The Facebook Effect

As I continue to delve into the job market I am more and more interested in how social media is continually affecting our world. Social media is still relatively new in our society, and so it seems not a lot of constructive research has been done in the field. I found a study conducted in 2007 on the Benefits of Facebook. The study was focused around the college community of Michigan State University and it examined how college students' social capital was affected by Facebook. The study found that overall college students who utilized Facebook to keep in contact with friends and expand their network overall had higher self esteem. Additionally, it seems that it is not the quantity of the amount of time spent on Facebook or the amount of friends but rather the quality of the time and friends that students kept on Facebook. Again, to those of us who have been using Facebook since 2004 this seems to be common sense. But it is important to understand that as studies continue to prove the effects of social media, the more it will impact and become integrated into our everyday lives. It will be interesting to see how sites such as Facebook and Twitter will be utilized into society over the next 5-10 years!

I have also been wondering, that as businesses begin to incorporate social media into their everyday communication methods, whether they feel as though it is worthy of a "full-time" position. Again, not much as been done as far as being proving a positive capital return in relation to the use of social media. I found a blog that discussed the Facebook Effect. Its a short read, but an interesting concept!

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