The Love Behind Shared Links
College students are known as youthful daredevils who aren’t afraid to voice their own opinions. However, in 2014, this stereotype might be changing.
As we all know, the way we communicate is changing daily with technology advances. With the support of social media, it is now more common for students to express themselves through various websites that can be linked to their own personal Facebook or Twitter page. Such websites allow outlets for students to express themselves without actually having to claim their own words.
Some commonly shared links and articles come from websites such as Elite Daily, BuzzFeed, and Thought Catalog, just to name a few. The purpose of these sites is to help shape today’s generation by empowering young adults to share ideas and stories with the world that connects with others. Most of the stories get shared because someone finds that it directly relates to their feelings, moods, or some sort of personal aspect that one may not feel comfortable broadcasting as their own. Now I’m not saying that Generation Y hides behind the computer searching for articles that relate to them, but when one is stumbled upon it is hard to ignore how perfect it may fit to their lifestyle.
Some of my most favorite shared links are of articles that show appreciation for someone. For example, BuzzFeed posted a recent article titled “25 Amazing Benefits Of Living With Your Best Friends” that has currently almost 1,000,000 views. While I love all of my roommates and consider them my very best friends, I don’t go around the house everyday telling them how much I enjoy living with them. However, by sharing this link on one of my social media accounts, my roommates will see and understand my message without me actually having to say anything.
The reason such articles have so many shares could be because while displaying a serious message, it is done so in a light and playful manner. The most commonly shared links normally contain articles with bullet points, numbers, or short lists that are easy to read and are accompanied with witty pictures. Whatever the mood, there is always an article out there that you will find yourself secretly smiling to with the accuracy on it’s depiction of life.
At the top of each article on these online websites, prominent social media icons are provided inviting visitors to post the story to their own site. Just to be sure, the same icons are posted at the bottom of the article as well. With the ease to share links on social media, how often do you share articles?
