The internet has changed business, entertainment and communication across the globe. Today people around the world have embraced internet collectively to their hearts. Geography is no longer an obstacle and online tools enable people to share, communicate and interact with ease. The advent of smartphones have made it even more easier to access the internet especially social media sites. Now most of us use our smartphones to check email, scroll through Twitter and Facebook, and even read blog posts.
Social media is everywhere. Social networking sites are now the most commonly used form of communication and the means to distribute information and news. Engaging yourself in the world of networking helps you to connect with people, get daily updates, and access any resources online. Most of the planet gorges on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, Line, WeChat are the social juggernauts that help people around the world to communicate easily irrespective of the location. For businesses, it is a very powerful marketing platform that can spread news about their products and promotions through word of mouth to the majority without much expense.
The rapidly expanding social media systems has helped people improve their social relations and will continue to do so. Social media does a lot more than allowing people to stay in touch, it enables you to connect with other people who share similar interests with you, regardless of how strange your hobbies or interests are. Social media subcultures have made significant strides. Small groups within the social media, often having interests at variance with those held by the majority emerges as a subculture. They are not the major market for organizations but they give an online identity to groups. Online apps for shopping like Etsy have a “hipster” subculture. Etsy allows vendors to sell handmade or vintage items. These apps have been very successful and the retailers have generated a good amount of revenues.
Subcultures differentiate themselves from the larger group as a whole. They offer a platform for people with similar backgrounds, lifestyles, professions or hobbies to communicate and connect. Strange and surprising subcultures exist in the world and social media platform has spurred the creation and regeneration of subcultures.
Social media allows user generated content, instant feedback and interaction with others. The first social media application to actively promote, encourage and display the amateur user-generated content is the most popular YouTube. The online tools and technology such as blogs, podcasts, animation sites backed this up and allowed people to create their own websites and platforms for social interactions. People can now create high-quality content and videos themselves, personalize their creations as well as save money while doing it. These technological advancements helped to translate the subcultures incredibly well into the online world. Social media and access to technology have enabled existing and modern subcultures, like punk culture and hipster culture, to gain popularity online on a large-scale. Social media has become a large platform for these subcultures to display and share their works, ideas and lifestyle. What subculture are you? Whatever subculture you are into, you can surely find people who share similar interests. You can use social media to track them down and stay in touch.