Social Media is making the world a much smaller place… Good or Bad?

The introduction of social media to not only the world of business, but to our own personal lives has really opened many new doors and allowed us to explore new areas and people that would never have presented themselves without it.
Yes, we can keep in contact with our close friends and family with Facebook, not needing to send a letter, make a call or even pop round to visit and say hello as their timelines inform us of how they are doing and their recent news. LinkedIn updates us on people’s work movements and achievements and tweets let us know that people are alive and kicking and such things as what shows on TV they are watching by the hashtags they are using… Simple really, have social media and you have an update on nearly everyone you know.

But, has social media made the world smaller or infact bigger? I always compare social media with business networking in that you enter a room / social media platform, you present yourself by what you wear and how you communicate / your profile and then you let everyone know what you do and how well you do it in hope they either buy in to what you offer or recommend you to their networks / your social media updates you share. The big difference between the two is that unless you attend business networking events attended by thousands or millions, you’ll never get the potential reach that social media offers and the speed of which it can share out your message.

I often think the world itself that we live, mostly looking at our lives here in England, has certainly got smaller. I’m sure that if you asked your elder friends and family just how far they explored their home area as children and places they saw (brings back memories of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five Series) that it would have been far wider than their children and if you actually look at how far you explored or the distance you allow your own children / younger members of family to go, then that area has greatly diminished further. From children allowed out all day to explore the whole town / village and countryside to children restricted to maybe just the pavements in front of their homes… I am sure that the pull / attraction of video gaming (Minecraft and similar) has also pulled children away from exploring the outside!

Looking at social media I think that for business it has possibly made the world much more easily accessible so made it smaller would you say? Certainly for purely social usage, it has made the world a smaller place. I have an event in France next week to attend and people from around the globe are attending who I have never met, but already we know so much about each other, what we look like, what we enjoy and what we are looking forward to doing that in fact the initial excitement of ‘meeting new people’ has lost it’s edge as we’ll already have that information stored in our minds so little to ask / explore – It will be straight on with business and delivering talks to the audiences we are there to speak to – It will be my first time talking to a large audience within the wine sector, I’ll have an excuse this time to have a glass of wine on the stage rather than water I’m hoping… Despite all that I have mentioned above, used correctly and a sensible mind with consideration for those you know, social media can be great for making the world a smaller and easier to reach place to live and do business.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Breaking Property News 12/5/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Commercial real estate is entering a new era powered by artificial intelligence CRE is now powered by artificial intelligence, automation, smart data, and digital-first workflows. For decades, the industry relied heavily on spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and manual administration. Today, technology is becoming central to…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 11/5/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. Do You Really Own Your Building’s Data? Commercial real estate is becoming increasingly dependent on digital infrastructure. Every smart sensor, HVAC system, access control platform, tenant app, and connected device inside a building is generating valuable operational data. The critical question many owners still fail…
Read More
Breaking News

Rental price and average salary tracker – April 2026

Mixed Rental Trends Emerge Across UK as Regional Price Gaps Widen Scotland recorded one of the strongest monthly increases, with average rents rising from £1,123 to £1,167 (+3.9% month-on-month), reinforcing continued upward pressure in the Scottish rental market. Northern Ireland also saw significant growth, with rents increasing from £887 to £920 (+3.7%), alongside a fall…
Read More
Breaking News

Seller over-expectation still impacting market

Home sellers still overpricing as just two regions see realistic price expectations The latest internal data analysis from House Buyer Bureau has found that just two regions, London and the South East, are currently seeing seller expectations align with market reality, whilst the rest of the country continues to price above market value, contributing to…
Read More
Breaking News

Fledgling homeowners cut costs by taking on fixer-uppers to achieve dream home

66% of first-time buyers bought a cheaper home because it needed DIY or renovation work done Many choosing a ‘fixer-upper’ were able to buy in their preferred location, add value and put their stamp on it DIY almost mandatory among first-time buyers, with 93% completing at least one project since moving in But three quarters…
Read More
Breaking News

House Price Index for April 2026 – Thoughts from the Indutry

The latest Halifax House Price Index for April 2026 shows that: – On a monthly basis, house prices remained largely static, down by just -0.1% between March and April 2026. Annually, house prices were up 0.4%, albeit this rate of annual growth had slowed from 0.8% the previous month. As a result, the average house…
Read More