Social Media Changes the Life of Disabled People
With the development of Internet technology, social media has gradually become an indispensable channel for people to communicate and participate in social activities. As an important part of social groups, disabled people have gained more choices and freedom on social media. The demands of disabled groups are to be needed and recognized by others and integrated into mainstream society. In the Internet world, these demands could be met more easily. With the further popularization of the Internet, more and more disabled people will be able to enjoy the changes in their living environment brought about by the new media on the Internet. Their study, employment, and daily life will undergo significant changes, and the vulnerable groups will be more convenient to achieve connection with the mainstream society.
Social media constructs a virtual social environment for disabled people, which is helpful for disabled people to participate in social interaction and develop their personalities. Social media provides more convenient and broader social communication opportunities for disabled people through Omni-directional information transmission, which makes the sociality of the disabled group get unprecedented extension and development. The Internet integrated with traditional media has fully expanded the social environment of disabled people. Through social media, the disabled people have incorporated themselves into an infinite network group, which has greatly widened the scope of their social contact, and make them have more frequent and close communications with other individuals and groups. Disabled people can also live in the virtual space of social media. They can be their own directors, give full play to their leading role, and fully display, develop and perfect themselves. Because they do not have to face others with their real identities, people with disabilities can become more confident in the social media space without worrying about facing the discrimination and prejudice of others.
Social media has expanded the employment channels of disabled people and brought them more opportunities to earn a living. “People who are with physical impairments are systematically disadvantaged in the workforce and their voices are often silenced” (Zheng et al. 104). But on the Internet, social media can be used as an important channel for the employment of disabled people. Some people get work opportunities through social media, and some of them even engage in work related to social media. Some disabled people undertake the service outsourcing business of enterprises through the Internet and engage in their own business with the help of social media. With the help of network media employment, the disabled people in cities and towns are integrated into the employment model of modern society and have a stable income. They not only support themselves economically but also realize their self-worth in spirit and are respected by society. In addition, many disabled people can also become social media influencers. They can share their works on the platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram, and so on. They attract a large number of fans by sharing their positive attitude towards life. Some young disabled people have even explored their talent in games and talk shows and released their own game commentary or talk show programs through social media to gain more support from the audiences. This brings them huge business opportunities and changes their life.
Social media provides a wealth of education and learning resources for disabled people. All the course videos or audio materials can offer disabled people free learning opportunities. Due to the physical deficiency caused by the congenital and acquired reasons, disabled people have some problems such as inconvenient physical movement or difficulties in receiving foreign information. With the help of social media platforms, disabled people cannot be limited by their physical conditions when they have the desire of learning knowledge. As long as there is a computer or phone, people with physical disabilities can learn the new things at home. For example, the blind people can easily overcome the obstacles of reading and communication with social media because they can listen to the audio content. The deaf can also learn and communicate by reading and inputting words on social media platforms. Therefore, the emergence of social media on the Internet has brought great convenience for the education of disabled people. Most of the disabled people can try to accept online education at home to improve their knowledge and skills. Therefore, with the help of network media, the educational conditions of a large number of disabled people have been greatly improved, and they can learn knowledge more easily and understand the outside world. What’s more, compared with traditional schools, teaching through social media can also be more targeted and initiative. Disabled people can learn things according to their own interests, which is easier to improve their enthusiasm. Leaning on social media can stimulate people’s multiple senses and make up for their functional defects to some extent.
Social media enables ordinary people to understand disabled people more comprehensively and objectively. This is conducive to get rid of the stereotype and discrimination against the disabled group. “Social media can play an important role in presenting disability issues in a way that could dispel negative stereotypes and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities” (United Nations 2020). The disabled people are members of society and should enjoy the same material and spiritual rights as common people. On social media platforms, there are many excellent disabled people show their great ability and charm, which makes the healthy people understand the disabled people from an objective perspective, break the prejudice against the disabled people, and finally realize that the “disability” is not the only definition of this group. Social media reflects the life of disabled people in an objective and real way, which has played a positive role in promoting the public’s understanding of disability issues. It encourages people to pay more attention to and help the disabled people, safeguard their dignity and protect their equal rights. At the same time, it also allows disabled people to see the views of their peers. Excellent examples of disabled people can play an exemplary role in encouraging them to understand themselves correctly, overcome their inferiority complex and establish self-confidence.
Social media has changed the lives of people with disabilities. It provides more ways of expression for the disabled people and brings more development opportunities for their life. In other words, the positive impact of social media on disabled people has enabled more disabled people to find ways and opportunities to integrate with society. They can express their ideas and show their personal charm on social media platforms and create their new identity in this space. What’s more, because of their physical defects and infirmities, they are excluded and discriminated against in school and society, their formal education or job opportunities are seriously affected. Social media provides a new way for them to improve their quality and employment. For example, some famous influencers on YouTube are disabled people, but they still have many fans and supporters because they create many valuable and useful content on these platforms. It proves that disabled people can achieve their personal values with the help of social media in the current world. Therefore, in the social media era, disabled people can improve their lives in various ways with the help of different social media platforms.
Works Cited
Opengate, Inc. “Is Social Media Accessible for People with Disabilities?” Medium, 2016. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/diversity-inclusion/is-social-media-accessible-for-people-with-disabilities-9276b9e705b4
United Nations. “Disability and the Media”. Department of Economic and Social Affairs Disability, 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/disability-and-the-media.html
Zheng, Jing, Yuxin Pei, and Ya Gao. “Social media as a disguise and an aid: Disabled women in the cyber workforce in China.” Social Inclusion, 8.2, 2020, pp. 104–113.
