IAS online test series
 Home » Current Affairs » Articles » Social Media

Social Media as a Popular Mode of Communication

Social media has become the most popular mode of communication today. This is because social media has completely deconstructed the traditional channels of communication and has brought in a new vibrancy to the mode of communication system.

Any sort of announcement, personal account, gossip, statement, revelation, news, comments or analysis is part and parcel of social media today.

It won’t be wrong to say, social media has completely democratized the news media, giving everyone the power to contribute to the news feed. There is no longer a difference between refined and filtered news that came through mass media and the news feeds available on the on social media that is fed by the users of social media.

Social media messages embraces contradiction, ambiguity, diversity, interconnectedness and the fusion of all such information.

Social media has utterly obliterated the distinction between the producers and consumers of news, now everyone is equal partner both as a producer and consumer of news.

Social media has created a new system for human communication where the individual has the power to speak his mind. It deconstructs human interaction in its own way breaking the conventional forms of communication and bringing in the conversational style of communication.

In Social media we combine our own reality and truths into these social media through sharing links, posting photos and information. Our individual messages on social media are constructed as news feeds and is released to the networks and groups and the same inputs are shared to large circulation.

In both the form and function, social media have given the individual the power to assemble truth accurately and relay it as fast as possible. When a news story is shared by the individual on social media other users have the opportunity to verify the truth and accuracy and discuss the same.

This power to contribute information through social media has challenged the authority of the organized bodies who claimed to be the absolute custodian of truth. Any such attempts to skew the truth by the powerful tools mass media have been neutralized by the all-powerful social media. The days to assert power over the public having sway control over the tools of mass communication are over in the age of social media.

Technology has given people the ability to digitally capture real time events and share them on social media. The popularity of social media sites like YouTube Facebook etc. is due to real time events posts. This has enabled individuals to bring the truth to

public domain giving them the power over those who once controlled all such information.

Such development is possible only because of the surge in information communication technologies that has catapulted the social media. As such social media is playing a huge role in shaping the contours of the current age.