Social media, whether we like it or not, dominates our lives. We may not always feel like it does, but when the first thing that you do every morning is check your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or any other form of social media, it can be concluded that social media plays a significant influence in our daily lives. People use it for a variety of different reasons: connecting with friends and family, entertainment, news, politics, etc.
In today's society, individuals usually hear about an important event that occurred somewhere in the world before it is even reported on the six o'clock news.
It can be argued that we would be at a complete loss if it were not for social media. And to a large extent, this is true. Websites like Facebook and Twitter have created a completely different, exciting way to communicate with our friends and family and to also stay up to date on what is happening in the lives of our favorite celebrities. Newer apps like Snapchat have created a more personal way to contact friends and the numerous celebrities that also frequent the app share more personal aspects of their lives than some of the stories about them told on the news.
Social media also opens up a completely new forum for political discussion, as clearly demonstrated by the 2016 election. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as well as the earlier candidates for the Presidency, utilized their social media accounts to contact eligible voters and specific age groups in order to garner their support. And if you have a Twitter account, then you most definitely witnessed all of the tweets that documented how different people felt about the outcome of the election.
Social media allows us to voice our opinions and beliefs, and to gain another perspective on the happenings in the world by reading what other people have to say. But the power that we have to do this also presents challenges - ones that we may not even realize. There are reportedly 974 million Twitter users, and 1.79 billion Facebook users and these are arguably two of the most popular forms of social media. With these million and billion users comes their opinions whenever something big happens in the world, and the harm that can be caused by this has been demonstrated primarily when it comes to the topic of political and social issues.
It is no secret that a large percentage of the population is angry and disenchanted about Trump's President-Elect title, and they have voiced their disdain all over social media. Of course, anybody that is related to or associated with Trump becomes a target of hate, even if what they 'did' is not significant and does not pertain to the way Trump will handle his presidency. In the past week, Ivanka Trump came under fire for tweeting about her excitement for her son turning eight months old, something that almost all moms do when they have a child. There were thousands of replies to this tweet, all equating Ivanka's celebration of her son's eight month birthday to how terrible Trump's presidency will be. Of course, Ivanka Trump is automatically guilty by association for many people simply because she is Trump's daughter.
The issue with this, and other senseless 'issues' that blow up online, is that they take the attention away from issues that actually matter. No matter what anybody says or thinks, Ivanka Trump wishing her son a happy eight month birthday will not affect the way that Donald Trump runs his Presidency. There are multitudes of problems in the world that are worth more discussion than a mom celebrating her son.
Ultimately, social media is wonderful because it makes us feel like our opinions are actually being heard. However, it becomes a problem when we choose to focus on issues of less importance rather than focusing on things that directly affect us. Remember that your voice matters, so use it to speak about things that matter.
