To all Cyborgs welcome to social media 2013

For those of you not willing to watch only the CRAZIEST, SPINE CHILLING video on social media in 2013, here are just some of the outstanding statistics and facts:

•                Facebook is 1 billion followers strong, making it the third largest country

•                New Yorkers received tweets about an earth quake 30 seconds before they even felt it

•                Lady gaga Justin Beiber and Katy Perry have more followers than the populations of Germany, Turkey, South Africa, Canada, Argentina, and Egypt

•                Babies in Egypt have been named Facebook and Twitter

If this is what social media means to the world in 2013, what can we expect from 2020?

To watch videos such as these and to see statistics that suggest the world has become digital are phenomenal. BUT to experience and know that you are a part of that statistic is scary. China does not allow for social media outlets to exist in its country; this is due to preventing public government unrest, but are they doing their population a favour by shielding them from this excessive connectivity? I believe, yes. http://www.mysocialagency.com/social-media/will-china-ever-allow-facebook

I appreciate that it allows for people to connect, for brands to market and for the economy to grow, but if asked 'would it be easier to live in generation X or Y? I would say gen X. Here is why:

On a personal, individual scale lets Look back on Sherry Turkles theory of the 'Goldilocks effect', the idea of being not to close but not to far from one another. Mobile devices, Twitter and Facebook allow for this daily and people suffer terrible anxiety when they do not have access to these outlets (Turkle, 2012).  The second life is also an outlet where people create an alias and morph into avatars. Here, individuals create idealistic forms of themselves and in severe cases choose to live this second life rather than the reality of their own (ABC net, 2012)

On a wider scale, lets look at digital activism, cyber bullying and cyber terrorism. The Internet is providing a place for activists to come together, create protests and hate groups to terrorise people, governments and societies. This is all done from the safe comfort of their home and at the luxury of remaining anonymous. There are no clear laws that state people can be punished for these crimes, no matter the severity. The Internet is creating a world where good and evil are misconstrued and over lapped. Where do people cross the line?

The future of social media is anything but bleak and is forecasted to grow to web 3.0. This is described as "an age of Semantic Web", where no longer will people need to search for information on the web, as the information will find them based on the data companies are able to collect about users from the sites they visit and their profiles from social media pages (Noff, 2011). Are we entering the third wave of social media? Based on the information in this blog, Yes. We have morphed into cyborgs, whilst not all of us are willing participants; it is as simple as liking a page on Facebook, or answering a text on your phone. If the Internet is now able to withhold personal information about people based on their web searchers then we have lost all privacy, and technology now rules us!

Nonetheless, Will I ever stop using social media, No. Do I care that the Internet is able to hold personal information, not really. I am Gen Y. Despite all the negative aspects of social media I am OBSESSED!

Life is to be lived, not posted, so keep instagraming all those moments ;) #lifeisgood #whynotshareit

References:

ABC net: Four Corners (2012) You Only Live Twice. [video online] Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20070319/default_full.htm [Accessed: 28 January 2013].

Qualman, E. (2012) Social Media Video 2013. [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUCfFcchw1w [Accessed: 15 February 2013].

Noff, A. (2011) What’s Next in Social Media. [online] Available at: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/06/14/whats-next-in-social-media/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2013].

Sherry Turkle: Connected but alone? 2012, online video, TED,  US, viewed 30 november 2012 <http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together.html>