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

Homebuyer demand slips in Q2 2026

Buyer demand slips in Q2 2026, with North and Midlands continuing to outperform southern markets The latest sales demand data from eXp UK has revealed that homebuyer demand in England slipped by -1.1% in Q2 2026. The analysis also reveals a continued regional divide, with a number of counties in the North and Midlands recording…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

International buyer slowdown one of Prime London’s biggest challenges

The latest survey of UK prime residential agents by AgentWise has found that many believe a slowdown in international buyer activity to be one of the biggest challenges facing the market today, whilst many have also noted an increase in the number of clients looking to explore property opportunities overseas rather than the UK. AgentWise…
Read More
Breaking News

Housing market hit by £21m increase in fall-through bill

The latest Fall-Through Index by the House Buyer Bureau reveals that the number of property fall-throughs across the UK increased by 9.8% during the first quarter of 2026, resulting in an additional £20.9m in costs to the housing market compared to the previous quarter. House Buyer Bureau analysed the latest data from TwentyCi on the estimated…
Read More
Breaking News

Is UK Construction Stuck in a Rut?

Glenigan data for Q.2 shows construction performance weakening further, dashing hopes of recovery in H.2 2026   The value of underlying work starting on-site during the past three months declined 15% and fell 38% below last year’s levels. Residential construction starts fell sharply, dropping 31% against the preceding three months and plummeting 52% compared with…
Read More
Breaking News

Home sellers have a 24-hour patience threshold

Survey shows that the age of instant communication has reached estate agencies New research from Street Group suggests Britain’s home sellers have developed a “24-hour patience threshold”, with the vast majority expecting estate agents to respond, provide updates or take action within a day at virtually every stage of the sales process. The survey of…
Read More
Breaking News

Lloyds House Price Index for June 2026 – Thoughts from the Industry

The latest Lloyds House Price Index for June 2026 shows that: House prices increased by +0.2% between May 2026 and June 2026. Annual house price growth increased slightly to +0.6% in June 2026, up from +0.5% in May 2026. The average UK house price now stands at £299,330.   Thoughts from the Industry   Nathan…
Read More