Blog #2 - Facebook and Society

The use of the internet and the popularity of social media has affected how the majority of people live day to day.  The rising popularity of Facebook over the years has had both positive and negative effects on society.  Facebook launched in 2004 by Harvard students and was originally limited to allow only users from their school, it later expanded to other colleges, and then eventually it was open to the public.  At the end of 2015 (Statistica, n.d.) recorded that Facebook had over 1.59 billion active users.  Facebook has become an integrated part of many websites, one major way is by allowing users to sign up to websites by linking their Facebook account instead of having to register all their information.

While people online are able to connect with anyone around the world at any time, that sometimes leaves less time for ones in their personal lives.  People have become accustomed to sharing everything with everyone, and being constantly connected.  In 2015 Francesca Di Meglio interviewed a couple’s therapist to find out about personal situations in where Facebook caused a relationship to end.  She wrote for (Newlyweds, 2015) about a man who rekindled with an ex-girlfriend after reconnecting on Facebook, which ended up destroying his marriage.  There have been many reports that relationship failures have been linked to Facebook use.  (CP U.S., 2014) found that numerous studies showed a direct link between heavy Facebook use and divorce/relationship failure.  One of their sources noted that 80% of divorce attorneys have seen an increase where divorces listed social media as a factor.

Unfortunately, Facebook is also a popular platform for cyber-bullying.  (Cyberbullying Statistics, 2014) compared different surveys taken in 2013-2014 to show trends of cyberbullying.  In 2014 Ditch the Label polled over 10,000 youths and found that young people were twice more likely to be bullied on Facebook than on other social networks.  Their study also showed that 75% of the participants used Facebook, and of that 54% experienced cyber-bullying.  In 2008, an 18 year old girl named Jessica Logan committed suicide following cyberbullying attacks on Facebook and other social media.  (NoBullying.com, 2015) reported that she had sent a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend and it ended up being spread to hundreds of students.  Obviously Facebook would not condone bullying, they are simply one of the most popular platforms; which is why they are often associated with cyberbullying.

The widespread use of Facebook is also very beneficial for the entertainment industry.  Embedding videos of trailers and sneak peeks, constant sharing lets people know when new music and movies are coming out.  Celebrities also benefit from using social media to communicate with their fans, or even just having a page set up and run by a special team; any fan interacting drives engagement.  According to (Celebrities Social Media, 2014) Kevin Hart’s use of social media helped increase the success of the movie Ride Along.  Kevin Hart, along with many other celebrities, run their own accounts to engage with fans directly and that has more of a positive impact on their success.

With the rising use of Facebook, businesses also benefit from being able to engage with their customers.  Sending out mail advertisements or emailing flyers may not make it to all the expected customers.  Mail often is lost or tossed out and emails can be overlooked or filtered to spam.  In 2012, (Social Media Strategies, 2013) reported that Nike gained over 160 thousand Facebook fans with a social media campaign that featured average athletes rather than the high profile ones.  When a business posts or advertises on Facebook it is almost guaranteed that their customers will see it, along with thousands of other users.  Every time a user engages with a post (whether they like, comment, or share), everyone on their friends list will see; which in turn gives all other users the option to engage as well. 

Other than the spread of misinformation, I think that Facebook is a useful tool for people. We are able to keep in touch with friends and loved ones, meet new people, increase businesses and more.  As with most things in life, I believe it is not necessarily the tool that has pros or cons, but how we choose to use it. 

References

(2013, April 13). Retrieved March 15, 2016, from Social Media Strategies: http://socialmediastrategiessummit.com/blog/top-10-companies-with-successful-social-media-marketing-campaigns-on-facebook/

(2015, December 22). Retrieved March 15, 2016, from NoBullying.com: http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/

Celebrities Social Media. (2014, April 21). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from Deadline: http://deadline.com/2014/04/celebrities-social-media-hollywood-marketing-vin-diesel-jimmy-fallon-714091/

CP U.S. (2014, July 18). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from Christian Post: http://www.christianpost.com/news/facebook-users-are-more-likely-to-divorce-study-finds-123523/

Cyberbullying Statistics. (2014). Retrieved February 20, 2016, from NoBullying.com: http://nobullying.com/cyberbullying-bullying-statistics-2014-finally/

Newlyweds. (2015, August). Retrieved March 15, 2016, from About: http://newlyweds.about.com/od/gettingalong/a/How-Facebook-Ruined-One-Couples-Marriage.htm

Statistica. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2016, from statistica.com: http://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/