The innovations in the social media technologies have made a significant impact in the daily activities of individuals, governments and corporate communities who rely on the social networks for communications. Over the last two decades, there have been major transformations that have transformed the way people interact across the internet. One such innovation is the Facebook technology, an idea of Mark Zuckerberg with the help of Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin. Since its inception, Facebook has made significant impact in different levels of the society by making social interactions easier and less expensive. After its launch, Facebook had 1200 subscribers at Harvard University within a span of 24 hours. The figure has since risen to millions with estimates putting the number of subscribers by 2015 at over one billion.
The reason for choosing Facebook as a major innovation that has been achieved in the last two decades is because of the role it has played in the society. Its uniqueness and the fact that it is possible to communicate easily while assured of privacy is something that had been difficult to achieve in the previous decades. The number of Facebook users proves that the technology is useful across the globe and hence sustainable for a longer period of time due to the ever increasing number of subscribers globally.
The key factors that have led to the success of Facebook include the simplicity in its application such that one only needs to have a valid email address or could use their mobile phone contacts to gain membership. Opening an account with Facebook requires minimal time and less cost thereby making Facebook among the cost effective social media innovations of all time. Flexibility is also a key advantage since accessing a Facebook account could be dine anywhere and at the preferred time of the account holder. Once a person has an account, they are free to link with people from across the world lower rates hence improving the need for networking and sharing ideas across various parts of the world. An average Facebook user has at least 130 friends with billions of minutes spent on Facebook each month by users. The over 70 translations for Facebook are also key to ensuring that people from different parts of the world are able to interact across the platform.
Businesses no longer need to employ multiple sales men to market their products since Facebook offer better solutions to advertisements. Corporate organizations rely on Facebook to create awareness of their products regardless of their location and are also able to post pictures that give the potential customers a true reflection of the products offered at the company. Customers order goods and services on Facebook with the organizations providing immediate response on the delivery status and any other requirements. Businesses have been able to create profiles and conduct market surveys using Facebook hence reducing the expenses that were previously incurred in trying to design questionnaires and personally interviewing customers regarding how they perceived the organizations products. Facebook has therefore helped businesses reduce expenses they once incurred in marketing activities as it is easier to reach out to customers across the media as well as conduct marketing research using profiles created on Facebook. The government has also been able to interact with citizens through Facebook thereby understanding the needs of the people better and relying on their suggestions to improve services delivery.
Works Cited
Pernisco, Nick. "Social Media Impact and Implications on Society." Student Journal of Media Literacy Education (2010): 3-16. Document.
Tække, Jesper. "Facebook: Networking the Community of Society." Annual International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers. Gothenburg: AoIR, 2010. 1-10. Document.
