Facebook and the Future of Digital Media

   Facebook has become one of the biggest websites the internet has to offer. It has shaped and defined what social media is all about. Who would have imagined that when it was first created in 2005, that it would be this popular 10 years later? Facebook currently has 1.23 billion monthly active users, 945 million active users and 757 million daily users (Protalinski, 2014). When you see those numbers, they are mind blowing, as it just goes to show the powerful force that Facebook has become. You can literally have an entire continent filled with just Facebook users. Facebook is great because it has amazing features that you can use. You have the news feed which basically shows you what everybody is doing, you can message people and more importantly you can create group pages for special events. One good example is last year it was my 21st birthday, so my friends decided to take me out to the bar. They created a Facebook page explaining where the party was going to be held, and the invites of people who were coming. I had a great time, and Facebook was a big part of that because it brought and connected everyone together. One thing you have to be wary about is be careful who you add as friends because people are not always who they seem to be. Be careful when you are talking to strangers on Facebook because there have been a lot of instances where people have gotten hurt. In class, we had an interesting discussion about Facebook an the policy settings. Many people did not know that you can make your page private, and who can view it and who can't. I think it was important information to know because now we can use Facebook better and less people have access to our personal information. Facebook is also a great tool for meeting new people, as I have meet a lot of my friends this way. I talked to them in the beginning to find out who they are what they liked, and then eventually I meet them in person. It was great because when I saw them in person, I already knew a lot about the person and it would not have been possible without Facebook. My only concern is just be careful of how you use Facebook and try not put out a lot of information about yourself.

    During our last class day, we discussed Digital Media and what the future may hold. We talked about Netflix, Amazon and Google. More and more people are turning to Netflix and Amazon to watch their shows and movies. Who could blame them? Cable is becoming more expensive as the days go by. My friend Lauren told me, "My family pays over $200 dollars a month for Comcast." When she told me that my jaw dropped because that is an insane amount of money to pay month after month. I had Dish for a while, but it became very expensive so we stopped carrying it. Now, I mainly use my laptop to stream my events to the TV using the HDMI cable. It's such a cheaper alternative, and it saves you a lot of money. The future of digital media is interesting because we don't know what's going to happen. I personally think that streaming will be the way to go in the near future, as more and more shows are going to go online. TV will take a hit, but not a huge hit, as now you are starting to see more and more smarts TV's come out. Netflix will stay the same, but I think they will charge a higher fee, as the supply and demand grows. It will be another way for the to make more money. HBO will also become big, and eventually they will have their own app, where people can watch their favorite TV shows and movies. Media is changing and it's only a matter of time before everything becomes all digital. I am also hoping that in the near future, they come out with Sports flix, where you can watch as many sports as you want for a reasonable fee. That would be amazing because I such a huge sports fan.

    In conclusion, Facebook has become really big, and I expect it to grow within the next dew years or so. It's not going to fade anytime soon, so people better start getting used to it. It's a great tool for meeting people and finding out what your friends are doing. Like I said before, you can have an entire continent just filled with Facebook users, as that is just insane when you think about it. I love using Facebook, as I use it almost everyday. The only thing I would tell people is to fix their private settings so that people don't have access to their personal private information. As far as the future of Digital Media goes, it's very difficult to tell what is going to happen. We can only speculate and predict what is going to happen. I do think that everything will be online streaming, and TV's are going to evolve. Netflix, Amazon, Google and HBO will continue to rule the digital markets. I also think more people are going to start cutting the cord on their cable bill, and start using other cheaper alternatives. Our world is changing, as more things are going digital, and within the next 20 to 30 years, I expect everything to be all digital.

                                                           Reference

    1. Protalinski, Emil. "Facebook passes 1.23 billion monthly active users, 945 million mobile users, and 757 million daily users." TNW. N.p., 29 Jan 2014. Web. 11 Dec 2014. <http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2014/01/29/facebook-passes-1-23-billion-monthly-active-users-945-million-mobile-users-757-million-daily-users/>.