Advantages of Social Networking Exemplification Essay

Advantages of Social Networking Social networking has become one of the fastest, easiest ways for people to share and receive information. The popularity of social networking has grown immensely over the past 5 years. In 2011, Arbitron and Edison Research released a study which found 52% of Americans to be active users of social networking sites. This is a staggering number when you consider that only 28% of Americans actually know their next door neighbors. The majority of Americans are active users of social networking because of the convenience, ability to find people with common interests, and keep their circle of friends in the loop of their day to day happenings. Not everyone has turned to social media just to keep up with friends, many people have used social networking as a business tool. In 2008 only 24% of Americans were found to be active on social networking sites. You can contribute social networking’s explosion in active users to the many advantages that social networking offers. Social networking has become the fastest method to spread information to a mass audience. On August 23, 2011 at 1:51pm an earthquake occurred with its epicenter located in Mineral, Virginia. An earthquake’s seismic waves travel between 2-8 kilometers a second. Social media was spreading the news of this earthquake at a rate of 5,500 posts per second. The rate at which the news was spreading gave thousands of people the advantage of knowing about the earthquake before the seismic waves had reached their area. The first social networking post, which reached users 30-40 seconds before the earthquake would reach them, was made at 1:51:28pm. No other source could possibly have alerted people of an earthquake before they actually felt it. Not only is it the fastest way to get information to a mass audience, but social networking has become so convenient that it can be accessed from just about anywhere. Smartphone users have grown just as fast as social