Keith Chana 12/09/13 Social Media Social media was created as tool that people from around the

e world could utilise to share thoughts, images and ideas, as well as allowing users to meet new people and interact with strangers. The revolution of social networking took us by storm. The first social media breakthrough was Blogging; it began in 199 and proved to be a great hit in the following years. The first large social media websites appeared not much later in 1999 !"riends #eunited$ and %&&% !"riendster$, although these websites did not earn as many users as anticipated, with "riendster gaining a total of only ' million users. The social media scene began to grow and in %&&' (ySpace was created, surpassing "riendster in only one year. (ySpace was by then the most popular social networking site, although the creation of "acebook and Twitter in %&&) would soon have a huge impact on other social media sites. By %&&*, "acebook had surpassed (ySpace and was growing rapidly. To eliminate competition, "acebook also tried to purchase Twitter, but the owners of Twitter refused. By %&&9 it was announced that "acebook was the most popular social network with over %&& million users. +n %&1& the number of people using "acebook increased to over )&& million. (ySpace lost the battle and user numbers declined to only ,& million. By %&11, Social (edia had become a vital part of everyday life, with the number of "acebook user soon to reach 1 billion in %&1%. +n %&1' the social media cra-e hit an all time high; "acebook now had over 1.1 billion users while Twitter hit ,&& million. Social networking is now fully integrated into our lives, with over ,,. of the world/s population using social networking websites. Social Medias Effect on the TV and Film Indust ! Social (edia has had a massive impact on the T0 and film industry. The ability to share files over the internet has lost the T0 and film industry a great amount of money, people often share video files of films and T0 episodes. This means that audiences have the ability to view the footage without paying for the 123ticket3T0 subscription. This directly affects everyone who was involved in creating the film. The footage would not generate enough income because the audience does not have to pay, in turn, the producing companies would not receive their profit, this would cause a chain reaction, effecting actors, visual artists, and anyone else involved. 4nother problem generated by Social (edia is the ability to live stream videos, this has proved to be even more popular than video downloading. The success of live video streaming has also had a huge negative impact to the T0 and film industry, allowing audiences to watch films and T0 episodes online without the risk of viruses being downloaded onto their devices. Social networking sites are also used to promote websites such as these, this creates a larger number of people watching and downloading pirated content, which in turn creates a larger loss of money for the media industry.

4lthough social media and networking can have a negative impact on the T0 and film industry, it can also be highly beneficial for the industry. 5ebsites such as "acebook and Twitter successfully been used by the T0 and film industry to promote upcoming films. The creation of pages for individual movies on "acebook has proved e6tremely successful, fans are able to 78ike9 the pages, therefore promoting the film to other member on the site. "ans are also able to directly communicate with the actors and crew of T0 episodes and films, this creates a great relationship between fans and crew members, encouraging sales by a phenomenal amount. The producers and crew are also able to tell fans about event related to the film such as grand openings, as well as information about the film itself. "ans are also able to view pages of certain characters within a film, creating a one on one interaction between the fans and characters, they are also able to receive news and information to with the film, characters, and production stages. This interaction between fans and film crews creates a much larger audience and awareness level through social networking sites. The use of social media has also been beneficial for the sale of T0 or film merchandise. "ilm makers often use "acebook to link users to websites that are selling merchandise related to the films or T0 shows, such as T:shirts, bags, posters, etc. This helps generate an e6tra income for the industry. +n conclusion + believe that Social media and networking site have proven to be e6tremely useful and beneficial to the industry. The benefits of promotion and fan interaction outweigh the downfalls of piracy, as the films and T0 series are able to generate a much larger audience and therefore, a higher income.