Social media is websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts (Dictionary, 2016). Social media is constantly changing and has large social and economic impacts. From a functionalist perspective, social media is seen as productive and allowing for businesses to prosper, increases interactions and resources, and quick availability of information so all parts of society can function properly together (ProCon, 2016). From a conflict perspective social media is seen as causing potential brain damage and behavior problems to individuals, increased possibility of spread of false information, …show more content…
This communication is used in society for many different things. An example would be for the promotion of businesses. Many businesses use social media to advertise their products and build customer loyalty (Ta, 2014). Social media is also used in politics. Politicians use social media in elections and to get their message across (Ta, 2016). Social media has been highly successful in promotion of candidates and for rally or movement purposes ( Ta, 2016).
To conclude the functionalist perspective on social media, it plays a huge role in keeping current society in balance and properly functioning. Many different individuals use social media. Without all the different forms of social media we as a society use today, a lot of everyday tasks could be made harder or not reliable and this would potentially cause for an imbalance in society.
Now I will introduce the conflict perspective and how social media is viewed from this perspective. Conflict theory perspective is described as an emphasize on the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservatism (Crossman, 2016). Social media have some inequalities that apply to the conflict