Week1 B: Social Media Used Today

Some of the social media I use are Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Tumblr, Snapchat, and Bumble.

Feel free to comment your Instagram down below if you want to connect outside of class!

(if you comment your IG ill shoot you a message!)

Believe it or not, social media is used an average of  2 hours which is approximately 116 minutes on social media every day. When we do the math this translates to a total of 5 years and 4 months of our lifetime. These numbers are growing daily with it becoming so popular. Teens often spend more time than adults since they are always following the trends, and are constantly refreshing their news feed for the most recent posts. Some of my thoughts on social media are both good and bad. I believe it depends on the user more than the application/platforms. Just like in person, you allow what comes in and what doesn't. You can control only your actions. Social media has allowed people to connect in a way that used to not be possible. You can share fun and happy moments with your friends virtually. You can express yourself openly and find many communities you would have never thought existed. You can learn new skills after watching a couple youtube videos. The possibilities are endless. 

Social media could definitely be used for personal use and for business. It is a great tool to be able to extend and grow your exposure. During the pandemic, I saw many small businesses use it as a tool to maintain their businesses from completely being shut down. Business owners were able to still interact with their customers and keeping their shops/businesses interactive. Social media is also a way to market yourself. A lot of these online celebrities that are now referred to as influencers market themselves and make serious money to promote certain products or services to their followers. The positive side of this is that it is great for big and small businesses to reach more possible customers, for the influencer to make some money, and for consumers to be exposed to products they may not know about and sometimes even offered a discount code for their purchases. The other side could be businesses being very exposed where they can be criticized for any wrong move and for certain people they support. Influencers can become unauthentic and not honest about product reviews and recommendations. This can affect consumers by overspending and receiving low-quality on overhyped items. During the pandemic I often found myself being influenced by all the "Amazon Finds" videos and running myself into debt because I was over-purchasing. Thank goodness for Amazon's flexible and easy returns I was able to backtrack my steps and return the majority of it. 

Let's jump into the dark side of social media. Where do I even start? Just like the possibilities are endless, the dangers are also endless. With children being introduced to phones, tablets, and other devices at such a young age, social media is almost unavoidable. We often think it's all fun and games until we start to center ourselves around it and slowly but surely we are on it almost every second of every day. Cyberbullying is a very common tactic of harassment used by teens. People who experience bullying or cyberbullying are 2 times more likely to attempt suicide. Social media can also alter our thinking and the way we see ourselves. Almost every day a new filter is created, that alters our faces and creates an unrealistic image of ourselves. Psychologically we begin to try to reach an impossible beauty standard and an unrealistic lifestyle. Businesses often use filters to be able to persuade a consumer to buy their product or service. With social media making us feel like we are not enough with not having many likes, reposts, followers, retweets, and shares, we begin to feel vulnerable. Being vulnerable online can be dangerous because left and right someone is ready to take advantage of it. It could come in a form of a stranger trying to be your friend but is really a preditor or a business trying to sell you a product or service that is going to make you "feel better" or "look better". Being on social media is what you make it. I think you need to be very self-aware and remember you can just log off.

Just like ill be logging off and not thinking about homework for the rest of the night. Priorities.

Your's truly,

Marilu Saldivar (Lulu)