3-27-18 Unit 2 Portfolio

“The art of life is a constant readjustment to our surroundings,” said Kakuzo Okakaura. Over the years, new technology has been invented as the older inventions are evolved. Each generation is exposed more and more to the newer technology, such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. As technology evolves and becomes more integrated into society and everyone’s daily life, it has positively affected life and the use of social media. Some ways that social media specifically has positively impacted society is when it helps people connect easier around the world, it allows people a quicker and more convenient way to check in on what everyone is doing and what is going on in the world, and it is a fast way to get news when in emergency situations.

Social media has positively impacted society because it allows people to connect easier around the world. When those born prior to the 2000's think back to who they were friends with in elementary and middle school, most will forget who exactly they were friends with or remember the few that kept in contact after the reconnected through social media. Social media provides a way for people to reconnect especially after losing contact. "My current roommate is a girl I met in seventh grade, while I was back in the States for a weekend. We kept in touch over Xanga at first, then moved our friendship to Facebook. Because we were able to post on each other’s walls, send private messages and view photos the other had posted, we kept up with each other’s lives and, when the time came to choose colleges, picked the same one," said Karis Rogerson in a USA Today College post. If it hadn't been for social media, they wouldn't have been able to keep the connection because while you may be able to call and speak on the phone, it would eventually become phone tag because of how busy you become in high school, doing extracurricular so that your college applications look better.

Another way social media has positively impacted society is that it provides a quicker and more convenient way to check in on what everyone is doing and what is going on in the world. Similar to the previous point, when friends you are close with move away, you need a way to communicate with them easily that won’t just die down after a few months because you guys get busy. Social media is a good tool because you can send messages or emails to each other and respond as soon as you have time and distance isn’t an issue.

However, some may say that social media has negatively impacted society because there is a lack of verbal communication and there are bad influences. As social media evolves, you see a lack of communication among the older generations and the younger generation when they are gathered together. While some families make it a point to enforce the rule of not having any technology at the table to make sure the attention is focused on the family and how their days went, not all families are like that so you see some family members on their phone while others are eating and talking. Albert Einstein once said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” When there is no human interaction, people will struggle with talking to each other in person and be anti-social. Additionally, social media can negatively impact society because of the messages they send out. An example of this would be with magazines and when they have photoshoots. You would expect the magazines that praise self love and beauty to leave photos are they are taken, however, most magazines actually photoshop it to fit their image of what a beautiful woman or handsome man looks like by making sure they’re thin or muscular.

Social media has also positively impacted society in that it provides a faster way for people to get news when there are emergency situations like earthquakes or hurricanes. Since everyone is constantly using their phones, it is quicker to check social media or text/message people regarding their condition. Like AJ Agrwal pointed out in his article on Forbes, “News outlets can share breaking stories, alerts and other important bits of news instantly with their followers. When more people are aware of a situation, those working to secure locations and ensure the safety of the general public can perform their job duties more efficiently.” People can get notifications instantly and get notified if there’s a active shooter or fire or an emergency weather notification. In addition, if people are notified of certain situations, they can assist in helping control the situation or getting out of the area as quickly as possible. According to Insignia Communication, a lot of journalists utilize social media to be informed about ongoing events faster and get eyewitness accounts since people usually post on Twitter or Snapchat about something they’ve seen and it gets spread around.

Overall, social media can benefit society more than it can negatively impact it. Social media provides a means for everyone to communicate with each other, whether you’re close or far from the distance wise. Additionally, it provides a way for people to get updates on emergencency situations quicker and to help get the news out there faster since if it were to be printed on newspaper, it would have to be printed the next day and by then, the situation could already be over, with a lot of casualties. While people may say that it causes lack of verbal communication and that there are bad influences, the amount of good influences overpower it as people speak up to defend others or even just speaking up to inform others.


Sources:
Agrawal, AJ. “It's Not All Bad: The Social Good Of Social Media.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Mar. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/03/18/its-not-all-bad-the-social-good-of-social-media/#160d3abb756f.
“How Has Social Media Impacted Breaking News?” Bernstein Crisis Management, 29 Dec. 2014, www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/social-media-impacted-breaking-news/.
Rogerson, Karis. “Viewpoint: Social Media Is Helping Our Social Skills.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 2 Oct. 2014, college.usatoday.com/2014/10/02/viewpoint-social-media-is-helping-our-social-skills/.
“The Negative Impacts of Social Media on Face-to-Face Interactions.” Final Inquiry Project, rampages.us/peasedn200/2015/12/01/final-inquiry-project/.