Having social media accounts these days is pretty standard. Almost everyone in the world uses social media for personal or professional purposes. And it just keeps growing. Even children already know what social media is and how to use it. The majority of people worldwide have smartphones, an essential device to use for social media browsing.
Indeed, social media is now part of our lives. We use it for our relationships, work, studies, and entertainment. And as the year goes by, social media keeps updating. Little did we know, it has already changed how we live our lives. Social media has changed the way we communicate with people and our perspectives in life.
This article will discuss how social media has changed our lives in good and bad ways.
How social media changed people’s lives positively
-
Easy Access to Information
We can’t deny that there is a lot of information that we can get just by scrolling through different social media platforms, from celebrities’ personal lives, politics, and foreign events worldwide. Accurate and fake information is circulating on social media.
Luckily, there are a lot of credible sources from social media platforms too. When a particular event occurs, one person can go live on social media, and anybody can see what’s happening. This video post can circulate the world and be accessed easily. Some events go out on social media first before we see them on the news. And some information also gets sources from social media sites.
Social media is a good source of content. There are a lot of blogs and articles on social media that can be a source of our daily information. Many social media sources can form our judgments about what is truly going on in the world these days. Having a news crew interpret it for us is less important.
Furthermore, animated promotional video production companies help businesses and entrepreneurs spread out information about their brand. And we might not realize it, but many of their ads are displayed on social media platforms.
-
Pervasive Connectivity to Other People
Do you remember when phones had old-fashioned dials? Back then, we didn’t even have answering machines. If someone didn’t answer the phone when you called, you had to call back and try to catch them in real-time.
Let’s face it; people are busy. And sometimes, it’s hard to catch up to them. Thanks to social media, that’s not the case anymore. If you didn’t catch someone on the phone, you could leave a message or a voicemail. You can even see what they’re up to if they constantly post activities on social media. That’s how convenient it is to communicate with other people nowadays.
-
Globalized Communication
In the early years, people had difficulties in reaching someone globally. But now that we have social media, sending a message to someone, calling them, or even video chatting with them wherever they may be, is easier than ever.
People can post jokes, rants, share images and videos, and it can reach your loved ones in an instant. It will only take us minutes or hours to write an article or blog, publish it or post it on a social media platform, and those thoughts would travel across the globe through social media.
Social media indeed gave us a platform to express our opinions and be heard by people.
How social media changed people’s lives negatively
If there are positive effects, there are also negatives. Know how social media affects our lives adversely.
-
Hiding in Anonymity
Although it is becoming more challenging to keep your identity hidden these days, anonymity has been an essential aspect of the internet since its inception. It’s fascinating to observe how people act when their genuine identities are revealed.
From brazen trolls to regular pranksters, we now have it all. Hiding identity is the kind of activity that makes the internet in general and social media, in particular, less productive and pleasurable for everyone. If you want to say something but don’t want everyone to know, it’s much better to not say anything at all than bombard your timeline while hiding your identity.
It is not only cowardly to be insulting anonymously, but it also demonstrates a lack of character. That is something we should all strive for.
-
No action, only words
There is now a trend where people take a selfie with them holding a sign with their message, maybe about politics or something else. Their idea is to get likes and shares. The so-called fame drowns them in social media, forcing them to do things that they think might catch the attention of the social media audience and give them fame. Sadly, this is an unhealthy habit of many social media users.
We all love social media, although it has ups and downs. It’s evident that it is now part of who we are. At the end of the line, everything comes down to how we use the platforms.
