Final Essay

In 1978 the Bulletin Board System was introduced offering a computer server software that allowed users to connect and share information marking what many believe was the beginning of social media. Nearly forty-years later social media has come a long way, much to the credit of Facebook which launched in 2004 and now has 1.86 billion active users. Social media has changed the average person’s day to day life in one way or another. The average person spends one-hour and forty-minutes a day scrolling through their different social media feeds. Even those who avoid using any social media platform find themselves affected. As a result of social media’s dominant takeover, a variety of different existing technologies and medias have been disrupted

Television providers, broadcasters, and consumers have all been disrupted by social media. Social media sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are starting to compete with television providers for contracts to live stream sporting events. The problem for the television providers is that social media is winning the competition because of its ability to reach a global audience. In the 2016-17 season, the NFL streamed ten games on Twitter, for which Twitter paid ten-million dollars for the rights to. In addition, the NBA live streamed a single game to India through Facebook Live reaching 1.1 million viewers. Viewing games on mobile has becoming increasingly popular for on-the-go individuals. In addition, the interaction that is happening within the social media apps while the events are taking place gives consumers a new experience. Another way that social media is disrupting viewers and broadcasters comes with television shows that air aired in primetime slots. Because the broadcasters want to optimize the time they air the show at, viewers on the east coast get their shows much earlier than west coast viewers. Once upon a time this may not have been a big deal, however a season finale can now be spoiled by seeing a random person’s post that gives away information of the episode. Viewers tend to focus their anger at the television broadcasters rather than avoid social media before their show. In combating these multiple problems, networks have continued to develop the streaming capabilities through websites and mobile apps. Broadcasters like NBC, FOX, ABC, and CBS all have their own apps for streaming television. In addition, television providers like Xfinity have apps that let you stream a wide variety of content including sports. The networks and broadcasters are making an attempt to adapt, but there are limitations to what they can do. One benefit that social media