The Social Media was introduced to us in the mid 90s and became a household name when Friendster came out in the early 2000's. Soon after that, Facebook overtook the online platform and it spread like wildfire. It brought the world closer and made it seem smaller.
It helped people find long lost friends and make new ones. It also gave introverts a taste of the social scene. Many more social media sites followed after that – like Twitter and Instagram to name a few of the famous ones, but there are hundreds out there that cater to your specific needs and preferences. Facebook is currently the most used social networking site all over the world.
According to Wikipedia - "Social media has been broadly defined to refer to 'the many relatively inexpensive and widely accessible electronic tools that enable anyone to publish and access information, collaborate on a common effort, or build relationships. It is, undoubtedly, the more frequented medium today. Its benefits are endless; however, like any other thing in the world, it also has its own disadvantages.
Because of the number of people using social media, which is now currently in the billions, it has become a part of mainstream media. And because of its accessibility, anyone has the the same means of entry as everyone else; by default, anyone can just post anything online without regulation. Those of you who understand the discipline of journalism will definitely agree that social media can become a dangerous tool that anyone can use to mislead and slander individuals and even companies for that matter. The worse part is: they may not even know it. It is indeed fun and it has positive attributes, but one must be very careful when using it. Sharing information takes responsibility as well as taking information from it.
There are so many instances that we have been misled by wrong information or situations that lack the empirical data to support the whole story. Opinions are made in social media. The sad reality is that everyone validates this information and it is taken as it is without the need for verification. I am hoping that we learn to be responsible in using this powerful tool. This is something designed for the good and not to create mass confusion. And as what Spiderman said, "with great power comes great responsibility"; this is the gift and curse of social media.