Nowadays, it is impossible for some one to get rid of social media because social media is everywhere. In the old days, social platforms were mainly newspaper and television (or radio in some older days). In those days, while we were putting ourselves on the social platforms, we are not able to make choices about what we are willing to see on those platforms. In other words, we are forced to follow the social publishers’ views and get to know the things they defined “interesting”.
However, in these days, with the fast development of technology, people have more method of social medias. The popularization of internet undoubtedly changed our lives. High technology gives people a brand new experience of social contact. In the old days, we can never imagine that there is a social platform like Twitter where we can say whatever we want and get to know things by our own interests. Although there is no doubt that this Twitter-like social network or what we called social platform is one of the most meaningful design in 21st century, this kind of platform is only a carrier of social contact.
In my opinions, I think the most important promotion of this Twitter-like social platform is that people can make their own choices. We know that the traditional social platform such as Newspapers and televisions, were mainly held by few. Although they have classified different channels for attracting people with different interests, it is not enough. We all know that it is extremely difficult to please all, so the only way to solve this problem is giving users’ the right and ability to create and choose what they want. These Twitter-like social platforms have achieved this purpose: instead of hold by few, they make their platforms made by many, users are the majority to control what they want to see and what they are not.
In this Twitter-like social platform, we can see plenty of leaders and communities. It is really important for social platforms to have a clear category of communities because nobody wants to communicate with people who have different interests. On this kind of social platform, people are willing to get to know and communicate with people of same tastes, and different kinds of communities solve their demand directly. Find the community that you are interested in ahead could make your experience of communication with stranger way better, at least you will never meet opponents.
There is also a group of people like me, who are using this Twitter-like social platform but never say anything. Just like how Claire described on course space, we are the same kind of people who incline to read other’s posts than post our own. For people like us, hashtag gives us a very comfortable experience of social contact. “Hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media websites and applications, especially Twitter, to identify messages on a specific topic.” By searching a hashtag, users can easily find the information that they are interested in without communicate with anyone. By using a hashtag while posting, people on the same platform could a more direct understanding of what you are interested in and find the same interests with you.
Kinoko's Blog 