Hum/176 Midterm

1. What are the different forms of social media that exist today? Provide examples of different social media and their primary purposes.

Some different forms of social media that exit today are newspapers, radio, television, the internet, and phones. Radio and television are primarily for entertainment, they are also used for current events and the news as well. The internet has an abundance of resources including news, historic events and facts. The most popular of the social media, in my opinion, would be social networking sights like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. These networking sights are the most popular because most people do not have a cell phone that has text messaging on it, so this is the new way for people to communicate. These sights are a way to see what everyone is up to without having to call them all the time to find out how they are doing.

2. What are the greatest benefits of social media for individuals and society?

The greatest benefits to society would include being able to get quick and efficiently circulate news and events. If an event that was important was happening in someone’s life, then that person could send everyone on their friends list an email or post on a social network to get the word out to friends and family members quickly. The say could also be said for schools and government offices. If there is an emergency, or something else of importance, then the news could be spread quickly through the use of social media. There is always at least one person on that is on your friends list every second, if it will not go fast through social networking, as soon as someone saw the post they will be text messaging everyone that they know to spread the word.

3. What are the greatest problems of social media for individuals and society?

One of the problems I can see would be the availability of some forms of social media to certain individuals. Not everyone has the internet, so obviously that could not be the only form of...