Essay Sample: Survival of Social Media

Social media affects everyone’s life, whether they like it or not, and it changes the way we think, act, and interact with other people. The majority of society uses social media daily and hinges many of their actions on it. Some of those actions are rational, but many are influenced by others on social media. It is one of the ways that makes social media so confusing; people never know if others really care about them or if they just want the ‘likes’ and praise. People know that social media can not be labeled as only good or bad, but it’s a mixture of both by the ways people use it. I know that social media is a tool that people use to communicate, educate, and share information in good and bad ways.

Communication is a key aspect of survival in the world, and humans seem to have mastered the use of it for our advantage. Nowadays, surviving is not at the forefront of our minds, and we can focus more on the world around us with a better perspective. Social media is one of the many ways people communicate with others. It enables us to communicate more effectively at longer distances with less delay. People that enjoy talking with their family and friends were not able before without the help of social media. Social media helps with communication and brings people together even at distances which is one of its main purposes of it.

On the contrary, social media can hurt others and make them feel worthless and hopeless. It all comes down to the way people use it. Some will use it to bring themselves up and in the process bring others down. Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, philosopher, and artist wrote:

Sometimes out of nowhere, I would get into a fight with someone, or a group of people. It was so weird. We’d start to insult each other, trying to score points, getting under each other’s skin. And about incredibly stupid stuff, like whether or not someone knew what they were talking about when it can to brands of pianos. Really. I’d stew between posts. “I am not ignorant! I know about pianos! How dare that moron say those things about me? I know, I’ll ruin his reputation by tricking him into saying something stupid” (549).

Lanier’s solution to his problem of lashing out at people was to just stop using social media. His response may have been a little extreme for his experience but the concept was there; if you are having trouble being influenced by social media in a bad way, stop or limit your consumption of it.

Another way social media is used is to educate people; whether it be for school or how to fix a household appliance. The situation is all too familiar to many people who don’t understand the school lesson and the first place they turn to is the internet. The internet is one of the largest compilations of information and people are intent on taking advantage of that.  There are many resources in the world that people use to educate themselves, but the cheapest most accessible option is social media and the example of others.

Although social media is very saturated with education, not all of it is for good and there is a plethora of information on the internet for bad reasons. Many big influencers don’t care about what they post as long as it keeps people's attention and they will do whatever it takes to do that. Lanier states, “Addicts [and influencers] become anxious, strangely focused on…events that aren’t visible to others. They are selfish, so wrapped up in their cycle that they don’t have much time to notice what others are feeling or thinking about” (548). Influencers and people who spent too much time on social media have problems with caring about what others think and care about. This is derived from the bad education that narrows their minds and beliefs, and they begin to think only about how they might look to some random person they will likely never meet. This also confirms writing by John Rose the founder and director at Humans Are Social, “[T]he Internet doesn’t steal out humanity, it reflects it” (547). There are people in the world right now that want your attention and to educate you on nonsense to change your thoughts and possibly your actions for their benefit.