First the internet arrived and then the chat rooms came into existence followed by instant messaging and now we have social media. These are different modes of communication and interaction over the internet and have been constantly evolving. If you were asked to select the best form of communication or interaction over the internet then it would be difficult because each of the methods have their own pros and cons. One of the most popular modes of communication or exchange of information includes the community forums as well as social media websites. These have been there for a long time but it is only now that they have truly evolved. Today some of the internet experts believe that the beginning of social networking sites like Twitter is the end of community forums and chat rooms.
This may be true in a way because networking sites like Twitter and Facebook offer much more than just communication and sharing of information – they also offer entertainment, uploads of games, pictures, videos, etc, and creation of groups. These websites also offer instant messaging options and group chats. In a nutshell, this means that social media is offering instant messaging and an advanced chat environment apart from community networking. In such a scenario, it will be difficult to compare chatting with social media networks because the former has become an integral part of the latter.
So why is a social media network so much in demand? The benefit of being in a community network is that you will have access to several sub networks and you will be able to choose or pick any particular or general subject depending on your interests. In fact, some of the social media websites are completely user friendly and flexible and you can even choose what to follow and what to discard without revealing too much. It is neither too vague nor too ambitious. The result is that you will feel an instant connection to the forums and a forum is a place where you can meet several members from different parts of the world and background and come together under a group setting. A social media forum makes it easier and faster to build new relationships and even groups. This is something that standard chatting and instant messaging missed because they offer only one-to-one or friend-to-friend services.
Where does that put instant messaging and chatting? They are definitely not a dying breed nor are they going to become obsolete any sooner. The fact of the matter is that platforms have changed. Instead of using the tradition chat rooms on Yahoo, more and more people are using Internet Messenger Services like Skype for voice chat or social media networks like Facebook for leaving an instant message. It is just another side of the coin. It can also be considered as a paradigm shift because instead of instant messaging on Yahoo or Google Talk, you will be connecting to your friends as well as a larger community over a worldwide networking platform.
See Also: