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

Homebuyers face longer buying timelines

The latest research from Lyons Bowe suggests the homebuying process could become even slower in 2026: as the number of conveyancers operating across the UK is thought to have fallen by almost -13% while transaction volumes rise, placing further pressure on completion timelines. Lyons Bowe has analysed data on the number of active conveyancers in…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 1/4/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Winning the AI Era: A Playbook for UK Estate Agencies The AI-Driven Rewiring of UK Estate Agency Thought Leadership by Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR Real estate has historically been conservative, fragmented, and inefficient. A surge of startups, is introducing automation, data-driven decision-making, and better customer experiences. This…
Read More
Breaking News

What renters and landlords need to know ahead of major rental law changes

With just one month to go until the first phase of the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force, the leading professional body, Propertymark, is urging renters and landlords across England to understand how the changes could affect them. From 1 May 2026, the legislation will introduce some of the biggest changes to the private rented…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Tackling Empty Properties

A UK Perspective on Best Practice and Recommendations for Reform Propertymark, the UK’s leading professional body for property agents, has today published a comprehensive new position paper highlighting the urgent need for coordinated, practical and properly resourced action to bring long-term empty properties back into use. With over 359,000 homes sitting empty for more than…
Read More
Breaking News

Pet-friendly rentals plunge 39%

New research from Inventory Base reveals that the number of pet-friendly rental homes in England has fallen by -39% since the start of 2026, as landlords appear to be reducing the number of homes openly marketed as allowing pets ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act taking effect from 1st May. The Renters’ Rights Act (RRA)…
Read More
Breaking News

Latest Nationwide house price data showing a 2.2% increase

Industry reaction to Nationwide house price data showing UK annual house price growth picked up to 2.2% in March, from 1.0% in February. Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments: “An uplift in house prices will be welcomed by the market and suggests that buyer demand remains resilient despite ongoing economic headwinds. Improved sentiment, coupled with…
Read More