How can social networks help you? You already know what they are, and you probably already have at least a Facebook account, and it is hard to believe that only a decade ago, even though we had some limited internet access, social networks, as we know them today, were in their infancy. Sites like MySpace were popular to some, but they were not widely accepted, and their popularity was nowhere near the popularity of Facebook or Google+ today.
Nowadays, social networks are not only a part of an everyday routine but they are an integral part of our modern lifestyle, and not to mention a very important channel of communication between businesses and us, their precious customers. All of this came with the advance of technology and due to the fact that we are constantly online, and are reading the latest news via our laptops, tablets, phablets or mobile phones. This points to the fact that everything has changed, in some ways for the better, but there are still some downfalls to all this connectivity.
Today, you only need a few seconds to check on what is happening in even the most remote places in the world with only a few clicks, and via Facebook, it is even easier to share all that with your friends and colleagues. This is not just a great convenience for you, but it does a great service to the whole society, as the truth is becoming harder and harder to hide, and Twitter can even be used in states of an emergency to quickly notify about the development of the situation using hashtags, which are an easy way of categorizing each piece of information.
The appearance of hashtags is a phenomenon in itself, the same way people started to use it sarcastically, and to give orders to, otherwise, unstructured Twitter.
On a more personal level, social networks bring you closer to your friends and relatives, especially those who live a bit farther away. In the not-so-distant past, you only had the option of calling someone and waiting for that person to respond. Now, you can easily send a message whenever you are free and wait for them to see it, from anywhere and anytime. You can tweet, or send them a video via Instagram, and it is becoming easier and easier to catch up with people who are important to you.
For those who are introverts, social networks have allowed you to make friends easier than ever, and if you ever had troubles connecting with people, there are numerous perfect platforms for that. It is quite common to have a couple of hundreds of friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter. All of this will allow you to find a group of your own where you will find like-minded individuals, while keeping all your personal information – private.
If you are feeling more artistic and you want to show off with your work, you can easily use sites like Pinterest where you can pin photos you find, or post some that are your own works of art. The whole point here is that all social media platforms are trying to win a particular group of people, and Pinterest, with its highly visual user interface, is currently the best platform for picture-based idea sharing, and there is such a wide range of content that everyone will certainly find something that they will enjoy.
Social networks have influenced the world around them in more ways than one, from vocabulary items to our actions, and they quickly gave birth to some new trends, such as taking selfies. Sharing moments of happiness is another positive thing where everyone can experience things that are normally unavailable, take and post a perfect photo so that everyone can see it.
On the other side, the importance of privacy has never been a bigger issue, and with recent leaked nude celebrity photos, you realize that even very famous and rich people are not immune to this. So, adjust settings carefully so you don’t share something unless you want to. The more you pay attention to this, the safer your networking experience will be, and you will be able to use them, not the other way around.