Is Social Media Good for Us?

Last updated on August 21, 2020

Remember, let’s be polite; let’s be respectful, but most of all, let’s be outspoken.

If you were the last person on Earth, would you kill yourself? You couldn’t reproduce. Any money would be worthless. Power would be obsolete because there would be no one to lead. With the absence of achieving life goals, simple pleasures, and spending time with beloved, happiness could be hard to find.

But the worst part about this extremely morbid and horrifying scenario would be loneliness. It wouldn’t be the lack of food, water, or boredom that would inevitably kill you. It would be loneliness.

We can all agree we thrive on interaction with others. We interact in school, work, and home. We complement each other when we achieve minuscule things like getting an A on a test to monumental commitments like marriage. Introverts and extroverts both need to communicate to get things done.

Whether it’s asking to pass the Doritos bowl or speaking in front of vast crowds, communication is vital. Because in the grand scheme of things, we bring each other up and down. Societies are built on people coming to an agreement and building institutions based on that agreement. Therefore, why are we staying away from the very interaction that brings us together?

Everywhere we go, we are faced with technology. When I go inside a restaurant, there are people dining together with their heads buried in their phones.

At school, when people sit together during lunch, they are absorbed in social media. I am not innocent from my own criticism of society because I am also obsessed with my phone, or to be more specific, social media.

According to my settings app, I have spent 431 minutes on Instagram in the past seven days. Which means I spent about 24 percent of my week on Instagram. To people who have never had Instagram, this may seem shocking to you, but it shouldn’t.

According to GlobalWebIndex, people spend an average of 994 minutes on social media per week. This means social media users are having a tougher time distinguishing the virtual world from reality. The biggest problem with social media, or specifically Instagram, is we give ourselves a false sense of identity.

If people look at their own profile picture or posts, it has specific lighting and editing to make themselves look more attractive. People post pictures and videos with the expectation that their follower base will “like” it. And when they don’t like or comment, they become enraged and inconsiderate.

When they actually do “like” it, we gain a false sense of popularity even though their likes are mindless and impulsive. We create a fake persona for ourselves because we desire importance. When in reality, you can have 20 million followers and obtain 5 million likes per post, but lack any real friends.

Even though I pointed out the potential negatives of social media, there are positives. Social media can be used to connect with old friends and spread messages easily.

Because in actuality, people are the ones with the capacity to use social media to benefit society or destroy their persona. Which is why I am not calling for everyone to stop using social media, but to be aware.

To be aware of what they are posting, how they are posting, and why they are posting. To be aware of the impression they give off from their social media platforms. But most of all, to be aware that human interaction should transcend any online connection.

Remember, let’s be polite; let’s be respectful, but most of all, let’s be outspoken.