Today, nearly half of the public knows someone who uses online dating or who has met a spouse or partner via online dating – and attitudes toward online dating have grown progressively more positive.

This video was produced in June 2014 by the School of International Development, University of East Anglia

Family living abroad can be kept abreast of the latest happenings in your world as quickly as those living next door

On Twitter you will follow those who have something to say that you’re interested in, making connections with like-minded individuals much easier than is possible offline.

Content can be edited and updated at any time, with breaking news being released immediately after the events have occurred. Social networks may be one of first to share the news, long before they reach the covers. In addition, social networks, like Twitter, enable you to follow any source, regardless of it being a person or an institution and to contribute to information sharing yourself.

Being used worldwide, Facebook counts more than 1.39 billion users

When it comes to relationships with friends, more than half (52%) of teens said social media has made them better versus just 4% who said it has negatively affected those relationships

In the survey of more than 1,000 13- to 17-year-olds about how they view their digital lives, 28% said social networking made them feel more outgoing versus 5% who said it made them feel less so; and 29% said it made them feel less shy versus the 3% who said it made them feel more introverted.

I think just as damaging as social media can be, it can ... help to build self-confidence, too

With social networks we are able to communicate our thoughts and perceptions over different topics with a large number of audiences, and raise our voice

Social networks has provided us the opportunity to connect with people and build better relationships with friends with whom we are unable to meet personally, and let them know about our life and take input about their lives and events happening with them.

Some may argue this point, but by providing us with global reach for our voices, social networks enable businesses across the world to amplify their message in a way never thought possible only a decade or two ago

Hashtags served a very important purpose on Twitter in the early days – you could create one tied to a specific trend, event, or topic, and filter out everything that didn’t relate to the hashtag.

It is far easier to do something remarkable and noticeable, and have it reach people across the planet, than it has been at any time in our history. We now have truly globalized voices.

You can see what others are doing within seconds of them doing it, assuming they share it on a social network of some sort.

Social media is also very helpful for expanding our sources of content as a whole.

Fast forward to 2014, and social media has become not only a key part of the modern lifestyle, but a useful marketing channel for businesses of all sizes.

people who have a childhood and adolescent life minus the internet are faced with the difficulty of getting access to vital information and knowledge they need for education.

In fact, for an average American teen, social networking is basically the same as social media – it absolutely defines how and where teens get to communicate and socialize with other people.

millions of people can communicate at the same time. Never before in human history has there been a time like this. What’s most intriguing about this revolution is that children and teens are leading the way.

Social media has made it possible for like minded individuals to discuss important topics, widen their personal knowledge and discover things they never knew before. For example, young people around the world are now more involved than ever in their country’s politics

They used to have to spend a ton of cash for this kind of marketing data.

Since they have paved a new way for interaction between the two, customers can now tell brands exactly what they want. Businesses can then use that information to tailor their products of more appeal.

We can contact anyone around the world, at any time, with just a few keystrokes. It is free, unlike calling across the ocean, and live.

Schools in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas have now done an about face and also put in orders with the USDA for ground beef that may contain the product, government data obtained by POLITICO reveal.