The
Great Debate Continued
I
would like to continue the previous post I had made about social media and
whether or not it is antisocial or pro-social. I have already briefly
highlighted why people are against social media
and why they think it is antisocial. But now I would like to move on and
highlight on why social media is believed to be a pro-social activity by some
people. Those that believe that social media promotes antisocial make a solid
and just argument, but so do those that believe that social media promotes
pro-social behavior. In general, social media websites like Facebook promote
socialization because it opens up many windows of communication. Before the
telephone people had to write letters that took days to even weeks to reach the
receiver. Before the cell phone came along people had to wait to get to a telephone
to make or receive important phone calls. But with the cell phone, people can
call or text anyone from anywhere at any time. And now with social media
networks, you can use these websites to message others, comment on posts of
others, make posts to others, invite others to events, etc. It is not always
possible to meet up and socialize in person, so instead you can stay connected
and remain social using social media. People that think that social networking
is antisocial believe that social media limits interaction and socialization.
But those that believe that social media is pro-social believe that social
media expands socialization into many different forms. Below is a link to an
article on why social media is good for us.
The article above
points out how even businesses are now using social media networks to make
personal connections with their customers. For example, Comcast cable has made
its own Twitter account. Comcast operators can quickly communicate with
customers directly via Twitter so that they may solve any problems and answer
any questions while also establishing a rapport with the customers. Social media
also provides people with an outlet to exercise their right to free speech in
an environment where others may comment and react to what they have to say.
Social media networks are mediums that can be used to share whatever you want
and reach as many people as you want, Facebook alone has 500 million active
users. One could say that social media promotes socialization because it gives
people a platform in which to openly speak back-and-forth to a lot more people
than you would be able to without such networks.
I think we should realize that social media is not just pro-social, or anti-social. It is a mixture of both. The arguments for and against social media all make sense. It does cause people to be more withdrawn, but it can also help more people to stay in contact if they did not have it. It just depends on how each individual implements the technology. My mom uses social media to spend hours playing Farmville on Facebook. It causes her to ignore her children for a lot of the time, and she hardly uses Facebook to connect with others. But I use Facebook to keep in touch with all my high school friends, people from my old town, and all of my coworkers, I would be less social without it.
ReplyDeleteI really think all the worry about social media being "unsocial" is due to people's fear of change. Every time there's a change in the way the world operates, there will be a percentage of people that are unwilling to adopt. It's the "walked uphill both ways" crowd. There were those that were worried that computers would destroy civilization because robots would take all the jobs. I think it's safe to say computers have been a great thing for society. Ask your parents how many friends they kept contact with 10 years out of high school. I'm willing to bet it's a fraction of who you keep up with due to Facebook. So, who's being antisocial again?
ReplyDeleteI think that social media has become a great outlet for those people who tend to be shy. As opposed to approaching someone face-to-face, it's not intimidating to start a conversation with someone using a site like Facebook. Even posting a comment on a picture tends to bring people closer together. Also, I think people tend to share more about themselves and their beliefs and values on social media sites than in real life. And it's true, as you said, now everyone uses social media, including businesses and corporations.
ReplyDelete