My love-hate relationship with social media

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was far away from my family and friends, living alone in a foreign country. Social media played a big part in comforting me and helping me stay connected with my loved ones. Still, sooner than later, these platforms were provoking me more panic and anxiety than comfort. They were filled with misinformation and fake news about the outbreak, not only coming from companies but social media users as well. This experience is just one of the infinite examples of how social media has become a double-edged sword in our lives.

Nowadays, social media allows anyone to have a voice. People feel the right to share their message with the world (even if they are experts on the topic or not), and that information does easily circulate. I believe we do have the right to free expression in digital platforms, but to what extent? This situation goes deeper than just posting your opinion about a particular matter. Harmful content and hate speeches circulate on social media, which develops an unsafe environment for communication. This type of content, plus fake news, and the unceasing controversy about personal data breaches, directly disrupt people’s lives, businesses, democracy, and even the economy.

After reading “Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Evolving’ Position on Holocaust Denial,” I agree with the author that Facebook’s CEO has made some controversial and inconsistent declarations where he does not seem to accept the severity of the situation. In my opinion, he has lost credibility on his promises and continues to avoid his responsibilities in implementing regulations that diminish the hating and hurting around social media.

Above all, Zuckerberg insists on protecting the right to speak on Facebook. Despite that, public opinion in social media has proved to be causing real-life violence, so in my opinion, he has an extended moral responsibility. Free speech should always be promoted as long as it is lead by constructive, instead of destructive communication, where I believe they can be easily detected and impugned. I still do not think there are easy solutions, but it is a matter of willingness.

Unfortunately, I do not think that we will see those controls and regulations any time soon. Still, there are many actions that we, collectively and individually, can start doing to reduce the negative impact of social media in our lives.

First of all, I believe that, as users, we share some responsibility for the current situation as we have not shown enough interest to understand how social media works and shapes our life. Besides, many people firmly believe everything they read and watch on the internet. Those are the facts that allow the government, social media, and private companies to use that misinformation to influence people’s decision-making, opinions, and lifestyles.

During the interview made by Scott Galloway to Sinan Aral, author of “The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy, And Our Health — And How We Must Adapt,” he proposes a useful idea to alleviate misleading information and promote legitimate content among users. For instance, Sinan recommends a labeling system solution for fake news, which will help users identify trusted and verified information quicker.

Most importantly, Sinan Aral’s initiative promotes critical reflection and analysis, so people become less likely to believe and share any negative or false information on digital platforms. For this idea to work, there should be a mix of labeling with algorithms, human moderators, and a community working together to decrease social media concerns.

Despite everything I have said, we definitely need social media in our lives. If used effectively, it can bring endless benefits for the world like knowledge, strong social connections, economic and job opportunities, innovation, etc. It also has the power to gather masses in support of social movements, political beliefs and give people the voice to fight against injustices and oppression.

Social media can shape our lives, for better or worse, and even though we still depend on government and social media regulations, we should not forget that we have the final decision on how much we will let it affect us.