The Aid Social Media Extends to Social Institutions

Invention is the mantra of the day and the evolving technological innovations has left no aspect of one’s life untouched. One such life changing invention is that of the internet which has restructured the world far beyond imagination. Be it work or entertainment people are heavily dependent on the World Wide Web.

As a consequent of the ever growing increasing use of the internet, a novel add-on is the social media sites. These are nothing but social networking websites which can be used by common man based in any part of the globe for creating personal profiles via which they can communicate with friends / family, coupled with the facility of uploading videos, pictures, and music and can also send in text messages.

Points to Note

• Social media also known as social networking has without doubt has become an integral part of our day to day lives. It is also a means of sharing and exchanging information but it is proving to be far more effective than newspaper, television, etc. Social networking platforms like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and Blogs have made possible the creation and generation of ideas so swiftly and extensively than the conventional media.

• It is worth remembering that social media is not merely an option for socializing, as today this platform is being used effectively for creating awareness for social causes.

• Social Media has given people the authority to network with people from varied communities, discuss the important social issues and jointly debate on points that people differ on.

• Society is bound together by several social groups working in unison. Some such social institutions are non-governmental organizations, hospitals, schools, colleges, charitable organizations and more. All these organization require a communication medium for keeping in touch with the common public to further the varied projects they undertake for social development.

For instance, if many a times we can see post on Facebook stating that a blood donor is required immediately on an urgent basis. Or some child has gone missing, his / her picture is posted on social media to get quicker whereabouts.

• Medical, political, natural crisis is part of the life cycle for any society. Social media has extended its assistance to the people who use this means of communication for relaying messages cutting across all geographic barriers. The state of Sikkim has witnessed a massive earthquake two years back, where phone lines and all other means of communication were disrupted but using social media people gave continuous updates about the earthquake affected area which helped in carrying out faster rescue operations.

• It has been seen that social media is an effective means for generating public opinion on varied social issues like rape, corruption, gender rights, child rights, politics, etc. The recent incident of rape of a 23 year old girl in Delhi, India, had taken the country by storm whereby people used social media networking for rapidly gathering support for the victim and putting pressure on the government for rapid action.

The collective power of the common man has been an acknowledged power for all regimes all through the history of mankind, but today with the upsurge of social networks, people are linked much closer than ever before and as a upshot, individuals from all different nations, cultures, speaking varied languages, gender can come together for a common cause and working for the betterment of the human race as a whole.