The rise of social media has completely changed the way we communicate and interact with the world. What could have been sent via traditional postal means can now be delivered through electronic mail – in just seconds. Not only can it bypass traditional communication means, it also empowers people to share and create their own content. This can be demonstrated through various social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram where users post status updates and self-shot photographs for almost anyone in the virtual world to view. User generated content has since brought about many changes in the way the media industry operates as well (M. Kaplan, 2010). For example, almost every major news network now owns Facebook and Twitter accounts, as these means are the fastest way to get the latest news out to a large amount of people. .
Apart from the news industry, social media is also playing a big part in public relations. The ability to interact with thousands of people in just seconds has now been taken advantage of by numerous brands and agencies. It is where they can get instant feedback from their fans and followers. It is also where they can instantly respond to various comments, be it positive or negative. From 0.97 billion social media users in 2010, the number has since rocketed to 1.79 billion in 2014. An estimated increase of 0.48 billion users is expected in 2018 (Statista, 2015). With the masses on social media, it comes as no surprise when the majority of journalists feel that traditional media has taken a back seat of unimportance (Meltwater, 2014). .
Instagram .
Instagram is a smart phone application that allows users to generate their own photographs through built-in filters and various edit functions. Apart from being an application, it has also carved itself a community where users can follow other users to get updates on newly taken photographs. Any photo that is shared on Instagram can also be disseminated to other social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
