Social Media; Good vs. Bad

Social Media; Good vs. Bad

With every change in everyday life, people always debate about the good and the bad. Is it worth the change? How is this affecting other aspects in my life? Do the pros out weigh the cons? Just as we ask ourselves these questions about many personal decisions, we can ask the same questions about international changes too; like social media.

Some of the good things about social media that people recognize include immediate access to information, constant connectivity to others and globalized voices. These help us keep up to date with nationwide news and information while also staying connected personally with friends and family if they are right down the street or half way across the world. Another arguable plus side to social media is the concept of a hashtag. This one simple tool can now connect millions of people’s ideas into a common space for them to share. It also allows businesses to market to specific people and spread powerful messages to the right market of people in a couple seconds.

On the other hand, there are many downsides to social media that we don’t always acknowledge right away. One of the biggest in my opinion is hiding behind anonymity. People tend to say whatever they want when they are hiding behind a computer screen. Many of the things these types of people are saying are often naïve have very little to back up their opinions. This can be hurtful to both specific people who they are targeting or a much larger cause.  Another downside is a lot of people are all talk and no action. They can say all the want and advocate for a million causes online but they are not really doing anything to help unless they take action and social media is drastically hindering that. Lastly, ignorance. It is amazing the comments some people make after hearing one comment or story that they think is true. People are so often misinformed or just blatantly ignorant and go on ranting on social media with no legs to stand on.  People are so quick to state their opinion to everyone when they often don’t even know what they are talking about.

Good vs. bad. Pros vs. cons. It is a very fine line between the pros outweighing the cons. Is social media worth it? I think it is solely because the idea of being able to stay connected with people and news around the world is so strong and beneficial. However it is very hard to cancel out and ignore the many people who cause the down side to social media.