Since the end of the 20th century, society has been quickly adapting on all levels to the integration of the Internet. Friends and families for the first time could stay connected without the inconvenience of a phone call or handwritten letter and this spread like wildfire. As more households obtained computers, online communication became much more frequent and demanded by the general public. Social Network sites were created in response to this demand and were largely successful especially in the market of college and teenage kids. The rise of social networking has brought efficiency and practicality to communication amongst people of all ages and positively contributes to kids during transformative years. .
The popularity of social networking has grown exponentially and will continue to grow due to its ability to satisfy the social needs of society. According to the study conducted by Yost, H. & Fan, S. (2014) the top three reasons kids in particular use social media is to stay connected with peers, stay connected to family, and to just pass time respectively. You can't argue the practicality of using social networks to talk to multiple people at the same time on your phone while walking to class. Multi-tasking has become such an increasingly important aspect to society as technology develops; social networking is the cornerstone of this need. Nearly all adults now have a cellular device that is capable of downloading social network apps that are easily accessible at all time. It is estimated that 74% of all online adults (have a cellphone) use social networking sites as shown by the study done by Willard, N. (2014, July 1). This number is astounding and clearly demonstrates the popular preference to communicate online with less effort and more leisure. As long as technology continues to develop and people continue to seek efficiency and comfortability social networking will be the preferred channel of communication for younger/older generations.
