Back in what most people call the "old days," before the internet came into being, communication was somehow complicated. Communication could only happen between people who saw each other physically and later through letters, where a message would take forever to be conveyed to the recipient, and the sender had to wait for the reply forever to get the message back. The internet eased the communication process and is widely regarded as the greatest invention. Social media followed the internet and has made interaction between people easier and faster. This paper analyzes social media in the history and humanities perspectives and how it has impacted various institutions.
Lens Analysis: History
Throughout history, various technologies have been developed to enable people to communicate easily. Social media have evolved through the years to modern-day digital communication. Various social media platforms are now available that make communication between people easier and include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Myspace, and others. Social media has had a significant impact on various institutions; some are positive, while others are negative. Various institutions have been greatly impacted by social media and can attribute their success to social media use and include politics, commerce, and the world of work.
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The use of social media has changed how politics are done. A study by Pew Research found that about 67% of people currently obtain political news through social media, with 18% relying on social media heavily (Bialik & Matsa, 2017) . In comparison to other types of media, social media has changed how politicians carry out their campaigns. Initi ally, politicians used traditional media to explain their manifestos; this took a lot of time and may have failed to reach many people. However, with the introduction of social media, political campaigns have become another simple task for politicians to engage individuals easily. Social media use has highly influenced the election of the first African-American president. According to Aeker & Chang (2009), Obama used social media to mobilize the public, which helped raise awareness and financial assistance for his campaigns. He had more followers and friends on social media platforms, like Facebook, compared to his opponent, Joh McCain. Since social media allows people to communicate effectively, it has helped politicians campaign effectively.
Social media has also greatly influenced businesses. It has enabled businesses to reach customers they would not have reached through traditional marketing strategies, like using salespeople. Currently, businesses can connect with customers by stimulating demand and targeted marketing, resulting in higher revenues (Ghoshal, 2019) . Additionally, social media has a profound effect on hiring and recruiting in organizations. Using social media platforms, like LinkedIn, managers can identify candidates who are suitable in their organizations (Koch et al., 2018). Also, individuals who develop skills through advanced social media techniques, such as YouTube, are employable. Research by Seaman and Kane in 2013 indicated that social media interaction promotes an educational environment, which has enabled people from different regions to access education and skills (Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013). Despite negative issues, like lack of privacy caused by social media, it has promoted learning, training, and development.
Lens Analysis: Humanities
The humanities transit across culture, time, and diverse human expressions have allowed individuals to contextualize and illuminate various aspects of history and culture. Ages ago, communication to share humanities was a problem. Without communication, humans would be adrift and lost. The internet and social media era have brought a new dawn to humanities through civic and cultural dialogues individuals hold online. Social media has positively and negatively impacted humanities institutions, like relationships.
Social media has made people more powerful through social media interactions. More than 70% of individuals in the USA use social media platforms, like Facebook (PEW, 2019). Through social media, individuals who have marginal views can receive support from other individuals. When individuals with similar opinions meet on social media, great relationships can be born, some of which blossom and help such individuals to break into mainstream. Additionally, social media has shifted the political power from the hands of a few to those of the masses. According to Shirky (2011), social media activism has increased awareness about various issues, like politics, which has resulted in real change.
Social media has also encouraged people to form and adore artificial bonds. Social media platforms like Facebook have enabled people from different parts of the world to interact by befriending each other (Matook & Butler, 2015) . Although the term 'friend' lacks intimacy, people can exchange ideas. Additionally, social media has enabled people in long-distance relationships to keep in touch through the advanced messaging and video calling features, which has helped keep relationships strong regardless of the distance. Despite this benefit, social media weakens relationships at times if misused (Whiteside et al., 2018). The interaction between individuals through social media has encouraged cheating, which has adverse impacts on spouses.
Despite the positive impact of social media on humanities, it has negatively affected psychological health through cyberbullying (Garett et al., 2016). As individuals try to fit in or become popular in the quest to outshine the others, they are subjected to extreme pressure. In this process, the individuals may be subjected to bullying, which has adverse effects on them psychologically. Individuals can now be bullied wherever they are as opposed to the past where individuals could only be bullied physically; social media has eliminated barriers, making individuals vulnerable.
The bottom line for this is that social media has improved how individuals communicate and interact. It has helped boost business performance through improved customer engagement, learning, relationships, society, and the world of work. Despite this, it has some adverse effects on relationships and cyber-bullying. The positive impacts of social media are astronomical and, by far, surpass the negatives. It is, however, advisable, if advisable, if individuals use social media wisely to reap experience its benefits rather than its negatives.
References
Aeker, J., & Chang, V. (2009). Obama and the Power of Social Media and Technology. Graduate School of Business: Stanford University . Retrieved from https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/obama-power-social-media-technology
Bialik, K., & Matsa, K. E. (2017, October 4). Key trends in social and digital news media. Pew Research . Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/04/key-trends-in-social-and-digital-news-media/
Garett, R., Lord, L. R., & Young, S. D. (2016). Associations between social media and cyberbullying: a review of the literature. mHealth, 2 (46). doi:10.21037/mhealth.2016.12.01
Ghoshal, M. (2019). Social Media as an Effective Tool to Promote Business-An Empirical Study Social Media as an Effective Tool to Promote Business-An Empirical Study. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 19 (1), 15-25.
Koch, T., Gerber, C., & Klerk, M. (2018). The impact of social media on recruitment: Are you LinkedIn? SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 16 (1). doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v16i0.861
Matook, S., & Butler, B. (2015). Social Media and Relationships. In The International Encyclopaedia of Digital Communication and Society (First ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. doi:10.1002/9781118767771.wbiedcs097
Seaman, J., & Tinti-Kane, H. (2013, October). SOCIAL MEDIA FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING. Pearson Learning Solutions . Retrieved from https://onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-2013-report.pdf
Shirky, C. (2011). The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change. Foreign Affairs, 90 (1), 28-41.
Social Media Fact Sheet. (2019, June 12). Pew Research Center . Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
Whiteside, N., Aleti, T., Pallant, J., & Zeleznikow, J. (2018). Helpful or harmful? Exploring the impact of social media usage on intimate relationships. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 22 . doi:10.3127/ajis.v22i0.1653
