One Click Connects Us

(Source: Akorbi)

My last few blogs have talked a lot about the downfalls of social media and the negative impacts it can have on us. However, there’s a flip side to social media and that is how amazing it can be! Just think, generations ago, people couldn’t even imagine a group of diverse platforms that would allow us to do all kinds of things using social media. It was unheard of that one click could open up a whole new world and connectivity would happen in an instant. However, today social media allows us to connect, be informed, get involved, and interact in so many important ways. What is something important that social media does for you? 

(Source: Search Engine General)

Most recently, we entered an unprecedented time. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, social media kept us connected with each other when the entire world shut down. According to one Stanford University article, “Quality time, online: Staying connected with social technologies during the coronavirus outbreak“, “Research shows that using social technologies can provide a small boost to our well-being by really helping us feel more connected to the people around us…” Never was that more important than when the whole world was suddenly kept apart during lockdowns. Then for an extended period after where restrictions were still in place, social media provided us a way to stay in-touch with friends and family. During this time, being able to connect with someone online when we couldn’t in-person, had become very important.

(Sources: Verywell Mind, Black Lives Matter, NHL.com)

Social media helped boost the growth and awareness of major 21^st century movements and organizations such as #MeToo and #BLM. What started out as simple hashtags quickly took a life of their own, becoming well-known and highly influential organizations. People from all different regions became a part of a united movement all connected through social media networks for these groups. Here in Canada, #BellLetsTalk has become a huge initiative raising funds to support mental health awareness, and social media has provided the groundwork for these initiatives to grow.

(Source: David York Agency)

Social media offers a platform for all ages and stages of life. Snapchat and TikTok might interest young people, but how many of you have parents and even grandparents that connect to others online using Facebook? It’s not for everyone, of course, but for many using social media is easy to learn, offers so many ways to share, and helps people feel connected. Not only can you connect with your peers, but you can also watch your favorite influencer or celebrity’s post, join fan clubs and groups with common interests, or game online with others all over the world.

I’m sure almost everyone you know uses social media. We live in an age where it’s surprising when we talk with someone who doesn’t use social media. Of course, some don’t but it’s definitely a ratio where more people use it than not. It helps networks to build, organizations to share their messages, is now often a platform for businesses to advertise and connect with their customers and enables us to create connections far and wide. For us personally, not only can we send a message to someone, down the street, across the country, or even on the other side of the world, but it reaches them instantly. It bridges the distance for friends and family, allows companies and groups to work globally, and even allows us a platform to send a funny meme to someone who could use a laugh. Social media has advanced so much over these past few years. You can stay connected practically anywhere. I cannot wait to see what it offers us in the years to come. How about you?

We can do so much using social media networks, I wonder what the future holds? #StayingConnected #PlatformsForChange #MentalHealth

The importance of social media. #BrightSideOfSocialMedia #ThinkOfThePositiveAspects #PlatformsForChange

What Did You Just Say?!

(Source: Art by Carlos Ramirez/Whynne. Image from KnowYourMeme.org)

Let’s be honest, all of us have either received a negative comment on our social media posts or read the negative comments on other’s posts. We may even know someone who likes to post these comments. Personally, I don’t post negative comments or argue online, but I will admit I have been entertained watching this kind of drama between others unfold on Twitter. But why have things come to this? Why do people feel the need to add their two-cents, or criticize, or give unwanted advice or just be flat out hateful online to others they don’t even know?

