World Social Media Day – 30 June

World Social Media Day was launched on June 30, 2010, to recognize its impact on global communication and unification. It is a global celebration of technological advancement that has made it possible for people to connect even from miles apart. The day recognizes and celebrates the impact of social media on global communication.

We depend on our smartphones for work, school, and our personal and social lives. When was the last time you left home without your phone and kept on going? The internet has become a significant part of our daily lives. So too has social media.

History

The day was first established by Mashable in 2010, to highlight the ways digital culture has revolutionized how we communicate. Since its inception in 1996, social media has managed to infiltrate half of the 7.7 billion people in the world. In a very short period, numerous social media sites have been emerged and continuing.

The rise of social media began back in 1996 with the release of the networking site Bolt (now closed). Shortly after, in 1997, Six Degrees was released where users could add friends and make profiles. Following that, services like AOL Instant Messenger, Live Journal, and Friendster launched all paving the way for the leader, Facebook, in 2004.

Facebook is the leading social network with 2.9 billion monthly active users, followed by YouTube (2.3 billion), WhatsApp (2 billion), FB Messenger (1.3 billion), and WeChat (1.2 billion). All social networks report growth data on the number of monthly active users or MAUs rather than the number of accounts, as this data is more accurate for measuring actual use and territory penetration.

According to Keipo’s analysis, the country with the most significant social media growth in 2019-2020 was India, with 130 million new users joining platforms – equivalent to 9.6% of their total population. In second place was China (15 m), Indonesia (12 m), Brazil (11 m), Iran (9.4 m), and the USA in 6th place with 6.9 million new users.

If we look back, the recent years have changed everything from how we communicate to how we deal and make perceptions about each other. The social media platforms Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Whatsapp, and TikTok have completely evolved and transformed the way we used to write messages, capture pictures, or make videos.

How to celebrate

Celebrate this day by putting down your pen and picking up a keyboard. Visit all your favorite social media websites! Update your status, upload a picture or video, post a tweet, add new content to your blog, send an email, or do whatever you usually do to stay social online!

In honor of Social Media Day use the hashtag #SocialMediaDay #SMDay in your post and wish your friends a Happy Social Media Day. After all, what better way to celebrate Social Media Day than to be on social media? And nothing better than celebrating world social media day by keeping oneself abreast with the latest social media trends and statistics.

Social Media Day Quotes

• “Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smoking gun.” – Pete Cashmore, Mashable CEO
• “Social media is not a media. The key is to listen, engage, and build relationships.” – David Alston
• At the end of the day, money is just a proxy for votes. That is what makes politics so vulnerable to social media. – Sean Parker
• “Social marketing eliminates the middlemen, providing brands the unique opportunity to have a direct relationship with their customers.” — Bryan Weiner, CEO
• “Social media allows big companies to act small again” — Jay Baer, keynote speaker
• “Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology.” — Brian Solis, digital analyst
• “Social media is the ultimate equaliser. It gives a voice and a platform to anyone willing to engage.” – Amy Jo Martin, Founder, and CEO
• “Social media creates communities, not markets.” — Don Schultz, marketing pioneer
• The great thing about social media was how it gave a voice to voiceless people. – Jon Ronson
• Social media is reducing social barriers. It connects people on the strength of human values, not identities. – Narendra Modi
• I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good. – Elon Musk
• “I’m very active on social media and see the huge impact it has on engaging with fans and being able to have a voice.” – Stephen Curry, Professional Basketball Player

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