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The Duality of Social Media
There are always two sides to everything, a duality of sorts. In life, anything can be either presented as good but with a motive to do bad, and vice versa. The acceleration of technology has given humanity both a gift and a curse within social media.
In the form of a gift, social media has allowed us to:
- Display our creativity.
- Have a voice to raise awareness on issues and a cause that you care about.
- Stay connected with our peers from all over the world.
In the form of a curse, social media has allowed us to:
- Develop social platforms that have led to psychological issues that hurt our mental health.
- Become sidetracked from what is in front of us.
- Spread massive amounts of misinformation ignorantly, that distorts our view on reality.
We could go on and on about the good and bad, but you catch my drift.
However, the perpetual use of the social network begs the question:
Does the good of social media outweigh the bad?
Social media has allowed us to be present, albeit, virtually, in the lives of all who we care about with the click of a few buttons. However, older generations believe younger generations have lost contact with the world around us, that our social skills are declining, and believe me there is an abundance of articles/studies saying so. I don’t completely agree with their point of view. In my opinion, social skills aren’t eroding, they’re evolving! Yet, if you abuse social media, it will consume you.
Probably the most controversial aspect of social media is how it’s hurt our mental health and has created an enormous amount of false information that can distort our reality. “The Social Dilemma” took the streaming world by storm when it addressed these concerns.
“[Netflix’s] hybrid documentary-drama explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.”
