Essay about The Benefits of Social Media

“DMX has died”.is all you see as you open up your phone. As you search for a real answer, you come access Fox news confirming his death. Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Snapchat. Those are all app names, that you may or may not already know. These platforms are generally used by everyone, from kids to adults. Not only are you able to see what other people say it also allows you to text people, have access to live news, learn a new skill, look up a recipe, and many more ideas. 

Social media has changed the way we communicate, how we get our daily news, how we present ourselves to the world, and so much more. There are both pros and cons to the use of social media. Social media can spread fast, and reliable information, Unfortunately, social media can also spread false information, which can spread fear and lies amongst people who cant tell true informational sources from false informational sources.  ¨Social media spreads information faster than any other media. 78.5% of traditional media reporters polled used social media to check for breaking news. 59% of Twitter users and 31% of Facebook users polled followed breaking news on these sites. Social media sites are one of the top news sources for 46% of Americans, compared to 66% for television, 26% for printed newspapers, and 23% for radio.¨ (ProCon.org)  Social media is 100% faster than picking up a newspaper like someone 50 years ago that could be years, and years old and having old news displayed as daily news, which could say thereś an outbreak of smallpox from 50 years ago. When in reality, there isn´t. ¨Real-Time News and Information Discovery Gone are the days of waiting around for the six o'clock news to come on TV or for the delivery boy to bring the newspaper in the morning. If you want to know what's going on in the world, all you need to do is jump on social media. A bonus is that you can customize your news and information discovery experiences by choosing to follow exactly what you want.¨(Elise Moreau, Lifewire) Social media connects people across the world to tell about one nation’s problems or another person’s issue. A perfect example of World events would be people posting on social media (Tik Tok) about covid in late 2019 and early 2020. 

A great impact of social media is how easy, and fast it is to learn a topic. ¨I find the students I work with benefit from direct instruction on using social media to learn more about topics. For example, if they are looking for more information on China, they can do a Facebook search to look for people, who live in China. There will be Facebook groups, such as “Teens from ____ (a specific city).” Part of the learning and building right-brain thinking is brainstorming. If we hit a dead end, we keep going until we find an English-speaking group. Students can then ask about geography, hobbies, etc. Connecting with others through social media is far more entertaining than reading an article. When they do read articles, they make more sense after being introduced to concepts by real-life people. This also helps to develop critical thinking and to develop self advocacy (asking for help when needed).¨ (Smart Social) Social media can easily connect you to people who know a lot more about a subject than you, for example, you researching World War 2, you could message and meet up with a World War 2 veteran or message them over Facebook. Social media outlets provide students with a platform to share their creativity and their ideas with a neutral audience and get an honest response. The response becomes a guide for them to better shape their skills if they are looking to pursue that skill professionally. For example, a photographer or videographer starts by posting their shots on Instagram, or a writer sharing samples of their poetry and essays on Tumblr. Many youngsters are already making a career out of such ideas. This shows, if used productively, social media can be a powerful tool for students to highlight their passions and get feedback. (Smart social) People are learning new jobs that they haven’t discovered before online such as video editing, photoshop, and graphic design. These are all new jobs that require social media skills to promote themselves. 

Social media has made a positive impact on our lives since it was invented. This is the first time in history that you could talk to someone across the world without having to travel to them, you could share ideas and even play together online, making both yours and their life better. Our quality of life with social media is better than without social media. People thought social media would never exist, until, well it was developed, and they use it today. Is it possible to keep social media a positive impact on our quality of life? Yes, of course as long as we can sustain it, and make it a reliable, and safe place it will be just fine for anyone. But you also must think before you also do anything online.