The title of my blog is “All the Answers” but from
the beginning I intended for it to be somewhat of an irony. Clearly, nobody has
all the answers and especially not a young college student like me. But I do
have the answers to at least two questions. Is social media 100% antisocial? Is
social media 100% pro-social? And the answer to BOTH of those questions is no!
Your use of social media and social networking is all what you make of it. Social
media is perfectly fine, safe, and acceptable if used in moderation. Below I
provided a very interesting article from PBS on how social media can be good
and bad. Like the article says“[social networks] are tools that, like a hammer,
can be used to build or to destroy. They amplify our best and our worst.”
My parents constantly need to tell me to put down
my cell phone at the dinner table. And I constantly have to tell myself to get
off of Facebook when I am trying to do homework on the computer. Without even
being aware of how much I do it, I quite frequently check Facebook on my cell
phone and on my laptop.
Older generations despise my younger generation for
always being on our electronics. Being glued to our cell phones and computers
leads us to be at least somewhat disconnected from the real world. Alone
Together is
a book that expresses huge concerns for our obsession with social
media and the author believes it destroys communications in the real world.
It is a terrible thing that instead of being active
in a conversation we are looking down at our cell phones checking Facebook or
Twitter.
It is always a good thing when a star is discovered in Hollywood. It is great when someone has pure and natural talent and is finally recognized and fully acknowledged for it. Many stars that are famous today were discovered all thanks to social media sites like YouTube. Whether you are a fan of Justin Bieber or not, the fact is that the kid has talent! Justin Bieber can sing well, play several instruments, and dance. With Justin Bieber being as well known and loved by many girls it is hard to believe that he started out performing by posting videos on YouTube.
Other performers that were discovered thanks all to YouTube was the band Ok Go. Even if you are not familiar with the actual band, you are almost certainly familiar with their music video "Here It Goes Again." The music video "Here It Goes Again" features an intricately choreographed treadmill routine. After the huge popularity of their music video on YouTube, Ok Go went on to recreate the routine on the MTV Music Awards and even win a few awards themselves.
Besides musicians, some other performers got their start on YouTube. The comedian Dane Cook got major attention after posting his stand up comedy on YouTube. Obviously social media like YouTube is not all bad because it helped some talented people get the recognition they deserved.
Some other great social aspects that have come from YouTube are viral videos. The viral videos I am talking about are not of dogs saying "I Love You" but rather viral videos with wholesome messages. The "It Gets Better" Project consists of countless YouTube videos posted by average people and celebrities all with their own message but saying the same thing to gay youth, "It Gets Better." With gay suicide on the rise, people have created this campaign and used YouTube as an outlet to discourage gay suicide. How much more social can social media get?! People using outlets like YouTube to help other people is trend that I hope becomes even more viral.
With my previous blog
posts I have provided the general overviews of both sides of the argument: do
social media networks promote antisocial or pro-social behavior? In this post I
am going to go into further detail and get into more specifics on the side that
believes that social networking
is pro-social behavior. Again, I wish to remain unbiased and just share both
sides of the argument so that you may come to your own conclusion on whether or
not social media is antisocial or pro-social. I wish to simply share
information, facts, and opinions that are already available to you rather than
convince you to take one side or the other. The article I provided below
discusses how “social networking activities might actually be good for our
psychological well-being, physical health and in-person relationships.” If social
networking activities are believed to improve in-person relationships, than
wouldn’t it be considered a pro-social activity?
It
is probably unlikely that you will find a new lifelong best friend on Facebook,
but it could happen. Facebook provides you with the opportunity to meet new
people and better the relationships you already have. Critics of social media
think that social networking on the internet creates social isolation in people.
But based on this article, face-to-face interactions are not all that different
from interactions you may encounter on social media networks. For instance,
Facebook not only has instant messaging where you can have an uninterrupted conversation
back-and-forth with someone else, but Facebook now also has video chat. Users
can use the web chat to hear the other person speaking and also see them so
that you may pick up on the other person’s nonverbal communication.
Another example that shows that
social media can be a pro-social activity can be observed in the actions that
followed the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and
tsunami off the coast of Japan. Facebook and Twitter users turned to
these sites to provide financial and emotional support to the victims and loved
ones of victims of this disaster. Without the use of social networking sites,
people may not have easily have gotten the word out or provided help to the
victims. This is a great example of pro-social behavior through social
networking. Clearly, not all social media is evil. Social media can be used for
good and can be used in a pro-social manner. What do you think so far? Do you
think social networking is antisocial or pro-social?
