Social media. These two words have, in just the past 10 years, completely changed the way people all over the world interact with one another. The presence of social media sites like Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Instagram are slowly working their way into the lives of not just teenagers, but also children in elementary school. People, regardless of their walk in life, are falling prey to the false realities that social media creates.
Social media has its perks, there is absolutely no doubt in that. But, introducing such sites to children who are still developing mentally and emotionally can have adverse affects on their generation. For once, children are fickle, petty creatures. I completely believe that it is a necessity for children to put each other down for the simplest things when they are in upper elementary or middle school. Not because children are prone to such behaviors but because the transition into the teenage years is a very transformative time. Regardless of the reason, children find it amusing to make fun of the smartest kid in class with names like "teacher's pet" or to mock others because they "don't dress cool." Bullying is most frequent for kids aged 11-13, with incidents happening before or after rarely reported. For children who are already prone to bully others, or on the flip side, those who always feel bad about themselves, social media will do nothing but to add to the toxicity of the atmosphere. While there have been some kids who find solace in help from others on the internet, the majority of kids just take their negativity online and spread hate to the same kids they bullied in person that day.
This is really where our own fault comes into play. Even teens and adults are guilty of typing out slurs to others just because they do not realize that they are conversing with actual people. We attack and put accusations on other because we know that we will never see them in our everyday lives. As a collective whole we hate the violence and negativity prevailing in our news but we do nothing to take the first steps to create change. People on social media actually relish in the negativity spread through Facebook posts and Instagram feeds, sharing links and chiming in with their own hateful comments. This is a form of bully. Bullying does not disappear once you reach adulthood, rather it becomes stronger, using technology as a host to spread. With the prevalence of such sites in our lives, it is hard to believe we can be that hurtful to one another, but the comments are posted under many videos and articles. We have the nerve to call out those who are a whole ocean across from us, but cannot strike up a conversation with strangers on our public commutes to work or school. The reality is, many of the children who were able to get away with their hateful ideas online when they were young, just continue as they get older. As a result, many people think about what they are posting and reword their happiness so not to offend others or attract negativity to their pages.
In an era of technology where humans have the ability to get closer than ever before, we are marginalizing others in an unparalleled way. Our politicians have taken to social media to promote their campaigns (especially relevant these day), making our leader much more accessible than any other time in history. Stories of terror attacks and violence all over the world makes headlines in hours and we read the stories in minutes. But we do not have compassion. We care about these topics but we are very quick to move on. I find myself to do this often as well. I will find an article that outlines an attack in Lahore, Nigeria, Beirut or Brussels among the many others and my reaction is usually the same. Horrific sadness and a pushing of the like button. That is all. I generally do not promote the topic, rather I move on from it. Our likes do not equate to much in the grand scope of things. We like a picture, some story and we use that as a way to express our sympathy without seeming clueless about world issues. There is so much more that we could be doing but the 'like' justifies all that we feel and so on we go to another topic.
As obvious as it may seem, the impact of social media is seen all around us. Relationships are thought to only be wonderful and perfect as seen on Instagram with hashtags like #relationshipgoals. The best pictures are those that show a perfectly constructed image of reality where lighting and filters are used to the maximum. Memes trivialize daily struggles and words are misconstrued in tweets. Our words are elaborate and flowery but with no meaning; we simply do not understand the reality of the arguments we get into so long as we are involved. While this has been the tone of our media outlets today, all people on this earth who are involved in these sites have the ability to be more humane than those before them. We should all take a stand to make a change and be able to understand the falseness that is present in our daily lives.
