The Future of Social Media

Social media is always changing. When I first got into social media, my sister set me up with a Myspace account which was all the rage. Nowadays, basically only musicians use Myspace, and a very small percentage of them at that. Even the ubiquitous Facebook is not safe. I personally see a whole bunch of my friends deleting their accounts. It is hard to tell exactly what the next big social media trend or site will be, but we can of course make predictions.

The two social media sites I use the most are Facebook and Youtube. I have definitely noticed changing attitudes about both of these sites since I started using them years ago. For Facebook, I have noticed a ton of my friends either not using the site anymore, or deleting their profiles altogether. They do it for various reasons, but three of the more common reasons are that they want to spend less time on the computer, they are tired of having every family member following everything they do on the site, and they don't trust the company wit any private information they have. I have also seen people say the site is just getting stale and they are ready for something new. As for Youtube, a lot of users are quitting because the advertising revenue has been cut drastically, and they are censoring a whole bunch of content and even deleting videos and channels that have controversial viewpoints. They say that the site is favoring the old media over user-generated content, that the algorithm gives a bigger platform to establishment media companies and conglomerates like FOX, CNN, MSNBC, and also censors conservative or libertarian points of view in exchange for "social justice warrior" and 5th wave feminist content.

I think that social media is trending toward switching sites, and also more real-time video interaction. Just as movies and TV shows have nearly (obviously not fully) replaced books to communicate stories, the same will happen with our text-based social media sites. We can already see this happening with the recent influx of live-streaming options and "story" options that are being incorporated into most platforms. Snapchat started the "story" trend, which is basically video snapshots of your day played back-to-back. Then Instagram had a "story" option, and then Facebook Messenger. There is a meme going around the internet of people saying "X has just added stories!", with X being a microwave, a car key, etc etc. And as for live streaming, we can also see this trend happening as well. Periscope was one of the big platforms that let anyone do a live-stream, sort of like how the MSM does live broadcasts. Facebook then incorporated a live-streaming service, and just recently Instagram did as well. I predict that Snapchat will have a live-streaming option in the very near future as well.

In conclusion, I see two main trends happening that could be predictive indicators of the future of social media technologies. One is I think that the sites that dominate the space right now are dwindling, which will create a vacuum for new sites, and I think we will see a huge shift over to new platforms and sites very soon. The other is I see more and more video and live-video communication being used over text-based communication, so I think we will see these new platforms be very heavily focused on video technology and features. One thing is for sure though, we do not know for sure what will happen.

Mental Health and the Digital Divide

The internet is an extremely helpful tool for people who have mental health issues if they know how to use it effectively. However, in order to use it effectively, they must have access to it. The Digital Divide refers to the idea that certain groups of people do not have access, in general, to as much technology as other groups of people.

For example, minorities and those on the lower rungs of the economic hierarchy in general have less access to the tools for improving mental health. This means that they will possibly suffer more because they do not have these resources available. According to an infographic on Mashable, 46% of poor people do not own a computer, while only 4% of those who are wealthy do not own a computer.

The internet has been an invaluable tool for my personal mental health. I struggle with a few mental health problems, including OCD, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and hypochondria. I have found valuable resources for each of these problems using the internet. What is unique to the internet in terms of finding help with mental health problems is that you can search for a very individualized problem, such as "I am having a panic attack about being sick", and you will often discover a result specific to that problem. If someone does not have internet access, they would have to rely on books from a library or perhaps someone who they know, but they might not be able to get the individualized attention and advice for their specific problem.

The idea of The Digital Divide is related to the ideas of capital that we discussed earlier in the year in class. Social capital is available through the internet far more than it is in a local physical location since people from all around the world use the internet, it is the world's largest marketplace. There is also a power inherent in the internet and social media that is not available without the internet, which is to instantly self-publish whatever you like in an instant for free, such as this blog.

The Digital Divide is related to mental health since mental health resources, such as videos about how to help with OCD, or what diet is best for mental health, etc etc, are only available to people with internet access.