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Social Media

Social media! 

Social media has taken the world by storm and it's currently used by some 2 billion people because it's globally pervasive. Social media has become so easy and so simply to use, that anyone of  its fans can share their user-generated content within seconds with anyone else situated anywhere on the face of the globe. One could say that social media is the lifeblood of the Internet and that the trillions of digitized photos, videos, text messages and comments, etc, are its corpuscle. 

 One could take this analogy further and say that the internet has a life of its own. The global copper networks and fibre backbones run by millions of ISPs are its veins and nerves; and the collective global microprocessor power is its brain, the collective hard drive capacities are its memories and the collective software its thought processes. The Internet is modeled on the human, with the intention to give it artificial Intelligence. With the influx of "The Internet of Things, it's just a stone's throw away.  However,  it never use to be this way. 

Social Media Networks

About 50 years ago when the Internet was in its infancy and known as ARPANET, it only had a hand full of users. But over the last 20 years the Internet metamorphosed into the World Wide Web with its ever growing profusion of interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications. So much so, that there are very few people if any that's not social media or Internet savvy today. Most of them would be subscribed to some social netework, two three or more. Anything from Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp,  Google+, Viber,   Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr, WeChat, Weibo,   Wikia, YouTube,  and Baidu Tieba, etc. 

 This phenomenon gained momentum when mobile phones acquired the processing power to executed these applications and seamlessly integrate with all sorts of  apps. The inclusion of dual cameras in most mobile phones have further expanded this phenomenon to the point that virtually every self centered youth wants to upload hundreds of selfies. The drive towards increased personalization, for social media, marketing, banking, etc, comes with its own issues.  One of the biggest issues is invasion of privacy. And the all new feature launched by Snapchat called "Snap Map",   borders on creepy, especially when in ghost mode. It's the epitome of cyberstalking.
Snap Map Cyberstalking app

Pitfalls of Social Media

With the full onset of the Internet of Things, personalized social media will be stepped-up a notch or two.  But with all these benefits comes pitfalls. With personalized phone calls, personalized email, personalized comments and personalized everything, it is quit easy for individuals to be targeted victimization. Concerns have been raised that depression among the youth can be linked to excessive use of social media. Cyberbullying and pier pressure, online harassment and "trolling" has been the chief cause of the suicide level amongst the Young Adolescents quadrupling.  Suicide is now rated the second leading cause of death for youths living in Western European countries as well as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

Social Media Venting

Online venting about past relationship issues and work related issues can wreck your life. There are several people who, facebooked or tweeted racist remarks or was being  sexist or homophobic or religious intolerant or guilty of cyberbullying or used hate speech or derogatory language or making  comments inciting violence online. All of whom ruined their own lives. The latest is a tweet from Helen Ziller in which she condoned Colonialism. In the not so distant past there was an estate agent Penny Sparrow who ended up in court and faced criminal charges for racist comments she made. And the list goes on.

How to Social Media

Creating a social media account is as easy as pie but doesn't come without risks, as mentioned above. Most social media platforms   allows you to search for people you haven't seen for a long time, like class mates or lost lovers for example. But tracing agents, debt collectors, collection services, Cyberstalkers, crackers, etc, also use these services to hunt you down, so be careful who you befriend.

 https://www.facebook.com/
Facebook connect you to friends, family and other people you know or don't know. It allows you to share photos and videos, send messages and get updates. 

 https://twitter.com/
Twitter gives you the opportunity to "tweet" meaning it allows you to broadcast short burst messages internet wide with the hope that your messages would make a difference in someones life. It also informs you whats trending.

 https://www.whatsapp.com/
Whatsapp messenger allows you to quickly send and receive messages right from your computer or mobile phone, much like email. currently It has more than 1 billion subscribers in over 180 countries and is an ideal tool to stay in touch with friends and family.

 LinkedIn
Connects  you  to other professionals and makes it easier to discover companies who require staff with your skills.

 https://plus.google.com/
Google+ is a platform for discover amazing things and connect to like minded and people who are passionate about similar interests. It allows you to follow them. 

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