Professional Blog Post

For my post about a professional blog, I decided to make mine from the online site Mashable, which frequently has social media as it's main topic. The article provides a detailed infographic on how people in today's world are getting increasingly involved and addicted to Facebook. The link to it is here.

Some of the most startling facts are right in the beginning with many and how often people are often using Facebook. One in Thirteen people, or an entire 7.6% of the population, have a Facebook page. This may not seem like much, but with the world's population being around 7 billion right now, it comes to the big chunk of 500 million people. The fact that a social networking site has pulled in this many people puts it in a unique situation. Social Networking sites are never required for anything, since they're made for the enjoyment and interaction of the users. But with Facebook being such a huge staple now, this form of social networking has been MADE INTO a staple through the sheer number of those involved, and is now required for functioning in today's world without being an actual necessity of life.
This has spilled over to communication, according to the infographic. Over half of the people today talk to other people more than they talk to others online. So Facebook and other forms of social media have also become standards in communication as well, with people forming and making "connections" through Facebook increasingly. I say "connections" since having a communication standard in a distant online medium hasn't helped how we view other people and friendships. Just look at all the people who only friend others to appear more popular and not because they actually know the people.
Another factor, that over 70% of the US is on Facebook, especially changes how people in the US view it. The biggest change is probably seen in colleges, as the college demographic for Facebook grew the fastest out of any of them. You can see these changes pretty easily in the right areas: specific sections are set aside for social media, and even entire courses are devoted to Facebook and the impact it's had. It's currently impossible to enter any real career path without becoming involved in social media. Like I said before, it is now a necessity.

With all these impacts social media has had on the world, this articles fuels my wondering if it's good or bad. For every positive part of Facebook there's also a negative. For every inconvenience it brings to daily life it also bring a boost. Cheapening relationships, giving portals for self-expression, making people waste time, connecting efforts across the globe, the list could go for a while. Like all complex areas of the world, Facebook is infinitely gray; there is no definite right or wrong to it or all other kinds of social media.
For better and for worse, the infographic proves social media has been integrated into our lives. It makes me draw a parallel between how Otto Octavius's tentacle arms were so deeply ingrained into his spinal cord. Like with Facebook, the results are ambiguous. Octavius was able to pursue his dream of creating a machine that could produce energy as strong as the sun, but in pursuit of his great dream he nearly destroys all of Manhattan, and then dies. Despite the tragedy, his story is both a mix of good and bad.
So whether we want to change it or not, Facebook continues to pull us up and push us down. And with all the power social media already exerts, so much so it's truly intimidating when thought about, it makes me see that not only will more social networking sites like mine not be necessary, they should be AVOIDED.
A sad conclusion to come to, but I never fancied myself as much of an entrepreneur anyways.