lot of impacts on the political happenings that have been witnessed in recent months. There have been various protests in different countries mostly in the Arab world that have removed leaders from power. In Philippines, more than seven million messages were sent and this changed the tide drastically (Shirky 7).
Spain and Iran experienced some problems because of the impact of social media. Therefore, recent protests in various countries have been accelerated by the social media. Most of the mass protests that were witnessed in Egypt and Tunisia were inspired by the social media (Giglio 17). People who are yearning for political change have never had a good platform where they can advance their arguments and ideas. This is because some countries have punitive laws that do not offer the much needed freedom for them to express their displeasure. In this case, they have found social media as a good platform where they can reach as many people as possible.
This therefore poses a big question that needs to be discussed and answered. In this case, we need to know the role of social media as far as politics is concerned. Social media was used in such countries to rally people to the streets where they could protest.
Therefore, this protests act as a test performance on social media for what has been happening in the Middle East in the past months. Protests have been easy to organize because all they need to do is to pass their message on the internet. In this case, people are informed of where protests will be. It should be known that majority of these protestors in places like Egypt and Tunisia could easily talk about what they want. As much as social media has been instrumental in shaping the political environment, some good intentions have ended up being violent. This is mostly done when people feel that what they wanted is taking too long. Social media has become very powerful and there is no politician who can ignore its impacts. People have been able to gather in different places because of social media and this is expected to take shape as time goes by (Shirky 13).
It is therefore undisputed that social media has ignited all this protests. Blogs and social media are increasingly being used by various activists to communicate to the masses.
Social media and Resources (donations)
The earthquake in Japan and Haiti has just proved that social media can be used to bring people together to help others. Social media has therefore been used to bring relief to the distressed in disasters like it happened in Japan that was hit by an earthquake. In a broad perspective, social media has been used to share a lot of information on the disaster (Burby 29). Fundraising and charity blogs were formed on the internet to collect donations for the victims of the earthquake.
On the other hand, groups were formed on social media like Facebook to share their solidarity with the people of Japan. Such groups therefore provided a lot of relief to the distressed. In this case, they were meant to believe that there are others who still care for them. Social media therefore provided a positive impact to the Haiti and Japan earthquakes (Advertising Age, 18).
Different people were able to share human concerns about the victims. As a matter of fact, the affected could also reach out to the society through social media. Organizations could also use social media to reach out to their employees who were in different areas that were hardest hit. In this case, it should be known that social media has become a medium of choice for various people especially in places like Japan and Haiti that were hit by massive earthquakes. People were also able to view first hand information on what was happening in these places. The traditional media could also rely on social media to share what people think about the earthquake and what can be done to help the victims. Most families are grateful on the impact that social media had on their lives as far as the earthquake is concerned. In this case, the global village was greatly informed of what was happening in these countries (Bowen 25).
People could be located through the social media and this was good because using other means could be costly. The world was able to share their thoughts on the earthquake in Japan and Haiti. Social media has also played a big role in collecting donations for the distressed and the needy in places like Japan and Haiti. In this case, social media can be used to collect resources as far as disasters are concerned. Non profit organizations could urge people to collect money that was later on used to assist the needy who had been greatly affected (American Red Cross 11). As a matter of fact, social media brought people closer by informing them on what was really happening.
It should be known that social media will be used to help people in Japan and Haiti recover as time goes by. Silicon Valley VCs is an example of an organization that used social media to raise money for the earthquake victims in Japan (American Red Cross 16). Various online giving campaigns were able to raise enough money that helped the victims to recover to normalcy. As a matter of fact, groups were able to mobilize people to donate whatever they could to aid the victims.
Wholesomely, social media has had a positive impact on the victims of the earthquake in Japan and Haiti.
Conclusion
It is undeniable that social media will continue to play an important role and part in our lives. This is as far as the political environment and social aspects are concerned. As time goes by, social media will continue to revolutionize the way we go about our business and activities.
This is something that has attracted a lot of attention on what should be done to embrace social media (Burby 29). Everybody is talking about social media and this has brought in big organizations and companies. In this case, they nowadays conduct their business on social media and this is a good strategy because they can reach as many people as possible. As much as social media has contributed to a lot of political shifts and realignments, it has positively assisted the distressed. This means that we can always share information on disasters that are happening throughout the world. Social media should be used positively to transform our lives and give us new experiences instead of bringing problems.
Works Cited
Advertising Age. Global citizens, marketers rely on social media after Japanese quake. Japan: Sendai, 2011. Print. American Red Cross. Social Media has changed news coverage during disaster coverage. 2011. Web .
7 April. 2011. http://emergencysocialdata. posterous. com/social-media-has-changed- news- gathering-during Bowen, Jeremy. Mid-East unrest: The discontent shaping new Arab world. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times, 2011. Print.
Burby, Jason. Understand the Impact of Social Media. 2009. Web . 7 April. 2011. http://www. clickz.
com/clickz/column/1712135/understand-impact-social-media Giglio, Mike. Inside Egypt’s Facebook revolt. USA: The daily beast online, 2011. Print. Quan, Douglas.
Phone texts bring relief to B. C parents. Canada: Postmedia news, 2011. Print.
Shirky, Clay. Technology; the public sphere, and political change. 2011. Web . 7 April. 2011. http://www. foreignaffairs. com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media
