Social Media: Harlow’s Link for Updates

CAN you now imagine a world without your Facebook feed or the latest information from Twitter? Times have changed, and so is the way that the Harlow community at large are using social media sites.

Facebook really took off in the UK in 2007, and at that point, it was all about connecting to your friends, and sharing pictures, with the odd status update that seemed personal to each individual.

As time has moved on, people now connect to their “acquaintances” and those that they know far less (and some connect to complete strangers) and so what we share has become completely different. This is important for many reasons, but not least that digital footprints last a lifetime. If you’re job hunting, you’ll find that prospective employers will look at what you’re saying online, so think before you post (or update your security settings)

We might have logged on to social media sites in the past to find out what old friends are doing now, or to check out their photos to see just how much they’ve changed, or whether they have a family. We might still do that, but we also share real time information far more, and the conversations taking place are current, ie relating to what is going on RIGHT NOW. This could be people talking about the latest in about football as they are watching, or perhaps commenting on the latest person to be kicked off or to score a goal, but we also refer to social media sites for real time information that impacts on our daily lives.

During many events, for example YourHarlow.com receives many page views on the website within hours! People would head over to Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates, photos and videos, all driven through social media. As people tried to make plans for day and whether an event would be suitable for them, it makes it how clear that there is a massive demand for real time information.

The benefit of sharing the news via social media sites, is the viral element, it was quicker and easier to share via Facebook and Twitter than ever before, and would reach the widest audience, more convenient than sending lots of individual text messages.

So let’s get Tweeting and Facebooking about the positives about our community and get Harlow out there and put us back one the map because there are some many good things in Harlow that don’t get promoted!!

As we are talking about social media you can like my page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nishallgarala95 and follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nishall95

Nishall Garala