@cougar_sean
Much like online dating, social media allows the global population to narrow searches down to specific interests and hobbies, clubs and careers. Due to the ease of access, social media has brought individuals together who physically live worlds apart. Facebook in particular can be used as a forum to rally like-minded spirits for political cause or social revolution. Many of the so-called “Arab Uprisings” were initiated by social media websites. Rebels used the power of the Internet to “co-ordination of mass protests, communication of real-time images and up-to-date information, or processes of contagion across the Arab region” (Cottle 649). Yet at the same time, Facebook and Twitter can be used to serve “as an additional way [to] interact with friends and loved ones” (Cooper-Dzara 187). So although social media can be used in very direct political ways, it can also be used simply as an interactive way to keep in touch with those nearest and dearest to our hearts. Because we all have a level playing field on the Internet, people have a sense of community—a sense of immediacy and inclusion. This allows everyone to share their thoughts and collectively alter or support each other’s opinions. As Deanna Zandt suggests, “storytelling has been the most powerful building block for social change since the beginning of time” (1). Keeping this in mind, it is easy to see the potential social media has to completely transform this modern society’s way of communicating ideas and sharing personal experiences.