Social Media is an Above Ground Minefield

I first used social media when I was a freshman in high school. I really only used Facebook at the time because that was the biggest and most popular social media platform. Facebook was back then what SnapChat is now. A lot of my friends and family had it. I was very late to join social media, by the time I joined everyone had been on it for a year or so already.

Social media is as intrusive as you make it. As of right now the only social media platforms that I use are Facebook and Instagram. It can be very intrusive towards your personal and professional life if you’re not careful about what you post. I follow a lot of personal photography accounts on Instagram, and I don’t know a single thing about their lives besides their photography. If you openly argue with a girlfriend or boyfriend like some people do, then social media can get very ugly. I’ve seen that happen before. In other words, you have to determine how much and what parts of your life you want to open up with strangers on the internet. Lately one of the things that expose people in a negative way the most is politics. I think there is a very big responsibility to using social media. If people post things that are socially unacceptable, then strangers will be able to see parts of their lives that shouldn't be seen. If people post appropriate things, then it can benefit them in different parts of life like social and professional situations. 

One event where social media was used in the recent past was when Mercedes Benz live streamed the unveiling of the new Maybach S650 on Instagram. For the unveiling of the flagship car for the brand “Maybach,” it was a private unveiling that was only available to those who were invited by Mercedes. People who weren't present at the event were see the car being shown in real time, due to the live stream. I think social media played a very positive role in this situation. It created a lot of excitement with people who like cars because it gave them the opportunity to see something that they normally would never have a chance to see. I really enjoy the live stream of Instagram and Facebook live videos. It makes you feel like you are actually at whatever event you are watching. Although these live videos are new, a lot of big companies and celebrities use these to connect with their public.

I see the role of social media becoming even more important and prevalent than it is now. Not so much with individual people, social media will always be a big part of our lives from now on; but I see social media becoming a mainstay in the world of big companies and celebrities alike. A big social media presence is an amazing tool for corporations to communicate with the people. Car companies usually take advantage of this by seeing how their products are received by the public. Sports figures now get contracts that require them to do things on social media. Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers has a contract with Facebook that requires him to do four live streams a month for about 400,000 dollars per year.