Over the past five years, the use of social media by individuals worldwide has grown exponentially in conjunction with the use of mobile communication devices, especially smartphones. Today, Facebook claims to have over 500 million active users and Twitter claims to have over 200 million users. New social media sites are proliferating on the Internet, each with a slightly different appeal or specialization. Plus, all of the existing larger sites are constantly striving to invent new applications for their users.

To some extent, the use of social media is a generational phenomenon. Facebook was started in a college dorm with the goal of enabling students to hook up. While most users today are probably still 15 to 25 years old, many others are younger and older. In the case of both Facebook and Twitter, the majority of users are also female.

Is it possible to be a “Pro” Communicator and not be an active user of social media? Today, the answer is definitely yes, especially from a business and professional standpoint. In fact, one could make a strong case that engaging in most forms of social media (outside of professional-related sites such as LinkedIn) is a major impediment to being a “Pro” Communicator as described in this Citizen of the World Guide.

If you are actively engaged in social media, how much time do you have left over for being an effective communicator in the rest of your life? Each time my youngest daughter starts a new term at university, she follows a practice of shutting down her Facebook page. Otherwise, my daughter knows it will be too big of a distraction and consume too much of her time.

What we’re seeing with social media at the present time may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of surrendering one’s attention span, discretionary time and privacy in return for snippets of virtual ephemeral chatter and an illusionary sense of belonging. Are we being played by the purveyors of social media like we’ve never been played before to think that social media needs to become a big part of our daily lives (so they can provide advertisers with better ways of reaching us)? When does the constant and aggressive distraction of social media overpower the need for individuals to reflect quietly on their own about what’s important, to have genuine compassion for others in the flesh, to engage in meaningful personal relationships?

Yes, social media offers a shotgun way to mobilize support for a cause, to broadcast news as it’s breaking, to organize events, to respond to emergencies and to disseminate special promotions. For want-to-be Hollywood celebrities, politicians, and those in the fashion world, social media can be used as a vehicle to blast from obscurity to fame overnight. Corporate CEO’s can use social media to communicate with their thousands of employees via videos. Social media also provides a fast way to obtain feedback and gauge public opinion on issues (that can be briefly described).

It is impossible to predict the exact future of social media even one year ahead. Will it become more and more addictive to its users? Probably. Will it become increasingly used by companies, organizations and governments for their own purposes? Probably. Will individuals continue to do serious harm to their reputations by indiscreet uses of social media? Certainly. Will criminal hackers find new ways to obtain sensitive personal financial information from social media? Certainly. But, in most other respects, it is a wide-open game with almost limitless possibilities, both good and bad.

On May 18, 2011, LinkedIn became the first prominent American-based social media company to have a public offering of its shares. This offering placed a value on LinkedIn of over $4 billion. One day later, the stock market value of LinkedIn had jumped to over $9 billion. This is a powerful motivator for entrepreneurs worldwide to join the social media stampede.

For recommendations on using LinkedIn to assist you in finding a job, see Chapter 2, The Best Opportunities, in the Citizen of the World Guide, Find the Right Job & Excel. Also see Protecting Your Reputation Online: “What Goes There, Stays There” on the Other Stuff To Know section of our Web site at www.COTWguides.com.