Week1 B: Social Media Use Today

    Hi again readers, welcome back! Today we'll be discussing my thoughts about social media use. So subjective, but now you know. Now that that's out of the way... 

image from PublicDomainPictures.com

    I can confirm that personal social media users have highly individualized expressions. At its best, I've seen social media used to give people a bigger voice than they might have in their personal lives. Social media is used as a sounding board for people to experiment with expressing their identities and ideas. It also provides a platform for communities of people who share similar experiences. And there are so many other personal reasons to use social media that I don't even (want to) know about. 

    Small businesses are trying to get their quality products out to a bigger audience. And this is yet another area where social media really shines, because even in an economy that's far from bustling, the small business has a chance to survive, get their brand out, and make a name for themselves. Shipping a single order across the country may not be optimal, but with the way things have been over the last few years, having a brick and mortar store front can be even more tumultuous and ultimately, an unhealthy risk. One "great and terrible" thing about social media is it can scale to any size business.

image from PublicDomainPictures.com

    Mega businesses can use social media directly, through platforms to improve brand image. They can make sure the public knows that their enterprise supports a particular charity, or has helped create infrastructure somewhere. Often social media is used by these organizations indirectly; as in buying our residual data and using it to train AI what to like, which creates more effective algorithms to direct personalized advertising to us. 

    The reasons to use social media can be vastly complex, relatively simple, personal, professional, philanthropic, and predatory. Or any and all intersections of those reasons and more. It's like a calculus problem that has infinitely many answers and at the same time, just one answer - it depends on who's doing the using and why. And this is where my mind goes on a weekend morning. Hope you enjoyed the ride!