A Change In The Horizon?

In our society, our views and the way we use social media have drastically changed over the years. At first, social media was used to be a form of communication between people. We may have family on the other side of the country, business associates in another continent, or just keep in touch with some friends. Regardless of what it was meant for, social media is most certainly not used the same way today. Now, social media is used as a form of hate and a way to spread negativity.

For example, look how the world of politics has changed social media. People who were elected to represent us (both Congress members and Trump) have resorted to attacking each other over the internet. It is so easy to hind behind a keyboard rather than say it to someone’s face. We as a society are beginning to lose touch with face-to-face contact so much to the point where we will Snapchat someone who is sitting right next to us. The advancement of technology has not helped make this social epidemic much better. While the tech we use continues to become more and more advanced, so does the way we use social media. However, in this case, the way we use it has become more negative rather than positive. We are irresponsible people on social media. We don’t think twice before we post, we are so quick to rush to judgement without hearing the full story, and we never know who really is behind the other side of the screen. Bullying (tied along with one’s mental health) is another common thread we see quickly rising on social media. While being irresponsible, we don’t consider who we eventually hurt with our comments and posts. And since we can hide behind our social media accounts, we are not afraid to continue to hurt one and other and not afraid to say whatever we want. In response, one can experience severe mental breakdowns.

There is only one way to see a change in the way social media is viewed today. It starts with the parents. Parents need to be teaching their children the rights and wrongs of social media in a better manner. Without restrictions and being taught proper use, children and young adults run rapidly on social media without an inkling of an idea of what is going on. Once parents begin to properly teach their children the ways of using social media, the less likely we are going to see these hateful trends continue. Sure, they will never fully go away. However, even the smallest effort from older generations can make so much of a difference in the long run. Helping improve the way younger generations are on social media will only help. We need to start with the basics, start with teaching them the simple right and wrong, then slowly evolve into how to interact with one another. It is with only this that we can experience a better social media world.