Social Media

Six Degrees, was one of the first social media sites and took its name after the six degrees of separation theory. The theory holds that each person is six introductions away from any other person on the planet. The site, which lasted from 1997 to 2001, allowed users to create a profile and generate a following. In the two decades since, the social media landscape has grown to include blogging, instant messaging and apps that allow people to communicate at all hours. The use of social media has been linked to higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, depression and a decrease in social skills among people of all ages. But those feelings are felt especially strongly by teenage girls.

When Mark Zuckerberg first decided seven years ago to learn Mandarin, the official dialect of mainland China, he reportedly did it to impress the family of his then long-time girlfriend and now wife, Priscilla Chan. Nevertheless, Zuckerberg found learning the language useful for business, especially when it comes to trying to get Facebook into the Chinese market.

Cyberbullying among college students is largely the result of significant use on social media. Most adults remember bullying happening in school, but cyberbullying has taken bullying to the internet through social media accounts, e-mails, instant messages and text messaging. A 2014 study from the Journal of Educational Computing research found 19 percent of college students reported being victims of cyberbullying, an increase from the year before. Although there is a good amount of cyberbullying data on adolescents, not much research on cyberbullying of college students has been conducted.

Smartphones have made it easy for people to stay connected at all times. But they can create a life-threatening risk if a person decides to check their social media, email, text messages or any other mobile application while driving. Cell phone distraction rates are the highest they have been in the last decade, according to data from the National Safety Council. As many as 40,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2016, research shows.

The turn of the 21st century marked a period in which social media use created a new culture emphasizing inclusion and shared identity. Nearly a decade after the introduction of social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram, teenagers are learning how to interact with the world through the bright screens of their electronic devices.

For more than 50 years, Americans primarily got their news from newspapers, radio or television. Now a fourth option, the internet, is increasingly being used by Americans. However, Americans are not just going to the online versions of traditional media outlets, they are going to social media.

Communication between couples has changed drastically over the past decade, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. From face to face conversations with their significant other to disagreements over how much time someone spends online, social media has shifted the way couples communicate.

Almost nothing gets by Black Twitter. Black Twitter is a civil rights movement, U.S Supreme Court and the Shaderoom, all in one. There is no special membership, you just have to be able to stand and dish the heat of black knowledge and culture. If you’re black, have black friends, or have spent time at a historically black college, you more than likely will pass the test. 

More than 80 percent of the U.S. population is on social media. For businesses, that means having a social media presence is crucial to remaining relevant and effective.