Imagine a world without the social network, a day when we wake up to find that the social media sites we have come to so heavily depend on have disappeared.
Could you cope with coming back to reality?
Social networks have undoubtedly become a part of everyday life for individuals and businesses, it has become a fundamental element of how we operate in the world around us. If our virtual world were to suddenly disappear, the effects would significantly impact the way we behave and interact on a day to day basis.
The Individual
According to Janine Driver, a world without social media would negatively impact individuals.
There would be less communication
Social media allows individuals to instantly message not just your friends, but celebrities and businesses from around the world. Without the social media newsfeed, there would be less conversation in the world.
Friends would remain unconnected
Social media gives individuals the opportunity to reconnect with people from their past. Without social media, it would be much harder to stay connected.
Individuals would be uneducated
Many social media users sign up to a news source that feeds into their social media feeds. Without this, individuals would not be able to find out what’s going on in the world, remaining unaware of current events until it appeared on television or in print, often days later.
A world without social media would certainly be different to the one that we currently live in, however it’s important to be cautious about over use, a hard feat when researchers from Chicago University have identified that social media addiction can be stronger than addiction to cigarettes and alcohol.
Business
According to the Queensland Government, many businesses are able to use social media to reach potential customers from around the world. Social media is fast, easy and allows businesses to communicate with customers on a more personal level. Without social media, businesses would have to rely on more traditional media channels, resulting in less brand awareness and impacting sales. As many businesses are also born global through social media, without it many would cease to exist.
The question is, could the disappearance of social media propel us back into the dark ages in terms of communication or force mankind to find a resolution, catapulting us into the future like so many other difficulties we have overcome before it.
I believe that whilst the disappearance of our social networks would impact our everyday lives in the short term, as human beings we learn to evolve, we learn to adapt and we overcome. We have become accustomed to the small world that we now live in and the two way communication that our social networks facilitate. Even if the social networks were to end tomorrow, someone somewhere would certainly come up with a bigger, better, brighter way of communicating with one another and businesses, allowing us to remain submerged within our virtual bubble.
Tell me, what do you think a world without social media would look like?
A New Social Structure 