Today, we spend so much time online. Its become a common everyday part of our lives.  Especially since the beginning of the pandemic, more and more time for many of us, either for work or school, is spent working online rather than engaging in face to face interactions. Today’s society is one where everyone is busy and in a hurry. Interactions are mostly done by email or text and pretty much in short, abbreviated phrases. I sometimes feel like we have forgotten how to have a full conversation sometimes. Myself, I’m very introverted and a quiet person anyhow so interacting online is almost easier for me. I can sit down and type something out a lot easier than I could having to say the same thing in front of a group. However, the down side of that for many is that they get too comfortable sharing their thoughts online and that’s not always a good thing. We’ve pretty much gotten used to feeling almost anonymous when posting things on the internet. It’s very easy to say something online to another person that we’d NEVER say, or do, in real life if that person was standing in front of us. In person, we have been taught to always put our best selves forward, but for online trolls when they are saying stuff online, they don’t have to worry about that.  I guess they feel online platforms allow them the freedom to break this rule.

One of the main reasons for this is probably because of how people can say this through a screen and get away with it, rather than saying it in-person and likely suffering the consequences. In addition, as Maria Plata noted in “Is Social Media Making Us Ruder?”, the lack of eye contact is a large contribution to online rudeness. She also makes the point that social media allows us to make our points right then and there in the moment and get right to the point for a whole platform of people to see. I see this all the time on social media posts, everyone seems to want to add their comments, even if they are really mean. They want to add to the conversation and say whatever is on their mind, good or bad. With almost everybody on social media, it is so easy to be able to say anything and then watch the fallout unfold from behind your computer. It’s a sad state of the world today, but this online negativity has just become so common and normal for us to see when we’re scrolling.

When I was preparing for this blog, I read different articles to see different opinions about why so many people feel they can say whatever they want, and be really mean online. One article, “Why do people really post mean comments online?”, mentions how it’s not just the lack of eye-contact, but also because “people lose their sense of responsibility and self-awareness”. I agree with this because honestly, everyday I see comments when I’m online, and I think to myself, there’s no way someone would ever actually speak that way to another person in public. At least, I hope not.

Bottom line, we live in a more digital world, and so much of our time is spent interacting with others online. If everyone just stopped and took a minute to think before they commented, and spoke to others the way we would in real life, online platforms might become so much nicer and friendlier. Once that negativity is out there, it’s out there. Deleting it isn’t always going to work. Everyone just needs to get back to the basics we learned as kids. Things like being kind to everyone, and treating others as you want to be treated. The online world shouldn’t be any different, don’t you agree?

Can we rise above the rudeness of social media? We need to navigate the online world the way we do the real world. #LifeLessons #HelloToKindness #OnlinePositivity

Is social media changing the way we interact? #SpreadTheKindness #NoMoreRudeComments #PositiveSocialMedia

Is social media having a negative impact on our mental health?

(Source: L&L Consulting)

Today, more of us are dependent on social media than any other generation. Almost everyone has a phone (or many devices) and almost everyone is on social media. Many are on multiple platforms. Just look around you, people are obsessed with checking their phones. I’ll admit, I’m on my phone way too much everyday. I often lose track of time just scrolling on my phone. However, what toll is this social media use taking on the mental health of people today? According to the following article, The Social Dilemma: Social Media and Your Mental Health, there’s definitely an increase of anxiety and depression in many users.

For myself, I am more introverted and I don’t share everything I do on Instagram. I use different social media platforms to share my sketches, interact with art groups or share photos if I’m travelling or doing something really interesting, but I don’t share things every day. Some people share EVERYTHING they do on social media hoping for more and more likes and comments presenting their best self online. Others spend a lot of their time checking the posts of others whether it’s their friends, family, celebrities, whoever. This can make these users start to compare themselves or their experiences to what they are seeing others post.

Real life experiences can’t be measured by the likes, dislikes, shares you get, or mean comments you might read on a picture you shared or reacting to a comment you made. But for a lot of people, this is how they measure themselves. This can really affect how they think about themselves, or how they feel that they fit in with, or compared to, others. For me personally, sometimes when I post a sketch I’m really proud of, if it doesn’t get many likes or comments, I do feel let down. I try to not let it get to me, but I’ll admit I feel disappointment that it didn’t get a lot of reaction. I don’t personally know a lot of these people online, so why should those opinions validate me? But sometimes they do because if I do post something and it gets a lot of likes, I feel satisfied and happy. So I guess we all get affected, whether we like to admit it or not. The following Ted Talk by Bailey Parnell explains further how social media is impacting all of us, no matter your age or demographic.

