What is your perception of social media, do you think it is a fad or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

I do not believe that Social Media is a fad, at least not completely. It is something that has been able to bring people together in a way that has never really failed to do what it has been meant to. It has recently received a boost in the last few years and has become more important than ever but it has been there, in a way, for a long time. While the original social media was not really something that was accessed by many, the introduction of sites such as Facebook and Twitter has exploded it into something much larger.

The shift from no social media to having social media is easier to see now than it has been in some time. Families that live far apart can be together thanks to the internet and many social sites. For example, Facebook allows people to tell others, who they know and accept onto their ‘friends’ list, how their day is going or when they will be doing something. In turn those people can comment on that and may even end up spending time with the person because of this.

While most of Social Media is not a fad, I believe that the sites (or tools) themselves will come and go. Years ago Myspace was the website to be on and to have friends talk to you, at least from my experience. Now Facebook is the most common site for this to occur. At least on the social level, other sites, such as LinkedIn, are used for a more professional view of social media.

Sites like Twitter, where the messages are short and to the point, may also be sustainable with the simple format that they adhere to. It depends on the trends and what happens with the sites in the future. The fact that Twitter, for this example, is so simple and easy to use also aids with it being sustainable as a social medium. With the simple interface and ease at which a post/tweet can be made people are signing up for the use of the site often. The celebrity presence on such sites is also a draw for people to use them.