As defined by generations before us, one of the biggest issues with millennials is our involvement with social media. Of course, prior generations also criticize us for being vain and greedy, caring about no one else but ourselves, and being too wrapped up in our social media accounts.
What this generation doesn't get enough credit for is how informed we are.
Something that's become clear is that news media is incredibly biased based upon where their funding is coming from. This becomes most important in the cases of the presidential election. Information on candidates can be skewed based on what network is portraying them. Candidates with more money can afford to put good press about themselves out onto media circuits.
Social media doesn't allow this sort of filter. You will see information about all candidates, conservative or liberal, well-funded or grassroots, love them or hate them. Unless you work incredibly hard, you can't avoid it. The decision of this election will decide the future for a vast majority of people living in the U.S. It's not a choice that can be made without understanding the values and morals of the political candidate.
Not only does social media give us the ability to know more about people being given the chance to run the entire country, but it provides us with information about the people and issues our media chooses to avoid.
Unless actions in other countries appear to threaten the U.S. in any way, their accomplishments or struggles won't be widely broadcasted. This secludes American viewers and readers from anything that's happening outside of the country.
When it comes to these sorts of situations, social media is a key factor used to spread awareness about events in other countries. Millennials who have a strong knowledge on social media have a wider knowledge base of who and what they have access to, including people their own age in other countries. This means our country's millennials can hear and see events occurring around the world from other millennials who are experiencing them first-hand.
On a smaller scale, we hear the experiences of people in our own country whom the media chooses to ignore. For example, social media has elevated the voices of transgender students and their right to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. Social media gives us the ability to hear firsthand how allowing students to use their appropriate bathrooms can creative positive impacts, therefore pushing for this to be allowed.
Social media gives the option for everyone to have a voice, including those who are typically silenced. The average person has more of a reach to other countries and differing experiences than was ever possible before.
Millennials get a lot of criticism on how much time we spend on social media. When we're making friends with people far away and learning about issues in other countries, I don't see how that's really a bad thing. Our time online is time we are becoming more informed.
This generation's widespread involvement is allowing us to solve issues that have been avoided for too long. Cultural divides are dissolving and rather than distancing ourselves from those who are different from us, we create understanding. Though it's a cliché, it's true; learning from our past prevents us from repeating it. No offense to prior generations, but millennials have a lot of cleaning up to do after the mess you've made. Social media may just allow us to fix the issues a little more efficiently.
