Social media allows people and organizations to share text, pictures, videos, and links online. Some early social networking sites included Six Degrees from 1997, which allowed user profiles, friends lists, and chat. However, the world was not ready for social networking at that time. Now, sites like Facebook have over 800 million active users who share over 3 billion videos on YouTube daily. While social media connects people, some studies show it can also negatively impact lives by making communication less personal and causing dependency for some users. Fifteen years since social media began, its future impact on society remains uncertain, but it currently plays a large role in modern connections.

1. By Adam Heaslip

2. Social Media is online text, pictures,videos and
links, shared amongst people and
organisations.
Dave Kerpen

3.  It all started in 1997 by a social networking site
called SIX DEGREES.
 It was the first innovative site who had the idea to
bring people from all walks of life together online.
 It had the same features that sites like Facebook
still use today, i.e User profiles, friends lists, chat
etc.
 Although it had all the hall marks of being a
success it was clear the world was not ready for
such a site, consequently it closed down in 2000.

5. FACEBOOK
More than 800 million active users
The average Facebook user has 130 friends
More than 7 million apps are integrated with Facebook
More than 350 million users access Facebook through Mobile devices
(Facebook Stats 2011)
YOUTUBE
800 million users visit Youtube each month
Over 3 billion videos are viewed a day
8 years of content uploaded every day
Youtube reached over 700 billion playbacks in 2010
(Youtube Stats 2011)

6.  The lure of of Social Networking sites such as Facebook and
Twitter have caused people reason for concern. “The question is
are they good or bad for us”?
 Social Media has unpersonalised the way people communnicate
and interact with each other.
 A survey conducted in the UK saw that 53% of 1600 adults
questioned admitted that social media had changed and had taken
over ther lives (Bloomfield 2009).
 Students in the US have resorted to deactivating their Social
Network accounts as they feel they are becoming dependant on it
as they could not go a few hours with logging on “The lure of the
login” (Hefner 2009).
 These examples highlight how we are emerging as a society who
are becoming more and more depandant on Social Media.

7.  Facebook – 800 million users
 Twitter – 100 million active users
 Linkedln – 100 million members, not all active
users
 Myspace – 30 million active users
 Bebo – 31 milion users, not all active users

8.  Fiftheen years have passed since the beginning of
Social Media.
 The question remains what another fifteen years will
do to the evolution of this growing phenomenon.
 There have been many precdictions to what may
happen, some say it will continue to grow and will
eventually define everything we do as a society,but no
one can say for certain where its destiny lies.
 However as of today Social Media remains a corner
stone of our modern society and would appear to be
here to stay.

9. The End