The ubiquitous, powerful force of social media is our modern day “word of mouth.” While people do hear news by directly conversing with others, most information is now obtained through various forms of social media. As a teenager, this is so prevalent in my life and the lives of my peers. Though several of us read daily newspapers and magazines, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are where we obtain a significant amount of information regarding current events.
For the younger generation, technology has proven to be the way people receive their news. Luckily, technology allows people to access a multitude of different viewpoints on the same topic, which is essential given the contentious political state of the world at the moment. From my experience, both my friends and I use technology to make our viewpoints well-rounded, shape our political views and stay well-read and up-to-date with current world affairs.
Luckily, social media gives each and every individual the power of having their own voice, which is invaluable. As a young person, I am able to engage in virtually any issue I am passionate about via different social media platforms. If I am fervent about a particular issue, I am able to use technology to publicly oppose or support certain political and/or economic actions, in hopes that my voice, along with the voices of others, will be heard and changes made.
For instance, my peers and I have personally conducted several social media campaigns to spread awareness about specific global issues. From a practical standpoint, we realize that in order to best engage our peers in any campaign, it is incumbent to appeal to them and get the message across in a comprehensive, efficient way; social media platforms give us the power to do just that. By posting Instagram posts promoting gender equality, water and sanitation, global education and several worldwide topics, our social media followers have become much more globally aware.
In general, social media allows others to rapidly spread the word, whether it’s through retweeting, reposting, reblogging or sharing. The beauty of social media is that news can spread instantaneously and reach the masses within a matter of seconds. In this unprecedented, current political climate, social media has played an extremely unique role. We even see the President of the United States using social media to interact with the world. Furthermore, this shows the true power and influence of social media in our society today, thus making it an extremely valuable tool.
