Is Social Media Helpful or Harmful to Society?

Is Social Media Helpful or Harmful to Society?

Helpful or Harmful

Since the humongous popular start of social media, there has been this lingering question as to whether social media is helpful or harmful to society. Many people like Alexander Djerassi, actually like using social media for entertainment and resource purposes but are aware that it can be damaging to a person’s mental health. So, it seems that the social media debate of helpful or harmful is like anything else, it has good points and not so good points.

The Good

To start, let’s take a look at some of the good. Yes, there are some good aspects of social media. Simply being able to connect to people and this is no matter where one is located. If moving to a new state or even out of the country one can easily keep in touch and stay connected to family and friends and continue to share lives with photos, electronic greeting cards, electronic mail and even face to face via electronic devices. Social media is a wonder in this way and people tend to love this aspect.

Another “good” about social media is the fact anyone and everyone who wants to be heard can have their say. Yes, one has to stay within the platform’s rules and terms of use. But, other than that, one can express their point of view and just simply have fun. One person stated that there is no one to be a gatekeeper. Everyone can have an equal say or voice.

Social media leveled the playfield to some extent for small businesses and large businesses as both have the same chances and opportunities to reach potential customers. It has simply revolutionized some businesses and put them on the map. This also plays into social networking from sharing a product that one may like to helping people with certain or specific skills connect to business that may be hiring

There are more helpful social media aspects like the abundance of information and entertainment as Alexander Djerassi has stated but there would not be time to touch on the not so good. Therefore, let’s move on.

Not So Good

The first harmful thing about social media is misinformation. Just as one can gather helpful information, there is a lot of fake news and information on social media can be very harmful under some circumstances.

Second, like any drug, social media can become addictive as there have been studies that showed people actually get a natural dopamine high when they get “likes” on their social media accounts and they simply can’t stop checking to see if they have likes or not which make them addictive. And, just imagine the feeling when there are no likes.

Last, is the “biggie”, cyber-bullying. There is no escape for victims of cyberbullying. If there is an issue or problem with one person, that person can gather a group of people to attack and simply bully the other by way of social media. Cyber bullying is so unfortunate as it can deem a lot of hate from all over the world.