Notable statistics have been published about the rapid growth of social media. Twitter registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (2013) and outlined that it had an average monthly active user base of 241 million with an average increase of 30% per year.
According to a UK government press release (2013), in 2011 more devices were connected to the Internet than there were people in the world, and estimated that this figure will be 15 billion devices by 2015. The press release also indicated that within the UK, 80% of households had Internet access in 2012. Websites such as MVF, a statistics aggregate and social media marketing firm, report much higher numbers in more connected countries such as South Korea. It is clear that social media is not only expanding rapidly, but also globalizing human populations. |
‘The question then, should not be what is the role of social media in education, but rather, what is the role of education in a world connected by social media?’ - Jason Ramsden ed. Social Media 2011