In my opinion, Facebook has been one of the greatest and one of the worst inventions of this century.
Facebook has been beneficial to many people because it allows them to maintain connections that they care about and helps them reunite with those that they might not see anymore. You can see what your loved ones are up to almost every day and you feel like you can experience their best and worst moments with them. I believe Facebook has been one of the greatest inventions to come into this world because of all of the positivity and relationships it helps to maintain. We never feel alone anymore because we have a network that we can constantly rely on. But, as many know, there is no such thing as a perfect invention. Every tool of technology has its flaws.
Surrounding what should be a positive network, is a negative "wall".
Facebook has been detrimental to our society because it has created "a wall". The "Facebook Wall", as I like to call it, is the invisible barrier, created by Facebook, that protects the people that feel like they have the free reign to say whatever they want because their face is hidden. It doesn't matter if their post is offensive to the person on the receiving end. They are "protected" and that is all that they care about. It is their way to avoid confrontation and keeps them from seeing the impacts of hurting someone's feelings. It makes it a lot easier to tell someone how you feel if you cannot actually see them, be it positive or not. When you say something mean or hurtful, behind "the Wall", to make someone else feel bad about themselves, you are asking others to judge you and your personality. You think no one will get you in trouble and it makes you feel empowered. I know. I have seen it and I have questioned your character because of it.
I feel that many of us need to think of the saying, "If we don't have anything nice to say, we shouldn't say anything at all," when it comes to our social media posts. If you feel like you have to hide behind a wall, as you are writing something, do you really think you should write it? Our generation has lost touch with the idea that if we have a problem with someone, we need to confront them directly and not post our issues all over for the world to see. The concept of the "Facebook Wall" can be easily demolished. It is something we can fix ourselves.
We see the issue of the "Facebook Wall" constantly impacting our society. We have coined the term "cyberbullying" for those that are not brave enough to confront others with their issues. The hardest hit demographic by far is the teenage generation.
43% of students report that they have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetime.
15% of students admit to being a cyberbully.
20% of students that are cyberbullied think about taking their own lives.
It starts with us. Whether it is a comment about the presidential election, about someone's face in a picture, what they are wearing, what they are doing, what they are saying or anything hurtful, think about your words before you post them. Think about how your words can impact the person on the receiving end. Do you want those words to be out in the world forever? Could you say those words to that person's face and step out from behind the wall? Even if you delete them, someone can screenshot what you say...then, what?
We all have the right to say whatever we want on social media, but just know that whatever you say, will be out there forever.
