Social Media In Witch-Hunting

Since the Bulletin Board System there has been hundreds, and counting, of social networks created: most notably Twitter, Facebook, Kik, Snapchat, and Instagram. Today there are just over 3 billion active Internet users (45% of the world’s internet users), 2.1 billion of those people have social media accounts (Jeffbullas.com). People use social media for many numerous reasons. Most use social media to stay close to relatives and maintain social ties. Some of people’s most essential daily needs are accounted for by social media: whether it be interacting with friends or coworkers, following politics, or following the latest fashion trend set by the Kardashian

“The media may be new, but the punitive messages and appetites remain the same today’s tech simply provides new outlets for the worst behaviour” (Gaskill). For over 19 years, social media sites have changed the way humans communicate. Social media sites have affected individuals in positive and harmful ways. These sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat in some way have used “witch- hunting” to harm others. According to the Merriam Webster, witch-hunting is “the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (such as political opponents) with unpopular views”. The argument is made that the communication among others on social media has drastically increased and has led to thousands of witch-hunts. Social media is similar to the events of the 1692 Salem witch trials and the written play The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

    People do not realize the immense impact social media has on their lives.  Social media first impacted people’s lives with the invention of the telephone in 1890.  Following this, the radio entered many homes in 1891; this was the beginning of social media.  During the twentieth century, computers and the Internet began the modern rise of today’s social media. UseNet, in 1979 was a virtual newsletter, which began what people think today of as modern social media.  When home computers became popular during the 1980s, such sites as relay chats took off.  Then, in 1997, the first true social media site , Six Degrees, came about: “It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that’s still popular today” ( “Complete History of Social Media: Than and Now”). Although social media has some positive effects,  social media has changed the world for the worse because it negatively affects politics, privacy, and bullying.

Malcolm Gaskill who created an online article on witch hunting, stated, “The words “slut” and “whore” had been directed at 6,500 twitter users in 10,000 tweets through one three week period.” Witch hunts have been present throughout our history and have evolved to a much higher scale in the digital age. Social media has created a new type of witch hunt through harassment and bandwagoning when something that’s popular is spreading. Social media witch hunts are very similar to that of The Crucible’s. Individuals are accused and harassed by groups of people while suffering throughout the process. However, for social media witch hunts, it is the millions of users that go against the victim while in The Crucible, it is the few townsfolk. Based on the information at hand, we must ask ourselves, How has witch hunting evolved from what it was like in The Crucible to what it is like now with the involvement of social media?

Social media (digital technology) platforms are defined as any form of digital communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). Over the last several years, the use of social media platforms such as blogs, text messaging, games, and Twitter, have had significant growth. Social media tools have become an effective way to expand reach, foster engagement and increase access to credible, evidence-based health information.

Social media are websites or applications that most of people use every day, but it can cause several harmful effects, such as symptoms of mental health, increase cyberbullying, and reduce productivity. Social media is a place where people can share their personal information, pictures, videos, ideas, and different form of expressions. It also the great place where people can interact with each other by using the text posts or comments. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter are the platform social media that most of people use. Each people has different purpose of using social network, such as communicate with friends, or promote a business. According to the Statita.com, in 2017, 81 percent of U.S. Americans had a social media profile, representing a five percent growth compared to the previous year.

Currently, social media is the most popular method of communicating and interacting with others. It is a methodology to new media as it changes and evolves with our needs and expectations. Social media has evolved and adapted to become a huge part of our personal and professional lives.

Social media has now become a part of our modern day society and has a huge impact on our lives on a daily basis. Social media is the use of web and mobile-based technology to support interactive content. This content tends to be user generated and then might be promoted by other users to a new outlet or audience. Social Networking is a great

Social media is defined as “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.” However a more accurate definition of social media is as follows: “the relationships that exist between network of people” (Wiang, 3). Although social media traces back to before the 1800s, it is something that has become especially popular over the last two decades. What is interesting about this is that technology began going through a sense of both change and advancement of after

The term social media generally refers to communication technologies and interactive platform, such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. A further definition is given by Kaplan
and Haenlein
 (2010) who described it as a group of Internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content, and emphasizes that any user of social media can be a content creator and can distribute to a network of users. In a broad term, social media is the social interaction via online information and communication technologies

Since the introduction of Social Media in 1997, Social Media has redefined and radically changed communication and has become an important part of modern day communication. Social Media has made people much more connected to the rest of the world. Furthermore, Social Media has allowed people to interact and stay connected with each other regardless of where they are in the world. Social Media has also allowed people to share information and opinions to a wide audience. In a recent large-scale study conducted by Common Sense Media, Teens spend up to 9 hours consuming media. Social Media has changed how we share information and consume information.

The social media is one of the most common ways of communication and pretty much of knowing anything and everything around the world these days, and it is growing very rapidly. It changes and affects each person in a different way, or ways. Some may argue that social media has a bad influence on children and young adults, and that it negatively effects their brains, character, or personalities, while most people see that the social media has a more positive effect on them than a negative one. Moreover, social media has helped many people around the world to connect, or re-connect, with each other, easily. Social media is basically the new way of keeping in touch with everything and everyone, and of even strengthening bonds between each

Social media is any website that allows social interaction. Social media is growing rapidly throughout the world. More adults and teenagers are joining sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to interact with friends, family, and strangers. The introduction of social media has changed the world in many ways. It affects each individual in different ways. Today it can be used as a very helpful tool in changing a person’s life, but at the same time cause such conflicts which can negatively impact a person. While there are some negatives associated with social media, the positives in communication all around, has made the world stronger and a better place to live in.

Like the medicine that can cure and kill depending upon its usage, social media at its worst is a weapon of mass distress and can amplify slander, reputation destruction, political dispute, bully, casual mistreatment of people, snarky comments and hate in general.

Social media can be defined as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or participate in social networking. As a phenomenon of only the past couple of decades, it has certainly changed the way we live our everyday lives. Whether socially or professionally, it opens the door to incredible amounts of information; most of which is freely shared.