Social Media is for Idiots
This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang or a whimper but a Twitter.
Insert an anecdote in which I look around my location (could be a café, the library perhaps, waiting for a class or during class, maybe sitting on the bus or walking down the street, even hanging out with friends) and most people I see will have their phones out, transfixed to the screens.
And what has them so mesmerized? Surely they can’t all be so popular, or do I flatter myself in assuming I am not so unique, receiving more texts about promotional offers from O2 and Pizza Hut than I do from family and friends. Using the phone as a front to avoid awkward eye-contact with strangers as we kick our heels and act busy whilst really playing Candy Crush, Sudoku or Pokémon Go! But more commonly it seems social media is the distraction; be it Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, or Instagram — to name a few. Which brings us to the title and topic of this article: is social media for idiots?
Cue the rant about how social media is corrupting the minds of the young, weakening their ability to make real-life conversation and use proper English. We’ve all heard it. And although it reeks of yet another moral panic raged against the youth, I admit it has some merit. There was a time when I was adamant that I would never get Facebook (or any other social media channel), convinced that doing so would leave me vulnerable to the coming cyber apocalypse. However, I’ve since realised that in an increasingly digitalised world it’s better to take advantage of the opportunities social media offers than to continue to rage against the machine. Nevertheless, I am constantly conscious of the digital footprint I leave.
We share so much: our likes, our dislikes, what we eat, what we’re doing and what we’ve done, who we’re with, our thoughts and feelings, political alignments — everything and nothing all at once. Things we would never confess in person but somehow a screen between millions of faceless usernames feels cathartic and here lies the danger: when we all too easily forget the real world still exists behind our laptops and anything shared may one day come back to bite us in the backside.
The internet can be a double-edged sword allowing anonymity and yet no privacy at the same time. Through social media we expose ourselves to the world, and in turn, the world observes; including those we never intended to see. By this I am not just refer to the cautionary tales of catfish that we’ve all been rightly warned against and think with the arrogance of the untested: “I won’t be fooled”, but also that distant relative or family friend who you accepted to be polite but now regret the decision with each quirky comment they leave on your posts/photos and message to your parents about things you didn’t want them to know. Or maybe that person you met once or a friend of a friend who won’t stop sending you lewd messages. Even your [would-be] employer who thought they’d do some research into their [prospective] employee and saw that unflattering photo of you boozing with your mates or the post you made about pulling a sickie you didn’t think to set as private.
That said, social media is not the doom and gloom this picture presents it to be. I return to my earlier example of people glued to their phones and the remark that social media is dulling our ability to communicate and socialise properly. And yes, we may often appear to reject social intercourse in favour of our phones, but it’s through these devices that we are really strengthening our ties with those that matter most — as opposed to strangers off the street — and may have lost contact with if not for the ability to connect across great distances (though there is a time and a place and you should be careful not to shun friends in the flesh for those online). As a linguistics student with an interest in marketing, I take the perspective that social media isn’t eroding our language but merely reshaping it (as it has been reshaped many times before) for new purposes. As president of a student society, social media is fundamental in engaging with members and advertising events. Social media provides a platform to promote and exchange ideas and products with the world; a chance to follow and interact with parties of interest, to discover a range of opportunities and broaden our horizons. To attract an audience as well as act as one.
The truth of the matter is social media is a tool — and like with most tools, the results depend on its wielder. Used well and with care the outcome can be very, very good; but in the hands of the ignorant and irresponsible the effects may be dangerous, damaging and downright idiotic. So, in returning to my title, social media is for everyone — whether this is still interpretable as idiots is entirely down to you.
Edited by
. Amazing article, impressive words used.
