Social Media has Rocked our World

 

Social Media has Rocked Our World

As a man in my early sixties, lately I have been getting the feeling that I am a tourist who is trying to find my way in a foreign land that is ruled and inhabited by younger generations.  I feel like I have 2 paths that I can follow.  I can either surround myself with my contemporaries by moving to a 55 plus community and building my life around pickle ball matches, which doesn’t sound half bad. Or, I can struggle to remain technologically relevant and try to understand the social connections, ideals and innovations that motivate today’s younger generations.  The very things that turned communications, as my generation has always known it, upside down and inside out.  I’m blogging here!!!  So, guess which path I have decided to travel?

 

Social Media Platforms in 2024 

If you too find yourself looking around and wondering what planet you landed on in 2024, my goal is to help you make sense of this brave new world of communications.  Yes, our world has been rocked since the dawn of social media, also referred to as Web 2.0. Today, social media includes platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, but it also includes video platforms like YouTube, photo sharing platforms like Pinterest and Blogging Platforms as well.  Each of these social media sites has its own peculiarities and specialties and caters more strongly to different age groups and interests.

 
Four Social Media Statistics You Should Know

(Kemp, 2023; Social Media Fact Sheet 2024)

1.     There are 8 billion people alive in the world today. Almost 4.8 billion of those people use social media

2.      Facebook with over 3 billion users and YouTube with over 2.5 billion users are the most popular social media platforms in the world.

3.      Instagram and WhatsApp each have over 2 billion users.  Followed by TikTok which has over 1.5 billion users

4.     WeChat is a social media and messaging platform popular in China with over 1.3 billion users

5.     There are 35 social media sites with over 100 million users.

 

What’s Your Experience with Social Media

Love it or hate it, social media has changed our world and will continue to into the immediate future. We all have stories unique stories about our interactions with social media.  Some of us have found long lost friends, others have found their soul mates, some have started businesses, while others have been swindled or gas-lighted.  Do you have a story about how social media has either positively or negatively affected your life?  If so, post it here.

 

Additional Resources:

Social Media is always changing.  This video paints a picture of how social media platforms have come and gone since 1997.  For those of us who have been around a while, you recognize that classmates.com is the only platform that was there at the beginning  and is still around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J9Wy_Fhdz0

This article, which appeared in Forbes magazine, provides a good update on social media in 2024.  "Top Social Media Statistics and Trends: 202"

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/social-media-statistics/

References

Kemp, S. (2023, February 4). Digital 2023: Global Overview Report — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights. DataReportal – Global Digital Insights. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-global-overview-report

Social media fact sheet (2024, April 29) Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/?tabItem=0ec23460-3241-4a1f-89bc-0c27fb641936