How Social Media Changed the Way people Communicate Essay

How Social Media Changed the Way people Communicate - Essay Example Papyrus helped in improving communication during the time as it could be moved from one place to another. Additionally, smoke signals were relied on during the prehistoric age. The smoke signals were popular among the American Indians (History World, n.d.). On the other hand, the sending of written message is thought to have begun on 6th century BC. Most of the government in this era relied on written content for communication. The Persians were the first to rely on written form of communication (History World, n.d.). On the later period, people focused on ways of improving the speed of the messenger. Such form of advance focused on developing excellent roads, fast riders and well-provisioned staging posts that were more accessible to freshmen and horses (History World, n.d). The effectiveness of communication was further improved by use of domesticated pigeons in the 11th century (History World, n.d.). Moreover, communication was quickly revived with the development of the printing press (History World, n.d.). The first publication were made in Germany in 15th century and then spread to the rest of the world. After this period, different printing press emerged in Switzerland, Venus, Paris, London, and Sweden (History World, n.d.). Consequently, the printing of books and pamphlets begun in these areas most of which were used in transmitting propaganda. Moreover, the printing press was followed by the advent of newspapers in the 17th century (History World, n.d.). The various disharmonies that were taking place in Europe made many people longing for information about the latest events (History World, n.d.). Consequently, the printers and publishers put more effort in ensuring people had the necessary information on time. The most published papers at the time were from Germany. Communication was rapidly improved in the 19th century. The invention in this era led to the development of letter, Penny post, and affordable post (Lambert, 2013). Moreover, there was the invention of telegraph, and this made it possible to send a message over a long distance in an efficient way. Furthermore, there as development of fax machine and telephone in 184 and 1876 (Lambert, 2013). Indeed, communication improved significantly in the 20th century. At this period, radios and televisions were developed and covered information during war (Lambert, 2013). Consequently, information was readily available. Later years saw the rise of telephone. In fact, this allowed making of calls and passing of commercial text through the mobile phone. In the 21st century, communication has been totally revolutionized. The transformation has taken place through the emergence of internet. Consequently, various forms of social sites have emerged such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and email (Tuft University, 2013, p.1). Therefore, communication has been made easy and efficient. A reflection on different types of social media social media helps in highlighting ways in which communic ation has been changed; this occurs in terms of society interaction, awareness on various issues taking place in the world, control over people lives, increased transparency, increased avenues of communication, and change of ways of society communicate. Social Media Social media has provided a platform for interaction of people. â€Å"The social sites help people make, share, and/ or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks†