Impact of Social Media
Nathan Stephenson
College of Arts & Sciences, Liberty University
ENGL 101: Composition and Rhetoric
Dr. Josephine Foster
June 29, 2020
There are many benefits to having social media around, but there are also negative
aspects about it. Social media has allowed many people stay connected with friends and family
and even make new friends from almost anywhere in the world. Social media has changed how
the world is seen, and in many aspects, it has created a false image of what the world is like. It
can also become addictive with overuse and has been linked to depression and mental illnesses
for many people. While social media provides connectivity to almost anywhere, the images and
views of what is seen can be misleading. Social media has also contributed to depression and
mental health problems for many people in America.
Social media has become a part of everyday life for many people. “In contemporary
society, social media use has become a widespread daily activity, especially among adolescents,
who are often engaged in visual content sharing.”[ CITATION Bou20 \l 1033 ]. Many start their
day snapping a pic, and posting for everyone to see, or browsing to get caught up on everything
that happened during the night. Social media has also allowed many people to stay in contact
with loved ones while they are on trips. In recent years thanks to social media, members of the
armed forces have been able to stay in constant contact with their loved ones back home while
they are deployed to a different country, this allows both sides to have an easier time with the
separation. Social media also allows people to learn from others experience without having to be
physically be with the person. Many people use social media to create do it yourself project
guides, to help other people learn new tasks. Social media can also provide opportunities for
networking and sharing information with individuals in a specific career field. [ CITATION
Fra11 \l 1033 ]. Many people have created connections through social media with others in their
carrier fields. These connections come with many benefits, they could help someone get a job if
they move or allows them to ask for information on a specific piece of equipment they do not
know much about, but that others may have more experience with. This can enable people to fix
problems that would have taken them a long time to figure out, to completing them in a fraction
of the time by using the expertise that was provided to them through social media. Social media
provides many good things, such as a vast amount of knowledge.
The amount of information available on social media is vast and easily accessible and is
constantly being expanded with new information that becomes available. Social media has
allowed for many forms to be created for the purpose of learning, allowing people to share their
knowledge with anybody who wants to learn. Something can be uploaded, and within minutes
hundreds of people can gain access to that information. However, not all the information
available is true and reliable though and is often twisted to suit ones needs. Many people post
false or misleading information to try and create panic and hysteria. Because social media has
become so popular, it has become a large platform for spreading lies and propaganda.
[ CITATION She19 \l 1033 ]. With so much information available, many have begun to add
information with the sole intent of misleading people into believe something that is not true.
Steps need to be taken when browsing social media to make sure that any information that is
come across is checked and verified before deciding what actions to take. False information can
lead to problems, as people can start to believe things that are not true. This can lead to even
more problems down the road, as people can start to question things that they know to be true.
Social media can be extremally addictive and can contribute to depression. “Negative
consequences comprise social isolation, increased stress, anxiety, depression, disordered sleeping
patterns, eating disorders, social media addiction, and attention deficit, among
others.”[ CITATION She19 \l 1033 ]. It can be very easy for people to become addicted to social
media, checking out what everyone else is doing. Seeing other people’s lives, all glorified on
social media can easily send someone spiraling into a pit of depression. People tend to post the
best things on social media, the best aspects of their lives. If someone is struggling in their own
life, seeing someone else who appears to have everything going for them would be a challenge.
Social media can elevate stress. “survey of adult Facebook users aged 18–70 revealed that the
more time spent on and the more social network memberships, the higher stress, and the lower
quality of life.”[ CITATION She19 \l 1033 ]. Apps like Facebook tend to be full of strife, and a
lot of negative posts will get posted on there. This can cause stress in individuals, especially if
they feel the need to defend something, they believe in. It is easy behind the protection of a
laptop, to say whatever a person desire. They do not have to worry about a physical alteration,
making it easier to just say whatever they want. Can cause sleeping and eating problems. “The
present study suggests that females’ social appearance anxiety might represent a main issue in
other potentially negative outcomes, for example eating disorders, as previous studies have
reported.”[ CITATION Bou20 \l 1033 ]. Becoming addicted to social media can affect how one
sleeps at night, as it becomes easy to lose track of time when browsing various social media
apps. As for females, many of these apps have filters, that can change how a person looks.
Suddenly, it becomes very important how one looks before posting on social media. The better
one looks, the more likes and compliments one could get. This could cause females to develop
eating problems, as they want to look good for pictures posted on social media.
Because many people spend much of the day using social media, it has reduced physical
social interaction and has given many a false perspective of what the world should be like. Social
Media shows people a perfect side of everyone, as people can control what they want to post.
This gives a false example of what people’s lives look like. This can also be applied to
businesses, parks, and so much more. Sense social media is used so much for information in
recent years, the amount of false or misleading information has risen. With this false information
being abundantly present all-over social media, it has helped contribute to the rise in tension in
communities about subjects that might not have been as big a problem then was said it was.
While the idea behind social media is good, in the long run it has caused more harm than good.
Social Media apps have become a way to kill time and has even gone so far as to cause people to
lose the ability to have normal human interactions with others. Why bother spending time with
others out and about, when it is possible to interact with them and see their whole life from the
comfort of a couch? The overuse of social media can increase the number of individuals who
deal with mental issues. Social Media tends to be a place full of negativity, a place where instead
of building people up, they get torn down. This can take quite the toll on a person’s mental state
of mind and cause mental issues for them to deal with. While social media does have many good
aspects, more steps need to be taken to help fight off some of the negative side effects of social
media.
References
Boursier, V., Gioia, F., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). Do selfie-expectancies and social appearance
anxiety predict adolescents’ problematic social media use? Computers in Human
Behavior.
Fraser, R. (2011). The nurse's social media advantage: how making connections and sharing
ideas can enhance your nursing career . Indianapolis: Sigma Theta Tau International.
Sheldon, P., Rauschnabel, P. A., & Honeycutt, J. M. (2019). The Dark Side of Social Media:
Psychological, Managerial, and Societal Perspectives. Academic Press.
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