Initial thoughts

It's 2012. Gone are the days of snail mail, land line phones and VHS tapes from 1992. Social networking, Internet communities, and new media have changed the way individuals communicate with the world. For instance, I no longer wait by the mailbox for my monthly phone bill: I get a notification on my smartphone. I connect and collaborate with people who have similar interests on Google+. Facebook. Facebook then formally introduce myself on Skype or Oovo. Often times when I hear breaking news, it is on Twitter and not on the front page of a newspaper. I watch movies on Netflix and Hulu that are available on demand. I can write a blog ,tweet,or a post on Facebook that influences millions of people . This concept of interactivity launched radically changed society and challenges me to consider the evolution of how I interact. My frequent usage of social media has changed my life in profound ways, even on a daily basis. Here are two examples.

1. The Way I Influence People – According to the social media analytic website Klout.com, I influence over 3,000 people every day. I'm not a movie star, a mayor, or a music artist. I am just an average citizen. In fact, I'm just a 22-year-old public relations student a small christian university in a rural town of Kentucky! However when I share my photography(check out magnificofoto.com) and other content on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, I connect with a network of people around the world that has come to value my opinions and beliefs.
2.  How I Communicate with Family and Friends -I also use social media to keep up with my friends and family. I am in the Air Force and I come from a military family. Throughout my lifetime, I have moved around several times due to military service and built a large social network. The creation of instant messaging, websites like Facebook, Skype, Facetime and Myspace was a blessing for me. These services allowed me to keep up with everyone in real-time. When my father was deployed to Iraq, I was able to video chat with him via Yahoo messenger. Over 20 years ago when our nation was involved in the Gulf War, though, this would not have possible. It is amazing that I am able to share my daily life with family and friends all across the world.

Conclusion

Time has shown that social media shaped interaction in the 1990's and early 2000's. Reason has it that a pattern like that is likely to continue. I believe our society is drifting more and more toward where our online lives will dominate our real lives. As we've seen, it already has a strong hold on us. We are able to trade stocks via the internet,telecommute, watch religious service via video feed, see our children via webcam applications on our smartphones and place online grocery-orders to be delivered to our homes. In my opinion, human interaction will continue to decline as we head in 22nd century because of social media. Whether it be for the better or for the worst,only time can tell.- Gerry James