Social Media And Its Impact On Society

As we all know, social media has a tremendous impact on society and has affected in some way our daily life, relationships, and/or business. Every day, people around the world access famous social media network sites such as facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and so on to find out about other people, others might use social networking to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, or even meet their spouse. The excessive use of social media websites might bring negative effects; while for other people, it might bring satisfaction or positive effects. Technological advancements such as the internet, have given us the opportunity to connect with other people anytime and anywhere in the world. Pretty much all around the world, everyone has access to the World Wide Web via a desktop computer or smart phones. The fact is that no matter our current location or destination we might go, social media will always be following us as long as we have that direct connection. The main focus of this paper is to identify the good and bad of social media, and the current and future problems it will bring.

Social media is a variety of platforms provided to the public as a medium for expression and communication. Seemingly, social media could be viewed as a positive contribution to society, but one must consider the underlying effects of society. Many of us don’t take into account the role that social media plays in the way we perceive things, think, and live our lives. Social media plays a critical part in societal norms. “Social norms are rules of conduct that governs interactions among individuals within a reference group. Norm violations can often provoke disapproval and loss of esteem,” (Young, 2007). People seek approval or validation by their peers or other individuals in society; in effect, societal norms are generally abided by many individuals. “People want to be accepted by others in their social environment and often end up conforming to behaviors that they believe the majority holds as appropriate,”(Power, 2011). Often times societal norms create a strong scrutiny of individuals, which in turn can create poor body image, body dissatisfaction, and more. Poor body image and body dissatisfaction can be the basis for development of an eating disorder. “ The best known contributor to both clinical eating disorders and sub clinical cases of disordered eating is negative body image and high body dissatisfaction,”(NEDA). There are various types of eating disorders; “All feature serious disturbances in eating behaviors and weight regulation,” (Eating Disorders: More Than

Addiction, profit and influence usually are not the first words you would expect to come to mind when thinking about the term “social media,” yet with a little digging you will soon realize it could be the perfect description. Social media can be defined as forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages and other content. Most often social media is understood as a positive concept because of the ways it has allowed us to attain cheap and easily accessible knowledge at the end of our fingertips. For example, take the average college student who would rather spend their last $20 at the bar you can conclude that there are superior consequences to abusing too much of a good thing; using social media has its own set of superior consequences.

In this article, Malcolm Gladwell argues that in a network were loose ties are prevalent and Hierarchy is just a word, social media could never give what social change will ask for. He starts off by recalling the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, were groups of dedicated individuals challenged the status quo, with crucially, strategic activism that led to a true revolution. Mr. Gladwell illustrates that there are a few distinctions that show between traditional activism and social media. One being that social media is not a hierarchy, instead it is a network. Secondly, his more compelling argument that social media is built on “Weak –ties” which rarely will lead to the high-risk activism that is needed.

While many people put off and ignore the issue of social media and its downfalls, others say that people should think about how our lives are being affected by this advancement in technology, including, lack of human contact and precious time being lost due to consumption with social media. Social media is currently a highly controversial topic in which numerous people have mixed feelings. Society has typically viewed new advancements in technology as beneficial and a sign of success within their country. But, has it solely caused successful outcomes, or are there downfalls to these advancements?

Today’s world is influenced by many factors. One of which is technology; many things have been created that have revolutionized society. Social Media is one of the newly invented platforms, which have come out as a result of technology. Social media is used on the web or via applications where users can view, share and learn about what others in their lives, communities and countries are doing. Social media has made communication very effective in today’s day and age and has helped many people in many ways; however, social media also has its downsides. Social media has made our lives less private and has allowed people to be able to find out confidential information about us. This topic is vital because all people using social media, from all different age groups, should be aware of the risks involved within social media because their privacy could be invaded by anyone. Social media can thus be seen as a threat as people can set out to harm you through invasion of your privacy. Social media is bad because it affects or privacy and communication skills.

Since we as a society are currently living in the age known as the Technological Revolution, chances are that in some form or fashion you are aware of and have been exposed to social media. Well, imagine a world where the use of social media became more structured and used to improve education as opposed to just being used for keeping in touch with friends and family, sharing pictures, and seeing how many likes you can get per post. According to the Business Insider Intelligence Report of 2014, social media is now the top Internet activity in the world, Americans’ specifically “spend more time on social media than any other major Internet activity, including email” (Business Insider). Considering this information, it is obvious that social media plays a vital role and impacts the lives of our nation on a daily basis. Some argue that its impact can be negative and a distraction to the educational experience of the younger generation. Regardless of your personal opinion, what if educators were to work with the use of social media for educational purposes. Since it is highly used, it would not only gain the learner’s interest but also would reach more people at large. Therefore, we should learn to better utilize social media in a more constructive educational manner.

