Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter are things that we all use on a day-to-day basis. To be honest, what would we ever do if all of these things were to disappear out of the blue? However, now that you think about it, would it really be as bad as people think it would be? Would we descend into anarchy and regress back into cavemen? No. Would we be more accepting of others, not judging their appearance and become less shallow in the process? Yes we would. Social media sites like facebook and twitter and a plethora of others have built up people’s ego, but have also torn them down.
Whenever somebody posts and reposts something, they feel almost obligated to get a certain amount of likes and if they don’t, they feel offended. Anything and everything that they share on their profile needs to grab somebody’s attention and if it doesn't, then it can strike a chord with their ego. Likes, shares, posts, and comments are ways of trying to get attention on social media. Instead of being an affable person, volunteering their time and helping others when they need, they resort to gratuitous sharing and mindless posts that in no way, shape or form benefit society and once they get those likes and comments on their post, it isn’t as rewarding as getting an A+ on a paper or landing that promotion that you have been eyeing for years. It is short-lived and must be repeated over and over again to keep the momentum. Not only that, but with all the social media going around, people are literally glued to their phones and can’t even seem to hold a conversation with another human being unless it is through text messaging and/ or Facebook and twitter posts. We become social cripples when we are being inundated with texts, posts, and selfies. We try to polish our facebook and twitter profiles to look better to those who are watching instead working and bettering ourselves in reality.
It cannot be said for certain, but if social media were to be eradicated for good, we would most likely have better communication skills and be able to talk to each other easier and calmer without social media portraying and epitomizing just how shallow society can be to other people. According to the article “Before and Beyond the Social Moment of Engagement: Perspectives on the Negative Utilities of Social Media Marketing” by Tracy Tuten and William Angermeier social media has “negative utilities for individuals which include security breaches and loss of privacy, distorted sense of self, potential decline in the use of unbiased, credible information sources, perpetual recorded memory of the online past, and a loss of control over online content” (Tuten, Angermeier). They notice the harmful effects of social media on people of this day and age. Not only can social media disable us to be socially inept, but it can also lead to numerous cyber attacks within countries, which is why more privacy is invaded and more online secrets are being leaked. People have been hacked into their social media accounts and have had their reputations tarnished by others which is also a form of cyberbullying, which can lead people to suicide and other drastic behavior.
Overall, social media can be good for business ventures and growing your company, product or service, but abusing this power can lead to people’s lives being ruined and an addiction to attention on the internet, which can ultimately lead to a loss of communicating with other people.
