Social Media: Good or Bad?
Many times, I’ve wondered who actually is to blame for the exposure and rise of such notorious people and their actions and thoughts. Is it social media, with platforms that can easily be seen and used by everyone? Or is it the people who like, share, and spread the misinformation and hate? The more I think about it, it seems like social media has a bigger role in aiding the ideas of prejudice and hate to reach the point where we have people like Trump as the president of America. But really, there is no point in placing the blame on anything/one. Anyone can use social media however they want, and it most certainly inherently enables anyone to accomplish anything they want, whether good or bad. Granted, unless someone has enough gravitas, or appeals to people so much that their ideas blow up and are shared worldwide, they may not have much of an influence to persuade people to do anything.
Despite most people not having an established audience, Donald Trump sure as heck does. Since the layout of most social media encourages brief and multiple posts (especially Twitter, where Trump resides) simple ideas or stupid remarks can be shared without much context and appeal to many people, depending on how they interpret the message. A good example are Trump’s numerous inappropriate and discriminatory tweets during the past several years, especially as it was before Twitter had allowed for more than 140 characters per tweet. Being limited to such a small amount for a message each time seemed to force him to be concise with his opinions. Regarding his run for presidency, the character limit reinforces his way of trying to get the public to accept him. He usually claims that he will do something, but not give any information on how he will actually do it. No doubt this appealed to people who felt the same way as he did about certain matters; it’s so easy to take things however you want to.
He will establish ‘MUCH better healthcare,’ he will Make America Great Again! (Originally Ronald Reagan’s campaign slogan, by the way). He doesn’t say how, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that he says he WILL! He will do this and do that, build a wall and keep America safe. I think that strong personality, demonstration of ‘will’, and playing to people’s common fears influences people more easily.
If social media can elevate those who spread ignorance and prejudice, then there is no reason it can’t bring out those who spread love and positivity. There are people out there who are genuinely good and who have just as much influence as Trump does. When people like Oprah Winfrey stand up to recent discrimination and inappropriate behaviour, there are many others who are of the same values and can see through all the denials and ignorance. The #MeToo movement has brought more awareness to those stories that have been unspoken and the issue of sexual harassment. The prevalence of this movement shows social media is definitely just as effective for those who fight against ignorance. Hopefully we can all see a noticeable difference of Social Media Good outweighing the Social Media Bad one day.
