Social Media’s Darkside

In my last post, I talked about how social media changed lives for the better. It brought people business and helped them to pursue their dream. This time, I’d like to bring attention to how social media changes lives for the worst. 

Everyone knows everything now. Not only is it because books, articles, and just experience has become easily accessible, it’s because everyone is posting all about their lives on social media. This wouldn’t necessarily be considered a bad thing, but it can become dangerous. Many people have lost jobs or potential jobs due to social media posts. It just could be a picture of someone inappropriately dressed that cost them their job interview. Things can go wrong within seconds thanks to the easy access social media has on people’s lives. 

This isn’t exactly a rare occurrence either, not in today’s time. There is actually specifically something called cancel culture that has been around for a while but has grown in the last year or so. Many people, celebrities or not, are getting “cancelled” by something they said online. They’ve lost their jobs, friends, and even family sometimes. 

In my own town, something like this happened. I would like to first state that I will not state my own opinion on what occurred, that’s irrelevant at the moment, but am just using the circumstances to highlight how social media can change lives for the worst. In my home town a girl ‘promposed’ to her boyfriend using a very racist sign then posted a picture on Instagram. Once the picture went on social media, it became viral. It got on the news and there was an outrage from it. In response to it, the girl got expelled from her school and lost her acceptance to her university. If she had not placed it on social media, it would have never gotten to the news or school. Whether she deserved it or not is an entirely different story, but it does show that social media has the potential to ruin a person’s life. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.ctvnews.ca/local/ottawa/2020/1/31/1_4792566.html

However, it’s not just cancel culture that acts in ruining someone’s lives nor is it always an arguable way of bestowing justice for those that commit racism, homophobia, or sexism. Sometimes it’s because a company saw a picture of you they weren’t fond of and fired you for it. One example of this is a teacher who lost her job because she posted a picture of herself holding a glass of beer. There was nothing else in the picture, nothing to show that she was drinking at the school or attacking any ideology. All she was doing was holding a glass of beer. The school and administrators deemed it was unprofessional and fired her for it.  

Though Social Media is a very useful way to stay in touch, run a business, and advertise, we must always remember to be careful with it. It is very beneficial and definitely worth the risk, we just need to remember that there is a risk and act accordingly. 

Social Media: 

Twitter: “Social Media and its Darkside” come check it out here

Facebook: “Social Media’s Darkside” click on this link to access my new blog! 

References: 

Teacher Sacked For Posting Picture Of Herself Holding Glass Of Wine and Mug Of Beer on Facebook 

Daily Reporter – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354515/Teacher-sacked-posting-picture-holding-glass-wine-mug-beer-Facebook.html 

Ottawa-area School Board Investigates Racist ‘promposal’ That Refers To Black People Picking Cotton 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.ctvnews.ca/local/ottawa/2020/1/31/1_4792566.html