On a daily basis everyone uses some form of social media, myself included. Today alone, I have used Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. These are just a few of the sites I have been on today alone. I can honestly say that every morning after I wake up the kids the first thing I do is grab my phone and check all my tweets from the night before and then check my Facebook page. Social media is in every aspect a part of my life.
Not only do I use social media to keep in touch with friends and family all over the globe, but I use it to keep track of the news. I can honestly admit that I hate watching the news because very rarely is there ever anything happy on there and this just makes me even more scared. With the use of social media, such as Facebook, I can keep up with the news but at the same time I can bypass anything that I do not want to partake in. Not only can I bypass it but I can delete it from my view. With this I have to say that I am still undecided as to whether or not social media is good or not.
I say this because if we look at everything that has gone on in society we have both perspectives. On the one hand, we have the good which involves the ability to keep in touch at the push of a button with those on the other side of the world. We can share our lives with those we love the instant it happens. Those this may be the good do not forget that we have the bad as well.
Take for example the Cloud issue that happened just recently. Someone hacked into the cloud and was able to steal personal photos of celebrities. To me this is the bad part of not only social media, but also technology. We try to make our lives easier by building this technology into our lives, but at what cost? We allow others the ability to take what they want from us without our permission because we wanted to share.
So, is social media a good influence or a bad? I guess that just depends on the day and whether or not someone has stolen something else that does not belong to them. I guess my answer would be to ask me on a daily basis because as social media and technology changes, so does my view of it.
Great post! You brought up a great point discussing that most of what is on the news is normally negative. Using social media does give us the option to block that out of our lives if desired. Unfortunately, there might not be much news to report then. Do you believe that it depends on the generation if one believes social media is a negative influence? I know that my parents and older relatives are strongly against the role that social media plays in my life, but they do not see all of the positive aspects of it because they are not a social media user.
ReplyDeleteMorgan,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a lot of great points. First, addressing the news issue, I do agree that it would cause us to have no news at all. On the other hand, I prefer to have the ability to not look at the horror that the world has to offer. Secondly, I do believe that generation gaps make a difference. My mother hates social media and the fact that everyone plays there lives out on social media. I can say that even though I do believe it is generational, I personally think that sometimes social media is horrible myself. I say this because we do play out our lives on sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Finally, I say this because I think it is unfair that employers use your social media against you. I mean me personally, I usually do not post to much to Facebook unless I am liking something, playing games, sharing someone else's post, or posting a status update as it would relate to my children. Yet, we still have to worry about what it might look like to a potential employer. So, I guess I would say that maybe, just maybe, social media can have a negative influence regardless of generational gap.
Teresa,
ReplyDeleteYou make reference to a point of concern that I actually have with new media. The ability to desensitize ourselves, it is so easy to avoid, for example, the video and reports of a journalists that is beheaded because we don't want to think about it - however, does that not dishonor the grief of the parents and families that lost a family member or the fact that we lost a contributing member to society?
I agree that there is an imbalance in evening television news, but I wonder if it is because they discovered that the majority of people will watch the horror? I am with you, I don't want to work all day and then have my family subjected to the nightly news, however, I remember being a young girl and feeling special to be able to watch 60 minutes with my parents but I can't recall being able to watch the news, maybe it was always full of doom and gloom and my parents protected me from that as well.
Larisa,
DeleteI know the story of the journalist you are talking about and I, unfortunately, am one of those who have skipped it because I do not want to see the horror story of it. I do agree that we do the family a disservice by not honoring someone brave enough to do what he did, but I just cannot bring myself to see all the horror in the world because somewhere part of me wants to believe that there is still good.
As for the imbalance I think you are completely correct. I start to think that because of media coverage we, again, are becoming a divided nation. I also believe that without media coverage such as 60 minutes we would not be able to have any true coverage at all. The news is almost nothing but weather, sports, and horror shows, while other media coverage is all about the famous people of Hollywood. I like 60 minutes because to me it is a true blend of everything, at least everything that is and should be important.
Great post! I really enjoyed reading it. I found myself agreeing with most of what you had to say, especially about waking up in the morning and going straight to all of the social media apps on my phone. It seems as though I always have my phone with me, either emailing/texting, or looking on some different platform of social media to see what is happening in the lives of friends and family. Social media definitely has its ups and downs when it comes to sharing, learning, and your own privacy; and at times it can be pretty scary because you don’t always realize how addicting it can get! Social media can be both positive and negative, I just think it really depends on how often it is used and to what extent.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! You really bring a great sense of realism to what social media can do to our society. Yes, it is super convenient that we can wake up, grab our phone, and be connected to our friends, family, and the world around us with a push of a button. But what is that really saying about us. Are we to lazy now to engage in face-to-face conversation or do we use social media as an outlet to get away from the rest of the work? Like you, I also believe social media has pros and cons and that list will continue to grow as technology begins to take over. It is sad and scary at the same time that someone would be able to hack into the ICloud and take photographs to post them for others enjoyment. Seriously!? It makes me nervous to what my children will have access to in the years to come if it becomes this easy to get into what we believe is a secure area. Only time will tell I guess. Great blog post, I can not wait to read more! Have a great evening!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post
ReplyDelete