Let’s look at a few random facts about Social Media.

• Social Media is the number one Internet activity.
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.
• In June 2011 iPhone applications hit 1 billion in the first 3 quarters of the year
• As of May 2012 Facebook had 901 million users
• Facebook is the primary means of communication among college and university students today.

With social gathering platforms such as Internet websites, blogs, podcasts, etc. There are thousands of opportunities to obtain news and other essentials and share it within specific groups or communities. The speed with which anything travels around the globe online is beyond belief. Ownership of a blog or website site demands that information remain constantly fresh and relevant to the community that requires it.

Owning and maintaining blog websites demands continuous data gathering in order to fulfill the ravenous needs of its followers. Updating articles and current events and trends are especially challenging.

Why bother with intensive tracking and monitoring of content on blogs and online platforms? Social media is the most important communication and relationship platform between individuals and communities in the world today. That’s why!

Newspapers, radio and journalistic television were the primary communication sources for news events both national and local for much of the twentieth century. Collectively, this technology reached the most people and had the most impact on daily life across the globe. While television news still reaches the broadest audiences, the influence of this medium is growing less important. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube provide popular news items constantly streamed to millions of users instantly in every town, city, country and continent on the planet. In addition, users of these networks can participate in the discourse by creating and sharing their opinions and experiences related to the events, even shaping a new narrative outside of television and other traditional news media.

This grassroots Social Media News activism is important for a number of reasons:

• Provides alternative platforms for the reporting of events.
• Allows millions of people to have a voice in the “telling of the story”.
• Social Media is growing in the way it influences shaping the future.

As a blogger or blog owner ask yourself these questions:

• Is the content of your website or blog high quality material? Is it positive content that can be trusted?
• Do I keep on top of the information I need to provide interesting topics to my followers?
• Do I continue to provide relevancy with the minute-to-minute changes we experience as information is gathered daily?
• Will I increase my group’s engagement and participation and grow my community enough to shape Social Media content across the internet