Social media is supposed to be a place to share your thoughts and experiences. It should never be a place to compare yourself to others, because we all know people only share the best moments they want you to see – that isn’t reality. Bottom line, if social media is beginning to take its toll or is negatively affecting your mental health, then its time to change how you use social media or the amount of time you spend on it.  Maybe even take a break and focus on people and things in your life that really matter and that make you feel good. Have you ever looked at someone else’s social media post and felt jealous that they seem to be living a better life than you? Have you ever felt you needed a break from your social media intake? I know I have. We live in a world flooded by social media, but we can’t let it overwhelm us, so we need to know when we’ve had enough.

Social media is everywhere, and it’s not gonna disappear anytime soon, so we need to be able to use it in a healthy manner. #SocialMediaAndMentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #HealthyOnlineUse http://bit.ly/3EpOAPp

Social media platforms can be great, but they also have a dark side. It’s good to be aware how online usage is affecting your mental health, since that matters the most. #MentalHealthAwareness #SocialMediaLimits #PositiveSocialMedia http://bit.ly/3EpOAPp

Twitter Toxicity: Elon Musk Just Broke Twitter

Image source: CNN

While all social media platforms have both positive and negative impacts for users, Twitter has always seemed to be the most steeped with negativity, with over 150 million users and the ability for users to post short messages, it is easy for users to add quick thoughts or comments about almost anything. Misinformation, constant user harassment, negativity, arguing, doxing, and even increased cancel culture over the smallest things are just a few of the problems Twitter has. According to a 2021 article by Bob Yirka, “Negativity found to increase chances of Twitter posts going viral”, he notes that tweets with negativity draw more attention, get more reactions and are shared more often. So of course this is creating a platform of negativity when people want their tweets to go viral.

Recently, Elon Musk purchased Twitter and now things have gone way more downhill. For starters, Elon Musk laid off about 50% of Twitter’s employees, and ordered the remaining ones to work in-person, despite COVID still being a thing. This isn’t really new, as he also ordered his employees at Tesla and Space-X to also work in-person when the pandemic began. Additionally, he believes in freedom of speech, and finds permanent bans unjust. Now that he’s in charge, chaos began to ensue, as according to a recent CBC News article, “Hateful slurs soared on Twitter after Musk took over, says digital anti-hate watchdog”, the use of hateful slurs skyrocketed. “A racial epithet used to attack Black people was found more than 26,000 times, three times the average in 2022. Use of a slur that targets transgender people increased 53 per cent, while instances of an offensive term for homosexual men went up 39 per cent over the yearly average” (The Associated Press. 2022).

Another noteworthy consequence was Elon’s decision to make Twitter verifications available to anyone for about $8. The blue checkmarks of a verified account are meant to indicate that said account genuinely belongs to someone famous. Many noteworthy accounts already knew this was a bad idea, from Hazbin Hotel creator Vivziepop, to Arizona-based video game company Running With Scissors. 48 hours after this decision was made, Elon “decided to pull back” after a large number of impersonations with not-so-flattering messages took place (for example, one account pretending to be Nintendo of America posted an image of Mario giving the finger).

As I type this, Twitter updates continue to change at any given moment. Will Elon Musk’s ownership improve Twitter, making it a more positive platform? Or will things continue to decline into a downward spiral of chaos?

What does Twitter’s future look like under it’s new ruler? #TwittersOnFire #CurrentChaos https://bit.ly/3tpRdeL

Watch out Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk is competing for the title of “controversial social media king”! #TopMedia #TwittervsFacebook #ThereCanOnlyBeONE https://bit.ly/3tpRdeL

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