Finding Jobs
There are many positive benefits to participating in social media. One of the foremost is the ability to further one's career and professional aspirations. The beauty of social media is that it is relatively easy to gather information that reflects ones interests and goals, and to find like-minded individuals with whom to network.
Many have turned hobbies into full time careers via the internet and social media. Blogging, sharing text, images, videos, music that one identifies with or finds inspiring can open conversations, and lead to opportunities for employment in areas one did not know existed.
Because social media can have an audience globally, very specific talents can turn into lucrative endeavors because globally there may be enough people in need of a service or product to support one's livelihood.
Advertising & Marketing
Social media was not originally conceived of as a platform for people to market and advertise a company's products or services. It was created as a means for individuals to communicate with one another. In an attempt to monetize these sites, they created or allowed companies the opportunity not only to advertise but also execute and manage their business.
Major companies now use social media such as Facebook Pages and Twitter profiles to offer consumer support and customer service. Tweeting using @ or # tags, or commenting or posting on a Facebook page has become an effective, inexpensive and efficient way for large corporations to communicate and resolve issues quickly and easily. The transparency that is offered in these forums gives a company the appearance that they care about the individual experience, which is a successful marketing tool.
Meeting People
Because of the internet and specifically social media, people from across the globe can communicate easily in real time. One is no longer hampered by expensive long distance phone calls. Texting apps allow those with relatively limited means to communicate from one part of the world to the other quickly and easily with low cost.
Harrassment is unfortunately also done with very little effort and to-date there are few laws that can define and prohibit such activity. The result has been devastating in some situations.