Use of social media is highly common in today’s younger generation and many of us cannot survive without logging in and sharing our personal information and pictures every day. The fascination with social media use is an unending experience as sharing personal life and experiences has become a fad. This dependence of social media on a daily basis is due to the benefits they receive from it. I, personally, believe that using social media comes with pros and cons. There are several ways through which social media provide me with positive experiences, but there are times when I feel that using social media has been provided negative experiences (Netivist). Therefore, I would like to explore how using social media affects me in a positive and negative way and what makes me keep using it.
Think Piece
Positive Way
I was wondering about the the way social media use has impacted me. Social media sites are a great way of presenting yourself to your friends. I have used social media to post personal messages and images to inform the latest activities I participated in, latest events I attended and other actions that present in a positive light. Social media has also helped me to stay in touch with my friends from school, local community and college, especially those who have physically moved far away. I have also made new friends and broken the ice with several new people I have met, through friend requests and messages. Social media has also helped me to get in touch with new people through similar interest groups (Netivist).
I have to say that using social media provides people like me convenience of inviting people to an event with a click of a few buttons. I have personally called many friends for my birthday celebration, though social media messages. There are many times that people or communities need help, I have personally seen people getting in touch with grief stricken people through social media. Social media is also a great way to spread a message or catch attention of people who are suffering from similar problems or need information on an issue that affects our society (Osborne). Current messages of Presidential campaigns have helped me to understand the importance of my vote and what policies are endorsed by each candidate (Netivist).
Negative Way
Social media might have several advantages, but using social media also creates problems for its users. One of the biggest issues that I have faced is the ease through which people can be mean on social media and send messages that lead to public humiliation of others. The open nature of social media and messages shared makes it easy to spread false rumours and gossip, which can seriously affect someone’s confidence or personal beliefs. Social also makes it easier for cyber bullies to target and attack people and send messages that are derogatory (Netivist).
There are many times I have been irritated by the number of spam messages on my wall and game requests. Before, I knew I could make my profile private; I used to receive several messages and friend requests from people I had never met in my life. It was one of the most irritating experiences as many people send a friend request unknowingly. Many people easily accessed my personal information and called me. The worst was the people making fake profiles and sending messages or trying to steal information. I have also experienced that using social media for long hours tends to waste my time, which I could have used to work hard and improve my grades (Netivist).
Conclusion
Overall, using social media has several advantages, but the disadvantages that come with using social media makes it a tough choice to use social media or leave it. The best solution is probably to learn how to use it and ensure you never share anything important with unknown people. Therefore, in my opinion social media sites are somewhat important to use, but it is important to maintain security and refrain from revealing any important detail about your personal life.
Works Cited
Google. Pros & Cons of Social Media. Google. Google.com. n.d. Web. 24 March 2016.
Netivist. Social networking pros and cons: Do social media make our lives better?. Netivist. Netivist.org. n.d. Web. 24 March 2016.
Osbourne., C. The pros and cons of social media classrooms. ZDNet. Zdnet.com. 10 April 2012. Web. 24 March 2016.
