Strolling to class, I do not want to look awkward. What should I do? “I’ll listen to music.” Wait, I do not have my Airpods. I will just scroll through my socials so people think I am really busy.

This is a real-life situation that happens to me almost daily. Social media have become an immense part of our lives, and we will use them for just about anything. As defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary social media is, “forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)”. Social media benefit society more than they harm it, in many ways. This includes by allowing humans to connect at all times, work from anywhere, and to provide a creative outlet. 

Social Media benefit society because they allow us to stay connected at all times. Due to COVID 19 since March of 2020 our world has changed. Many could not see loved ones, friends, and family during this time. News appeared by the second during the pandemic, and the news stations could not keep up. Luckily social media came to the rescue. “Social media have the great advantage of rapid dissemination of educational content in the COVID-19 era…. It was shared through Twitter and WeChat, and in a few days requests were received for its translation into more than ten languages, besides the distribution allowed adapting the infographic to the particularities of each healthcare setting” (Chan AMK). This study shows us that no matter the circumstances, during COVID 19, staying connected is possible. This was an important feeling for people to have during these hard times. 

Social Media is useful to society because one can work from anywhere in the world. With technology rapidly developing, businesses have turned to social media in need of work. “Zoom is being used by businesses for meetings, by families to keep in touch and by teenagers who want to hang out with their friends. They call themselves ‘Zoomers’ and, for many, it’s replacing the likes of Facebook and Twitter which are practically dinosaurs in the social media world” (Parsons). Zoom has recently been popularized due to COVID 19, and is considered a social media. Nowadays we wake up to Social Media, eat to Social Media, and go to sleep to Social Media. It is inevitable that it will be in the workspace, and maybe even become the work space. “Perhaps most significant, however, is that the traditional educational distinctions of time and space no longer matter. Before, the central point of all learning was necessarily confined to the four walls of the classroom, and the times delimited by the cells of the timetable” (Cope and Kalantzis). This is stating that we are evolving in the world, and no longer necessarily need to be learning within four walls of a classroom. Social Media has a lot to offer and can educate people from all different backgrounds Cope goes on to say.

Creativity is allowed to be shown through different social media platforms, benefitting society. Today almost everyone you know has a social media platform of some sort. Humans share their lives, work, and art on these. This calls for Social Media being a creative outlet for many. This shows that Social Media throughout the years has not only gained popularity, but has given others an outlet to share their creativity into a safe space where they can feel accepted. Many ways people can use social media to express themselves include artwork accounts, blogs, Youtube accounts, and more.  

 Although there is good to Social Media there is also bad; Social Media have become a part of everyone’s daily lives. Some may abuse their use of  Social Media and become addicted. “Compared to other traditional forms of addiction, the internet is not a substance, and has therefore been conceptualized as a behavioral addiction” (D’Arienzo et al). This entails that although the usage of Social Media is not a literal physical addiction to the touch, it is just as dangerous. Although this is a downside to social media, one must remember the pros outweigh the cons. Addiction to social media is a rare occurrence, as only 5% of users are addicted to social media (D’Arienzo et al). 

 Social Media is a forceful weapon in today’s day in age. Not only does it allow for one to stay connected with others at all times. It also has created digital workplaces. Lastly it allows for one to be creative and share with others. Although Social Media has downsides which include addiction, one must also look at the good social media brings to our environment.  

 

Works Cited

Chan, A K M et al. “Social media for rapid knowledge dissemination: early experience from the COVID-19 pandemic.” Anaesthesia, vol. 75, no. 12, 2020, pp. 1579-1582. doi:10.1111/anae.15057. Accessed 5 May 2022. 

Cope, Bill, and Mary Kalantzis. “Towards a New Learning: The Scholar Social Knowledge Workspace, in Theory and Practice.” E-Learning and Digital Media, vol. 10, no. 4, Dec. 2013, pp. 332–356, doi:10.2304/elea.2013.10.4.332. Accessed 5 May 2022.

D’Arienzo, M.C, et al. “Addiction to Social Media and Attachment Styles: A Systematic Literature Review.” International  Journal of  Mental Health and Addiction, Vol. 17, 2019, pp. 1094–1118, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00082-5. Accessed 5 May 2022.

González-Padilla, Daniel A, and Leonardo Tortolero-Blanco. “Social media influence in the COVID-19 Pandemic.” International braz j urol : official journal of the Brazilian Society of Urology vol. 46,suppl.1 (2020): 120-124. doi:10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2020.S121. Accessed 5 May 2022.

Peppler, Kylie. “Social Media and Creativity.” The Routledge International Handbook of Children, Adolescents, and Media, edited by Dafna Lemish, Routledge, 2013, pp. 193-200.

“Social media Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20media. Accessed 5 May 2022.