Social Media is everywhere. Not being connected via social media is the exception, not the rule. While there are many debates, complaints, and legitimate downsides to being connected 24/7, there are also a lot of advantages that some of us take for granted or may not even be aware of.
1. Reviews on social media are invaluable. If you’ve saved your pennies to go to the hot new restaurant in town, only to read that it’s got 2.5 stars on social media, you might save yourself from a disappointing evening.
2. It provides amazing market research for larger companies. While Social Media can be life and death for small businesses as far as exposure, for small and large businesses it’s literally a small window into their consumer’s world. Ads can be personalized using cookies, real time feedback or excitement on a new product can be measured. This kind of information used to take hours or weeks to obtain from sample groups, but customers just willingly put it out there now.
3. You can get to know someone and vet them before you meet them in person. Be it a blind date, the person you’re going to interview with tomorrow, or the leader of a local mommy meetup group you’re considering participating in, you can look at their pages, see what they’re into, and if there’s any deal breakers.
4. Dating is now somewhat simplified. With all the various dating networks online, you can find someone looking for a casual connection, physical connection, or a long term commitment. Furthermore, you can search specifically for people into your own hobbies, religion, or on your level of professional career achievements.
5. Social media has made casual gaming cool again. You may not play Call of the Halo #17, or World of the Old Republic, but you can still play online games with your friends and they aren’t that time consuming or serious. They’re called Social Network Games, and they’ve evolved far beyond farming.
6. It keeps our minds occupied. While there’s definitely a debate to be had over how much time should be spent on social media and if it qualifies as an addiction, sometimes it’s nice just to vent to the world about how awful the DMV is, and then get in a conversation with friends or strangers for the few hours you may be stuck there.
7. Social Media can help you achieve your goals and offer support. If your goal is to be healthier, joining a group with the same goal and making long distance friends to help keep you accountable can go a long way towards making those goals a reality. Encouragement and support are really important and Social Media can help with that. Help a lot.