Social media dominates our daily landscape. Where it came from and where it’s going to is an academic subject in itself as the world comes to terms with its immense power.
We’ve unplugged a few key facts and figures to demonstrate the reach of social media means and come up with a couple of tips to survive this rocky landscape.
Social media – the figures you need to know
Global population- 7.210 billion
Active Internet Users- 3.010 billion
Active Social media Accounts- 2.078 billion
Facebook facts
There are nearly 1.4 billion Facebook users
47% of all Internet users are on Facebook
4.5 billion likes are generated daily
Nearly 75% of Facebook’s revenue comes from mobile advertising
Instagram has 300 million users
70 million photos and videos are sent daily
53% of internet users aged 18-29 use Instagram
Is SM almost too good to be true?
What people are figuring out is that what you see isn’t always what you get. Photos are constantly being shared, often enhanced ones to make us look as good as possible. Sometimes the purpose of this dishonest but widely accepted behaviour is to gain more ‘likes’ or to emulate our fave celebs, many of whom would never dream of publishing a ‘real’ pic of themselves. It therefore becomes very easy to fall into a trap of comparing ourselves to these false images and thinking we need to look a certain way.
It’s only normal, though, and most of us are guilty of doing it. Let’s face it, we all feel better for receiving a ‘like’ or ‘favourite’ on our posts but is this the only way to achieve them?
Popularity isn’t everything
Getting a few likes for a selfie can make you feel pretty important for a few minutes but you have no control over when or if you’re going to achieve them. It is better by far to focus on activities that enable you to own the moment honestly and allow yourself to contribute something positive rather than creating a false image of yourself. Try instead making something physical and blogging about it. You’ll be amazed at how much appreciate your effort. Not just for a social media moment but with enduring admiration.