What Social Media Mean to Me

As we are all well aware after participating in this class, Social Media forms are incredible tools that have limitless potential. Social media very well could be the medium that leads to a new social movement and changes the landscape of capitalism and the world as we know it. As Professor Carlson taught us, we really can use social media to better the world.

While I do not disagree with that opinion, I am personally not all that interested in changing the world. For me, social media have made the world a better place for one simple reason. They are the perfect tool for any hardcore sports fan like me.

Sitting around watching the NBA Playoffs last night, I realized just how different my big game viewing habits are today from what they were just a year or two ago. I was relatively late to the Twitter scene, setting up my account at the end of last summer. However, I immediately realized just how many people were on Twitter and just how much information and fun I had been missing out on.

 As I am watching any game that is taking place now, it is guaranteed that I will have a laptop or my iPhone in hand and on Twitter.  It is an incredible experience to share the big game experience with thousands of other people in real time, commenting and giving opinions and witty banter about what we are all witnessing. I have made a habit of having ongoing Twitter conversations with a group of long time friends who have all dispersed to different areas of the countries. It allows us to share an experience with one another that wouldn’t have been possible before the advent of social media.

 As I said, I am a pretty large sports fan and tend to fall into the category of “stat geek.”  Twitter has allowed me to take this to the next level. I follow upwards of one hundred different sportscasters, journalists and personalities on the local and national level. I love reading the real time insight, opinions and perspectives that they offer during and following sporting events.

I realize that Twitter and Facebook can be used to supplement any activity, no matter what your interests are. It is easy to find other people commenting on events that you are interested in. Sports just happen to be my primary interest. I think that this is realistically the biggest impact that social media are going to have on the majority of our lives. While we may go on to use social media to help make a change in the world, most people will simply use it to better their own experiences.  For this reason, I think that social media are of the utmost importance.