In the age of social media, there are a lot of pros and cons. However, this generation would say that there are more pros with social media. I, however, once a fan of social media is no longer one. I feel that social media is nothing but a license to throw a pity party for yourself if you are not strong enough.
The social media age has grown into a larger platform because you have not one, but five major platforms to express your various emotions about certain events, post status updates, and share photos. However, it seems like millennials were the “ginny pigs” of social media when the then popular social media site MySpace debuted and was the most popular thing around.
When Facebook came about everyone, and I mean everyone, migrated to Facebook forcing MySpace to completely revamp its design to no avail, the website is still not as popular as it once was. For me personally, I did not use MySpace and started with Facebook.
The downside to this, however, is the younger generation being stuck on their phones and computers and having more virtual friends than real friends, and that can pose a problem as they become older.
The social media platforms can be fun, but also can become addicting and that is why I have decided to cut back on the use of social media for a little while. If you are an avid social media user, this article is for you.
There are a lot of pros and cons of social media are often too high to mention but I know one pro is that it can be very entertaining. Meaning that, if you are looking for entertainment, all social media platforms have some type of video sharing to get a good laugh in or even a good cry.
The other social media pro is that if you want to share good news with the masses, a status update would be the thing to do, it would save a lot of time texting or calling.
The cons, however, come when you post a status update and people that are on your friends' list have a jealous side to them, and begin to direct message you and express their jealousy of you.
When that happens, a lot of times people begin to become depressed instead of looking at how many people are happy for you. I say do not let the haters get to you, instead be happy for your accomplishment and allow those who want to celebrate you, celebrate you.
Another pro about social media is the number of photos you can post of yourself. The birth of selfies came when people begin using social media and they requested you have a profile picture so people can see what you look like.
As time went on, people begin to take full advantage of the selfies frenzy when more and more people used social media as a way of showing themselves off. When I first started social media, I used to take a lot of selfies and I was already photogenic, so my pictures came out looking good.
Taking selfies is one of the top pros of having a social media account. However, the top con is bullying and that is fueled by selfies because people can easily make fun of how you look.
According to an article from RawHide, “With high online activity, teens either witness cyber bullying, are a victim of it, or become a perpetrator. Cyber bullying is on the rise, and the impact is often underestimated.”
This could be one of the reasons why school shootings and suicides are on the rise in the lives of young people. This sad fact may not be able to be fixed as there is no way of controlling bullying online.
The best advice that can be given is that social media site try to crack down on the number of offensive comments that go forth via filters, but that often does not work as those who may have been blocked once for offensive comments come back with other accounts, so parents need to do a better job monitoring their children’s social media use.
One of the other pros of social media is that you can find love on various social media platforms. A simple direct message can start a lifetime of happiness. There are people I know who met their spouses online and do not regret one second of instant messaging back and forth.
I am happy for those who found love online, but on the other end, the cat-fishing (claiming to be someone your not) is higher when you are talking online because you do not know who you are talking to.
According to an article on CNN, "One study found that 81 percent of online daters admitted to lying about their weight, height, age or a combination of the three on their profiles.” While you may be able to find your soulmate on social media, you have to be careful not fall into a trap.
Social Media has its ups and its downs, but all in all it is a great platform to connect, promote, and share with others, and even meet new people. As far as family is concerned, I am sure it is a blessing because, before social media, we had to go years without seeing our families and reunions had to be held.
Now there are not many family reunions, and high school reunions are a thing of the past as well. While I am grateful for the evolution of social media, I strongly recommend you log on in moderation so you do not go "insane."
