Social Media

  

“For my generation, being anonymous is no longer an option. For many of us, the decisions about our online presence are made before we can even speak” states Sonia Bokhari. If I am being honest, I spend A LOT of time online and using social media. Growing up I am super thankful for the childhood I had. All the way up until I would say my freshman year of high school, I spent my free time outside playing with neighbors or involved in some kind of activity disconnected from the internet. I did not get a smartphone until my sophomore year of high school and although at the time I complained, I am so happy my parents waited until they did. In the article, “I’m 14, and I Quit Social Media,” I could relate to what she talked about in the beginning of her piece about the age she was even allowed to go on social media, which was much earlier than I ever was allowed. Not only was it late for kids in grade who received a smartphone, I also was not allowed on Facebook until Junior year of High School. 

The kids growing up in today’s age do not get to experience what I would call a true childhood of playing out in the dirt or playing manhunt with your friends. Instead, they spend it glued to the ipad or whatever device their parents may have given them because it’s easy, they sit on the couch and have their eyes glued to the screen while the parent can go about their business and not have to worry much about watching their child.Everything has become digital in today’s society and that has even increased due to Covid-19. If you sit back and think about it all, it’s scary. Kids growing up in the digital world and even grown people today, lack true social skills. This is because everything can be done online, there is no need to go to the store etc. and actually have to communicate with someone for whatever your need may be. Technology whether you want to believe it or not, has become an accepted part of society and it is not going away.

 Although I hate what the world has become because of social media and the internet, I am not going to sit here and lie saying that I have not fallen victim to it. Social media has become a huge part of my life and although there are pros there are also many cons. I am currently minoring in Social Media Marketing and hope to land a job in the field after graduation, so to say social media is a big part of my life, I mean big. Yes, social media does play an important part of my life as I hope to land a career that involves content creation, I do believe I spend way too much time online rather than having real connections. Whether it be Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook or Tik Tok, you’ll see me on each platform at least twice a day. The biggest platforms I find myself using the most right now is Instagram and Tik Tok. Throughout the years of having each app downloaded on my phone I have grown to absolutely love content creation. Whether it be posting photos on Instagram or recreating funny videos to post on Tik Tok, I have become their product. Although I love each social media platform I am on, I am aware of the harm they cause. 

The internet is a very dangerous place and everything you post is out there forever and cannot be erased. Even if you think you are safe, you are not. Yes, social media can be used for fun but there comes a point where you have to realize how much we are being misinformed as a society. People tend to believe everything they read on the internet not knowing the source it came from. Technology can be very informative, I am not saying it is this big bad enemy. People need to realize that a lot of things posted on the internet are not always true and it is their way of getting you to believe THEIR view or side of a story.

When thinking about the question of what personal information have you voluntarily given out and thinking back to the conversation we had in class about this topic, it makes me sick to my stomach how much information I have put on the internet and not even cared what was going to be done with it. For example, my email. My email has been given to all different social media sites when asked, and even worse, clothing websites. Only about a year ago did I create a fake email account to use when asked. I know that it is too late but it’s better late than never. It did not occur to me the danger of just giving out your email is, until I learned how much information your email holds. Netflix, just this year, released a movie called The Social Dilemma where tech experts “sound the alarm” on the dangerous human impact of social networking. While reading the article, “Our collective privacy problem is not your fault,” it reminded me of the movie mentioned above. One statement that stood out to me the most especially connecting it back to me voluntarily giving out personal information such as my email was as states, “To make matters worse, companies also rely on manipulative design tricks to wheedle people into spending more time on a service, spending more money, or providing more data than they intended.” In the movie and as shown in this statement, this is how the companies have turned us into their product. The way they manipulate and formulate ways to make you give out information and always coming back for more. 

Does social media make people depressed? Lonely? I could write an entire essay on this and just how serious the harm it has caused especially on young teens. Suicide is the 10th most common cause of death amoung teens. If you do not think social media has increased this, you are crazy. 10000% social media has caused the rate of mental illness in young teens to increase. Social media has become the center of toxicity for teens to compare themselves to others, whether it be based on looks or what they have and they don’t. What people post on social media is just a highlight reel of their life and to you it may make their life look perfect and that nothing bad ever happens to them and that your life just sucks. But that's not true. If you were having a breakdown crying in your room you would not take a photo and post that on Instagram and let the world know all the problems you are going through. This has caused comparison to others to skyrocket leading to higher levels of anxiety disorders among teens. Then we have the topic of cyber bullying which has been around for years and continues to this day. It just seems like there is more harm than good that comes to play with technology and the role social media plays in today’s society. I could go on and on about the harm it has caused especially to young adults' mental health because I really do not see the positives of such a toxic environment.

It may seem like I think technology is just horrible and it has no point and does no good. I do think technology is so important and has helped the world today in many different ways. Like anything, there's always the good and the ugly and it just so happens the bad continues to outshine the positives of social media and it’s level of toxicity. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/90315706/kids-parents-social-media-sharing

https://www.fastcompany.com/90447583/our-collective-privacy-problem-is-not-your-fault

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/youth-suicide-rates-are-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s