The use of social media has increased rapidly within the past decade and still continues to grow as approximately 58% of people claim to use it. According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary, Social media is defined as "forms of electronic communication…through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content" (Merriam Webster Online). Most people across the globe have been introduced to some sort of technology with the capabilities of using social media sites and those exposed tend to become captivated by what they have access to, using social media often and depending on it to keep in touch with others. This leads people to ask, "Does social media make the world more disconnected or interconnected?" This is a controversial topic due to the overwhelming use of social media amongst the younger generations and even the older generations as well. This issue in society could potentially dissipate actual physical relationships between people and everyone will become technology-hungry robots. Karl Pilkington once said, "Everyone is living for everyone else now. They 're doing stuff so they can tell other people about it. I don 't get all that social media stuff, I 've always got other things I want to do - odd jobs around the house. No one wants to hear about that." Overall, social media is ultimately making the world more disconnected while fooling people into believing that they are becoming closer to each other.

I have constantly thought about intimacy amongst couples as a private and a special thing between them, and considered it as a cherished moment to be experienced concerning the two without the interruptions of others. Yet, nowadays, every notion of privacy is becoming blurred with the use of technology, and peoples’ interpretations of what is private and what is public has evolved over time with these new technological developments. The smartphone plays a significant role in changing peoples’ views on their privacy, and having these devices in hand at all times, with unlimited access to the internet, alongside countless applications and free social media platforms available to share their content has made it even easier to forget about the concept of privacy.

Associate Director of Athletics at Saint Louis University weighed in advocating, “We have a conversation to say that it is not just social media in a bubble, but it is social media as another place you are going to make decisions [that represent your team, the department, the institution, and your family]. What’s unique about social media is the immediacy by which many people have a thought and then share a thought” (Bowles). Aside from athletics, students hoping to attend college are often required to give their Twitter handle as a section on the application. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, social media determines a significant part of a young individuals life. While sports hold great importance in our society, social media is

Ed Stetzer, president of Lifeway Research, writes, “If your student ministry is a four-year holding tank with pizza, don’t expect young adults to stick around.” Dr. Stetzer is referring to the current epidemic seen in America involving the church. American churches, and churches around the world, are experiencing a decrease in their attendance. At the current rate, less than ten percent of Americans will attend church, by the year 2050. The largest age group of those leaving the church is Generation Y or, as they are better known, Millennials. The lack of community, authenticity, and faith are contributing factors to the drop of millennials attendance seen in the American church.

The art of social media, as of today, can be described as engaging, educational, and for some, addicting. For most people, social media is a convenient way to keep in touch with friends, family, and following celebrities by being able to receive constant notifications and alerts through the social site. Most can access these sites through computers, or more efficiently on a mobile device. It is also no secret that thanks to said devices, the public is easily able to have access to the latest trends, taking professional grade photos, or updating personal statuses. The technology today is only getting better, but how far could it possibly go? The rate at which social media is evolving, let alone technological advances, have not even began to

Social media is one of the most radical developments of the early twenty first century and has transformed the way people across the country and world interact with each other. Today nearly everyone gets updates instantly through services such as Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat at an unstoppable pace. Nevertheless, at the university level, notifications about news and current events are also being spread at this rapid pace.

The term ‘social media’ has become a broad-term to describe a large number of online systems that serve as a platform for the generation, and distribution of user-generated content. Social media creates a virtual social space, where a large number of users come together and interact with one another. These interactions can be either structured, such as responses that are moderated on blogs, semi-structured, such as a discussion between an extended network on Facebook, or unstructured, such as the anarchial functioning of Twitter.

Technology is rapidly advancing, and in today’s day in age, social media is integrated into the majority of people’s everyday lives. Individuals should take into consideration their professional persona when it comes to social media, due to the fact that it will be beneficial for them and any future companies they are involved with. Take for example the incident that occurred over Twitter with American Red Cross. The company recently tweeted out an inappropriate tweet saying, “Ryan found two more four bottle packs of Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch beer… when we drink we do it right #gettingslizzard.” (Huffington Post 2011). Now instead of dealing with the backlash and negativity that emerged from the tweet, the company was thankfully able to turn it around and even launched a blood for beer campaign that gave beer to people who donated blood. Not all companies are able to turn around and save their reputation like American Red Cross however, and it is important to make sure what you post on the internet will not get you in hot water.