The Smartphone and Social Media

Abstract

A smartphone contains advanced computing capabilities that are attractive to users, and it arose as the outcome of the marriage of the existing mobile phone technology and PDA technology. A smartphone is more than a mobile device for making and receiving calls, and it is essentially a touch-based computer on a phone, which comes with its own keyboard, operating system, Internet access and third-party applications. It provides many other features such as a camera, maps, calendar, alarm clock and games. Today, the smartphone is ubiquitous. We discuss the impact of Facebook and Twitter in social networking. Facebook is the leading social media site in the world, and it has become a way for young people to discuss their hopes and aspirations as well as a tool for social protest and revolution. Twitter has become a popular tool in political communication, and it is also an effective way for businesses to advertise its brand to its target audience. We briefly discuss how social media has facilitated the growth in fake news, and the threat posed to western society.