As my twitter newsfeed filled with tweets regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden, and my Facebook feed filled with patriotic phrases, I really realized how big of an impact social media has had on society over the past decade. Within the first few minutes of the announcement my friends and I had already turned to CNN. The effect that social media has on society has been something that has come to my attention recently. The devastating tsunami in Japan and the death of Bin Laden I learned about regarding social media, only to call my parents, who do not have a Twitter or Facebook, to relay the news to them. The day has come when I am the one in the family who is most informed and knows all the breaking news stories. This isn’t because I read the Oregonian or New York Times everyday, but is a result of the online community that has continued to grow over the last few years. Twitter and Facebook are not the only platforms of social media that are being used to acknowledge world events, foursquare is as well. Only moments after the announcement of Osama Bin Laden’s death did people began to “check-in” to a “post Osama Bin Laden world.”
As much as people want to speculate the purposes of Twitter and other forms of social media, the events of May 1st, 2011 can only help to reiterate how important and meaningful social media is in our world. If it wasn’t for the constant tweets appearing on top left corner of my computer, I may have missed the historic announcement of Bin Laden’s death and the President’s address to the nation.
Over the last two years the presence of social media has forever changed the way many people receive their news, including myself. News is no longer a 24-hour waiting period, or wait-till-morning type of deal. I am so interested to see what the future holds in terms of social media, social awareness, and the online world.
Strategically Communicating 
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