Social media is used worldwide as a tool to communicate with other people and to get information. But shall we say that its benefits overcome its drawbacks?
In this essay we will discuss whether the advantages of social media development would be stronger than its negative effects.
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, just to mention a few, have been on the scene for the last 5 years and have been increasing popularity tremendously. The fast way of interaction between users and the opportunity to reach content in real time make this instrument a great asset in communication. You can watch the news online and know what is happening in China while you are seating down at your office in Australia. Also, you are able to attend to your best friend’s birthday party through a video call while you are on holidays somewhere in the other part of the world. Eventually, the fact that you can be in touch with family and friends daily is one of the most important benefits that I can find. As myself being an immigrant, social media provides me with the opportunity to see my nieces playing and to share memorable moments with my relatives.
Nevertheless, high amounts of connectivity and immediate access to everything and everywhere, is causing a social media addiction, especially in the youngest portion of the society. According to a documentary I have watched, called THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT, all applications we normally use have been designed to attract user’s attention continuously making it very hard for us to get out from them. Advertising plays an essential role to keep this contents alive, so the longest you spend connected the more they can sell online.
In conclusion, we are facing a big switch from real life to an online life, I consider that being smart is the main key here. Using technology as a tool to be more in contact with the world but not forgetting that the real world is out of the screen. So is that, if we spend more time out from social media we could be more in touch with others.