Role of social media in Communication

Social media has taken over the business and personal sphere and has had a long-lasting impact on the way people communicate as social media becomes an integral part of their lives. From social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp to LinkedIn and Instagram, social media has become a portal for discussion.

Reactions to Non-Verbal, Emotional, and Social Cues

In-person reactions to non-verbal, emotional, or social cues are changing in that people don’t need to respond to these types of communication when they are online. This leads to less experience and awareness of others’ needs based on these types of cues that can only be received from in-person communication.

Boredom in Conversation

Here’s a sad social media effect on communication. We are becoming bored when we have real, in-person conversations. People have such a need for social media consumption and that instant, colorful feedback only social media can give, they will often become bored during real conversations, resorting to their phones. This can lead to a decrease in the quality and number of meaningful conversations.

Self Expression

Need to Share

Social media has created a feeling among users that they must share whatever they are doing from restaurant orders, to concerts, to the books they are reading. This can be a social media positive effect because people are getting more exposure to things they might not otherwise, such as new reads. But it can also be a negative effect as it can urge people to become dependent on posting anything occurring in their own lives and painting those occurrences as rosier than they truly are.

Sense of Urgency

No one has to wait for longer than a few hours for a response, and people have come to expect that timeline for conversations. There is so much of a sense of urgency that people are often anxious if they haven’t heard back from a family member, friend, or partner in a number of hours.

Effect:

Increased Civic Awareness

As social media has changed the way of how we are governed by making the process more transparent, many leaders across the world have the opportunity to voice their opinions and thoughts on priority issues, by giving the people a better understanding of how the government works.

Enhanced Business Marketing

Social media brings everything to you just by click, including everything from news to products and services. The ease of access has taken over the traditional ways of shopping, reading news or even studying and working.

Social Justice

Social media has been successful in bringing people face-to-face with humanitarian issues. Many social work organizations such as animal welfare, old age associations, fundraising organizations have taken to social media to create awareness about the issues of society.

Instant Customer Feedback

For businesses, social media plays a huge role in how they communicate with their target audience. Customer feedback is the foremost for businesses to rectify their mistakes, get user opinions about their products and services and to build their brand credibility and trust.

Emergency Management

Social media is known to be a tool to amplify messages across millions of people in a fraction of seconds. As man-made disasters, natural calamities or any other emergency, these days being Covid-19, social media has become a savior for the people in need and help in spreading their information, enabling relief funds and supporting them.

Sense of Urgency & Need to Share

No one likes to wait for hours to get responses and expect people to reply in the timeline of the conversations. As the sense of urgency often make people anxious about their family member, friend or partner not replying for a couple of hours.