How does social media affect us?

Social media has been around since the late 90s, but never really started to gain traction until the early to mid 2000s, with websites like MySpace and Facebook gaining popularity, mostly with people in their teens and 20s at the time. Since then, it’s grown into a massive web of billions of websites and pages, with almost everyone participating. But what kind of effect does it have on us? Is it a great way to connect with people across the world, or is it just ruining our attention spans and making us spend less time with each other? Maybe it’s a bit of both.

Let’s start with the good parts. One major benefit of social media are the new interactions we can have that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. It’s not uncommon to have friends in other countries that you met online, and likely would never even know without social media. Many people even meet their future partners through social media, when otherwise they would have never seen each other. This does come with a major drawback, however. You never know who you’re actually talking to. This has led many people to be very cautious with who they talk to and what they share online. (As they should.) It also leads to negative stigma surrounding it, especially when kids are involved. Many parents heavily restrict their children’s internet access (again, as they should) because of the risk of them talking to or even meeting up with people that they likely would be better off avoiding.

Another benefit is the rise of many new career options. With the rise of social media, it’s now possible to make a living from posting online, whether it’s pictures, videos, or live streaming. The best part is that because it’s so accessible, anyone can try it with a bit of free time and dedication. There’s no risk involved with streaming for a few hours a week just to see what happens. Best case scenario, you get famous and make money, worst case scenario you played video games and talked a bit more than usual.

There are, however, several downsides to social media. As mentioned before, there’s no way to tell who you’re really talking to, and it’s easy to get scammed if you don’t know how to properly avoid it. Especially with the rise of AI, it’s becoming increasingly easier to impersonate someone else online. There’s also the mental health issues. Many studies have found that social media can negatively affect teenagers’ body image issues, self esteem, and even induce feelings of self harm or suicide.

There’s no arguing against the fact that too much social media will have a negative effect on anyone, but if you’re careful and use it in moderation, social media can be an amazing way to interact with people and be entertained that can’t really be matched by any other medium.

“INTERNET” by fisakov is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.