Social Media (Research Paper Sample)

Social Media
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The use of social media has greatly been enhanced by the increased internet use across the globe in the last one decade. It has impacted society both positively and negatively and has become quite necessary in facilitating interactions among individuals. Some of the commonly used social media sites include Facebook and YouTube. People from different countries across the world have been able to interact and share their cultural beliefs and practices. As a result, social media has resulted to cultural homogenization whereby people have acquired similar principles and practices making the world quite uniform. It has also provided a platform for people to learn new things and embrace cultures that are acceptable in a global scope. With the continuous technological advancements, there have been improvements in social media functioning. It has become possible for society to regulate the content people of certain ages are able to view. Security levels have been boosted through the encryption of different sites. Social media is therefore essential and its continued use is important as the modern society aligns itself to technological innovations which can potentially transform interactions for the better.
YouTube
YouTube is one of the world’s phenomenal video sharing sites. According to Alleyne (2008), the idea to invent a video sharing platform was initiated in February 2005 by Clad Hurley and Steve Chen who were colleagues and had found it impossible to upload their videos to the internet compared to pictures. With Chen being a specialist in computer science and Hurley good in fine art, designing the new website was quite smooth. They worked closely with their friend, Jawad Karim whom they were colleagues at PayPal and had the first video clip posted in YouTube on April 23, 2005. After seeing their pursuits pay at last, the website was made open for societal members to view it and use it to share videos. Despite having to overcome various financial constraints, the founder’s great work was acknowledged by various internet firms such as Google. After attempting to have YouTube remain independent in vain due to the lack of computing and communication capabilities, an acquisition deal with Google was signed in October 2006 with Chen and Hurley getting Google shares worth thousands of million dollars. Karim had left YouTube after its inception meaning that his colleagues were the best suited to enjoy its success (Alleyne, 2008).
YouTube has had various advantages as well as disadvantages to its users during its close to a decade period of use. The advantages involve the fact that YouTube has made it possible for people to earn money. For instance, people find it easy to open Google Adsense accounts through which they may have some money credited into their accounts depending on the quality and number of videos they upload thereby attracting many individuals into the site. It also provides an opportunity for individuals from different parts of the globe to attract other organizations to post ads on their video pages so that they may market their activities and through the internet. YouTube has played a huge role in making people famous and at the same enlighten individuals from different countries on activities that happen in other societies. By posting amazing video clips, people attract millions of viewers thereby boosting the popularity of individuals as well as their unique abilities. YouTube also has the advantage of being a social networking site owing to the fact that it makes it likely for people meet others who have similar interests or have them connected so that they may continuously share ideas. People do not have to make any payments so that their videos may be made available for people to view them in the site and this makes it convenient (Sondagar, 2013).
The disadvantages associated with YouTube include the high cost of purchasing and maintaining the equipments required to take quality videos. Moreover, maintaining skilled personnel to take the videos is expensive considering that payments by the site are made depending on the ads made on the pages basing on views. The high competition posed by the emergence of new web video platforms has also been disadvantageous to may YouTube users who find it difficult to attain the desired popularity. The extent at which people upload low quality content in the site has also reduced the urge by individuals to use the site thereby posing further problems (Christian, 2011).
Facebook
Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg who had come up with different social networking websites for his fellow students at Harvard University. Its original name was “The Facebook” which had been derived from the sheets distributed to students in his schools as he tried to urge may people to sign up. Within a few months, Facebook spread to other universities in US before it became Facebook.com in 2005 after acquiring the address for $200,000. Facebook use among outside schools began in September 2006 whereby people only needed email addresses to sign up freely and socialize with their friends. Its features have continued to advance and this has led to Facebook attracting over 30 million users making it the largest social networking site (Phillips, 2007).
Facebook has a number of advantages. Firstly, it provides an opportunity for people to receive the latest information in a more convenient way. As a result, people in areas where they do not have access to televisions or radios get the chance to know what is happening across the globe. Secondly, Facebook has provided a platform for people to make new friends and connect with old pals who they would not have otherwise traced their whereabouts. Thirdly, the site has been helpful to businesses in that it has made advertising easy and cheap. With features such as advertising and fan pages, Facebook has provided a stage for businesspeople to extend their consumer base and provide timely information whenever changes are made (HubPages Inc, 2013).
On the other hand, Faceb...