Social Media

Social Media
Social media has had a tremendous impact on our culture and on the world as a whole. Social media has forever changed the way people communicate and socialize on the Web, but also the way we interact with each other in daily life. This new phenomenon has had a negative impact on our society that far outweighs the positive aspects.
First, it’s harmful to self-esteem. A UK study found that over 50% of social media users evaluated their participation in social media as having an overall negative effect on their lives. They singled out the impact to their self-esteem that comes from comparing themselves to peers on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as the biggest downfall. It’s a matter of trying to one-up the next person. Many try to create a sense of how exciting and important their lives are in hopes to equate just how important they are. They are gauging their self-worth by the total number of likes and comments they receive from family, friends, and sometimes strangers. That’s why users post pictures about my new clothes, new relationships, new cars, new jobs, or their next over the top vacation to some very exciting destination just to name a few. This is all done to brag and attract attention to themselves, and try to impress their peers.
Second, bullying and harassment have become a problem with social media. School age children, young girls, and women can fall victim to online attacks which has been known to create tension and distress. Bullying is difficult in person and even harsher over social media. When cruel comments are posted on an individual’s page, they are exposed for anyone to read. Those bullying have an easier time insulting the other individual because there is no threat of getting caught by someone in a close proximate if it was done in person. These victims are more vulnerable online and the insults made towards them cut deeper because the computer masks the faces and a large...