Social Media… We all are guilty of using it. The fact that you are reading this is proof that you are just as guilty as us ^^. Social Media was invented to “help people connect in the digital world”. For the most part we can say that it has. However, in alot of cases we can say that it has “helped” so much that we now are faced with people having full-blown addictions to it which has raised the question, “Is it bad or good for you to spend so much time on social media?” Research on this question has been ongoing for years with no real absolute answer. The reason there is no definitive answer (in our opinion) is that it is possibly a little bit of both…good and bad.
Take the platform Steemit, which provides a place that you can blog and get paid for it. That is not bad at all but rather closer to honest work. The fact that you get to write something and others view it, comment on it and possibly upvote you is amazing but at the same time even this platform can have a negative affect. When you really dig into a subject and invest your time into researching the said topic as make a post for everyone to view, you get a “high” (Dopamine) so to speak from seeing your hard work pay off. You wait for people to view and/or comment. When comments are made that “high” increases. When no comments are made that “high” can turn into a low (depression-like-state for some). All Social Media has this ability.
There are risks that we take when using all platforms. One risk is that they will experiment on you. Lets look at Facebook for this. Back in 2014 Facebook admitted to experimenting on its users, you can view more on this here. Another risk is addiction. Addiction has become such an issue that Dr. Cecilie Andraessen (University of Bergen, Norway) and colleagues came up with a measure called the BFAS, short for the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, to test and see if someone is *addicted* to Facebook. You can view that test here.
Take a moment and (for those old enough and able) think back to before the internet. Remember when you would have to pick up the phone, or go to see someone to talk to them. Relationships seemed to have more meaning back in those days as well. You had to work hard to keep relationships. (Be it friendships or more) Whereas now you just simply get on your phone and view what people are up to. There’s a list of people that are your “friends”… but are they really??? Take a moment to look at these lists and ask yourself, “Have I ever sat down and had a meal with this person?”… Have you ever really connected with them (offline)? The word friend has changed in this digital age. A friend used to mean someone that knew you well, nowadays it just means someone that is on a list and you can see each others post.
Check out this YouTube video with a message from Sean Parker, Facebook’s 1st President and Napster Co-Founder. This video is from YouTube channel Eman31:
What are your thoughts on it? Is it good? Is it bad? Our thoughts are that it can be a good thing and a bad thing but like most innovative platforms… it depends on it’s usage. Do you use it to connect with that hard to reach family member? Do you hide/turtle shell behind your screen whereas it has become your entire way or life. We have a saying… “A social networking and a social life are not the same thing!”
Thank you for reading our article…we hope you enjoyed! Please come see us on our steemit blog @truthbeyondlies. As always please share your thoughts, comments and concerns below.