(Image courtesy of http://xtraordinaireblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/)
It is probably a question for the ages “Is
social media “good” for society?” “Is it bad for society?” Everyone uses it,
some more than others but it is out there and I cannot ever see it going
away. This is now firmly entrenched in society and is part of our daily
lives. Its impact in such a short amount of time has been enormous and wide
ranging.
Social media can be seen as good for society
in the way that it brings people together, families together (the fabric of
society), unites people in good causes together, provides the masses with a
voice (very quickly), enables instant feedback to elected officials of what
people think, helps people find a job, promotes commerce etc. I have embraced
all of these things on social media sites and the convenience of it. Everything
is quicker now, certain generations want instant feedback and the days of
writing a letter or even making a phone call (let’s face it our mobiles are
used more for SM than actually making a call) are on the way out. The change in
the last 5-10 years has been incredible from this point of view and even though
it has positives like everything Social Media has its negatives.
There are numerous reasons why SM is bad for
society. Some of them include Cyber bullying online with our children and
adults alike which is a continuing threat and this kind of bullying can be
vicious and the fallout lasts for years. With people being able to be anonymous
online these attacks can be done with no holds barred. The Houston Chronicle
wrote that per a CBS report in 2010 “Cyber-bullying has spread widely among youth,
with 42% reporting that they have been victims.” This has to be tackled
and with serious gusto. In the United Kingdom there is legislation that covers
stalking and harassment over the internet but there is more to be done in this
area.
With these sites being available 24/7 the
temptation is to always be on them, not just in our private lives but at work.
There is Facebook and Google Chat and twitter etc. to allow continuous
distraction form our work. Productivity suffers. Per the Houston Chronicle
"Nucleus Research reported that Facebook shaves 1.5% off office
productivity while Morse claimed that British companies lost 2.2 billion a year
to the social phenomenon." The blocking of these websites at work may help
with this. I know people have to talk to family and friends during the work day
but not every single minute of it!
We have lost some of the privacy of our life
with this medium. Photos, thoughts, likes and dislikes are available. People
can control who sees it but, even with friends and family, revealing everything
may not be a good idea. A certain mystery is gone. The loss to society of face
to face contact is another concern. Society functions or human contact and
current and future generations are heading down a road to where the keyboard
and screen is the nearest thing to human contact. The nuances of communication
are lost through social media. People can misinterpret what is said on these
sites quite easily. Are we moving into a phase now where future generations
will not be able to communicate without an electronic device?
I feel as this medium gets more sophisticated
with the technology that will arrive, Google Glass anyone, and new social media
sites that the reach of social media into our existence will get longer. With
Google Glass there is the option to record your existence 24 hours a day and
film everything you do and the people you interact directly and indirectly and
put this on YouTube for example. Privacy issues will be raised as who will know
if people are being filmed or not. Per Social Media Today “Google Glass could
identify a person on social networks just by looking at their face.” Will there
be nowhere to hide! Are we moving towards being like “RoboCop” and having the
vision of a half man half machine? This is first version of this device and who
knows where we will be in 5 - 10 – 20 years from now. The future is now and as
George Orwell said “Big Brother is watching you.”
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