You often hear the phrase ‘The World is a Global Village’, it was used during the early days of the internet and I sometimes wonder what it means. Now it has become a reality. Social Media connects the world and people so closely that you can talk, share something, watch and even immerse in with the help of Virtual Reality.
What is Social Media?
An online website or a platform for Social interaction is called Social Media. People use social media apps and websites for sharing of information, thoughts, ideas and emotions. It makes mainstream media like newspapers and TV channels vulnerable as more people use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for news and information more often.
Today we have so many social networking apps like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Linkedin, WeChat, and many more. But who is the most dominant player of all?
How Facebook becomes the source of Fake news and propaganda?
Why Twitter is so powerful?
Which is the most used social networking platform in the world?
There is no doubt that Facebook is a giant in the industry with 3049 Million users it is the most used platform in the world, the Facebook also known as Meta owns Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads which have millions of user as well.
On the other hand Twitter has more authority and trust, because the news or information provided by orgnizations, world leaders and personalities himself.
History of Social Media
The Rise of Facebook
Facebook was launched in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. Originally it was for college students only, as Zuckerberg himself was a student at Harward when he started this project for campus use only like classmates.com or any other network.
The main difference between Facebook and other social media platforms at that time was its features, which gave it so much widespread popularity. Some people say it was its friendly user interface and some say its most iconic Like button was the major difference among all. Zuckerberg dropped out of school after 2 years and launched Facebook for the public. The popularity of Facebook is unmatchable, still, it is the biggest social media platform in the world leaving behind all the other networks.
Significance of Twitter
X formerly known as Twitter was launched in March 2007 by Jack Dorsey and his friends. The inspiration came from SMS-sharing services like TXTmob. This is why it launched with 160-character tweets initially, later they increased the length and number of characters. The simplicity of Twitter makes it special, a simple tweet without any status, image, or videos can share a lot of information.
It became popular, especially at the Government and official levels. Governments, organizations, and world leaders use Twitter for any announcement or public interaction.
The greatest example is Donald J. Trump, who used Twitter so much that he created a narrative of being anti-establishment in the eyes of the people of US, his supporters base is now so strong they believe whatever trump says whether true or false. His tweets made him more popular and eventually guided his path to the US presidency ion 2016.
Elon Musk Takeover
Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk in 2022 who was the largest shareholder of Twitter but always a critique of how Twitter is running. He wants it to be an open-source platform with free speech for all but is resisted by the board of governors. So he offered a hefty $44 Billion to buy the entire company. As per his idea and promise he did make Twitter a free speech platform where you can post anything without the fear of taking it down by admin or bots.
Smart Phone Era
Use of Social Media Worldwide
Use of Social Media in the USA
72% US Adult population use social media
73% regularly visit YouTube
69% are active Facebook users
75% of age 18 to 24 use Instagram
56% of age 18 to 24 use TikTok
Age-wise use:
Generation Z: Instagram, TikTok, WhatApp, Discord
Millennials: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, TickTok
Generation X: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp