Please can we stop demonizing social media?
I can’t help but feel defensive when I read yet another piece blaming social media for perpetuating mental health issues, causing eating disorders or even destroying our Earth.
That’s not to say these aren’t real issues and that social media doesn’t play a part — they are, and it most certainly does. But social media often takes the flack for wider societal problems.
Take Instagram, for example: again and again we find it at the forefront of debates on young women’s mental health and self esteem issues. There’s no denying that access to millions of pictures of size zero models gives the wrong impression to young women. The rise of ‘clean eating’ and fitness accounts certainly don’t help either. But Instagram isn’t to blame for that — if it wasn’t in your Instagram feed, it would be in Google and if it wasn’t on the internet it would be in all the newspapers and magazines (in fact, it’s still there too).
Without social media, we would all still worry about the way we look and compare ourselves to the celebrities and models in the media. People would still bully, stalk and harass. There would still be natural destruction at the hands of humans (that links to the article that inspired me to write this). We just might not know about it as much.
Social media hasn’t forced us into anything, it has simply given us a choice to have our voices heard, and to listen to a broader range of people.
The problems we see online today are problems inherent in society, and knowing more about them and their scale (through social media) is a good step towards fixing them.
We shouldn’t forget the incredible — and sometimes groundbreaking — things that have come out of the global connections we can make in today’s digital sphere.
Remember #illridewithyou? The hashtag that offered solidarity with Sydney’s Muslim population after a hostage situation in a café. Then there was #BringBackOurGirls, which was mentioned more than 2 million times on Twitter as a call for authorities to help bring back the more than 300 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014.
And did you know the Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised more than $100 million in 30 days, has now funded an ALS breakthrough?
There was #OccupyCentral, The Last Leg’s #LegUp, and today movements like #BlackLivesMatter are using social media to fight their cause.
Footage uploaded to Facebook has educated millions on the terrifying realities of living with the war in Syria or the perilous journeys taken by refugees coming to Europe.
Facebook’s Live video platform is increasingly being used to call out racism as it happens (this tragic incident in particular) and Twitter is often the first place people will turn to update and seek updates on breaking news.
On a smaller scale: as a travel writer I’ve been allowed to share my journeys with thousands of people on social media, and I’ve made connections all over the world with travellers I’d never have been able to reach before.
On more than one occasion, I’ve had someone tweet me or message on Instagram to ask for recommendations for a trip and they’ve actually followed through with them (and posted pictures that prove it). I can’t express how gratifying it is in my profession to know that someone is genuinely taking my advice seriously.
You can’t deny, big or small, social media has a powerfully positive effect for many.
As with everything in life, it absolutely isn’t without its problems (I’ve addressed a small fraction in this post and have previously pondered the adverse affects of Facebook’s algorithms). But, please, let’s not pass the buck and blame these platforms for so many of humanity’s ugly characteristics.
