Human Relationships with Technology: Social Media
A question I find myself asking frequently is, “Is social media taking over our lives?” An overwhelming amount of content on social media is shared each day. Humans have now developed a relationship with social media because of the constant need for that social connection online. Social media used to be simpler, and it was a place for people to are events and statuses with family and friends. It has become a global platform for everyone to share and create content that either influence, entertains, or informs populations. This post explores the positive and negative sides of the interaction between humans and social media and how to regulate social media intake.
The positive side of social media is how advanced it has become and how easy and accessible it is for many people. The multiple applications have allowed people to pick their favorite ways to share content and connect with their friends and family or even strangers and celebrities. Social media platforms are also meant for so much more than communicating with people. Social media technology has allowed businesses to use it to advertise for their company, connect with future employees, and work with influencers to discuss products. It has also become a platform for news and vital information to spread rapidly to people worldwide. Social media has become so popular in use that it can be very informative and entertaining as well. People can learn about news reports right on a social media app instead of turning on the news. Teens have become so used to the technological world we live in that this is the primary way they get their news and information instead of from the news channels or newspapers. But then I ask myself, is consuming this much social media always positive?
When I reflect on the readings and the video I watched this week, I believe there is a negative side to social media. The negative side of social media is how consuming and overwhelming it can be. Teens and young adults spend a lot of time on their phones on social media apps, texting, tweeting, snap chatting, and posting. Sometimes all of the posts they see, send or receive are not so nice. After watching the video about teenagers and their digital worlds, there are uses of social media technology that involve cyberbullying and harassment. Not only is the bullying hurtful, but the sheer consumption of looking at others’ content and comparing yourself to it is painful. Everything about social media has flipped from being a place to share and connect with friends and family to people advertising products, falsifying their looks, and only sharing the good part of their lives. This creates a space on social media that doesn’t feel like real life and why the digital world can distort the real world and what is important. I think taking in the media can create a feeling of not being good enough when you have to watch others post how great their lives are when you are not feeling so great about yourself. I have to think about this constantly when I am on my own social media as well. How can we balance the positives and negatives of our interactions with social media?
Social media intake has become so overwhelming that even positive posts and content can impact a person. The interaction with social media is mostly positive, but I think being careful of what and how much we are intaking is really important. Controlling who and what we follow are ways to reduce negative intake but still have the online relationship and connections that make social media great. I am eager to share more of my thoughts on this blog and learn more about the interaction between the human and the digital world of social media.
