Has it made us all a bit 'unsociable?'

Not my usual topic for a blog but this particular blog is part of an assessment for Uni- I am studying for a foundation degree in social media- comments are welcomed. 

I won't mention any smaller social media sites that started way back when but It is the ubiquitous Facebook that now leads the global social networking pack. Opened to the public in 2006 and it now has just shy of 1billion users- that's huge!!

There are around 7 billion people in the world and 1/7 of them are on Facebook  - that is nothing short of impressive.

And it's still growing....so what does this mean to us?

It means we are more connected, often to more like minded people. We can join groups of others that share our passions and interests.

Love to bake? - plenty of groups for you.

Crafty minded?- come make some friends.

Want to learn about collecting antiques?- here are some tips.

There is a group or a place for everyone!

Social media is a fantastic tool to meet, learn and enjoy new things. Many people actually make friends through Facebook and other social media platforms. As many of you know I am very active on many social media sites, but by far the most successful for me has been Facebook. I have met 'virtually met' that is, lots of other ladies running their small businesses and using facebook daily to help promote their items. 

And that brings me to retail- this is a biggy for me.... social media is changing retail. It is changing the value of retail space on the high street. 

E-Commerce is growing at a rapid rate- great news for online retailers like me!

Key findings from the IMRG/ Capgemmini report include:


• Online retail sales up 18% year-on-year in December
• 16% growth for the online retail market in 2013

• 2013 'year of the mobile' : twice as much spent on mobile devices in December 2013 compared to December 2012

• Forecast for 2014: 17% market growth and £107 billion to be spent online


The explosion in e commerce is set to stay and continue to grow. E-commerce provides consumers with a wider selection of product, price, promotion and place, offering options such as express shipping, bulk orders versus single-item orders, special online-only sales and even discounts for participation in surveys. 

Social Media is an integral part of any e commerce companies success.


"For many online merchants, Facebook is more than a tool to drive sales," said the company's statement. "It's a platform to market and sell products, build brand identity and interact with customers." (Jimmy Rodriguez, 3dcart's chief technical officer)

People are now using Facebook in a new way. We are starting to accept that things or society is changing and what we thought of as unacceptable maybe starting to become acceptable. 

We now show certain things online that maybe we wouldn't have before.
 

For me when Facebook first exploded onto the scene and all my friends were on there I hated it- I thought not in a million years would I be interested in setting up an account. 

If 'sam' wants to speak to me now and be my Fb friend 10 years after leaving school, and we weren't friends then- maybe just maybe they should try saying hi when I see them- most weeks at the Tesco fish counter where they work! 



I also didn't want pictures of my children being added for all to see, I wanted my life kept private- that's how I liked it! 


But fast forward a few years and my perspective has all changed.... 



Did I join? yes of course- initially just so that I could be part of my group of friends (I was the last to join) to discuss upcoming get togethers. 

I literally had a few handfuls of friends for ages, then I started to feel less moody about the whole thing and accepted a few more friend requests and although i'm not someone to befriend anyone I do have a few more. 



Did I accept Sam from Tesco fish counter as a friend?- I think so! 


Do they now say hi to me whilst I'm shopping? Yes!


I'm still struggling with the idea of sharing pics of my children (apart from the very very odd one) and still not sure about the idea of having pictures of my children on the internet. 


But then recently...when the Fb videos were launched, that would have been a really nice little collection of memories of my children to have....i'll be left making my video myself on iphoto then!


So i'll reserve judgement on that one for now! It's not that I have any problem with anybody choosing to put their children on- and I really don't, it's just not for me (for now).



How do you all feel about your children on Facebook? 

Do you have no problem with it? Enjoy sharing? Not keen? Un -sure? 


I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic.



The obvious way that most of us would probably think of when we ask 'what affect has social media had on society' goes back to the beginning of my blog.....that we are more unsociable....but are we?


Do we all constantly have our eyes on a phone, iPad, iPod?  Yes! 


Do we share content- photos, videos, events the minute they happen? Yes!


Do we give too much away at times and decide to tell the world? Sometimes yes!


But is this a bad thing or is it just another part of our evolving society?


Technology evolves, social media evolves and society evolves with it! 





I'd love to hear your thoughts on the affect social media has on you, your friends & family. 


Please leave any comments below......

Thank you, Katie xx



www.ihearthomes.co.uk