Le Nguyen Hanh Vy - Mass Communication Essays

The Impact of Social Media on Modern Society: Benefits and Disadvantages.

The Digital 2024 report shows that already almost two-thirds of the whole population of the
world are Internet and social media users. In particular, 5.04 billion users are using social
media, attributing 62.3% of the world population correspondingly. This accounts for an
increase of 5.6% in comparison with the figures for 2023, according to Kepios. Influenced by
this fact, social networks gained wide impacts upon modern society, having both positive and
negative influences. The ability to connect and share information instantly revolutionizes all
systems of communication, interaction, and connection. Out of so many advantages, social
media also rises along with so many concerns and risks that need further review.
One major positive side of social media is connecting people across the globe. A person can
stay connected with friends, families, and colleagues who might be on the other side of the
world with just a smartphone or a computer. This feature has also been able to reduce the
miles that exist between family and friends considerably, hence making their personal
relations strong. As in this manner, social media has become the epitome for relation building
and improvement and also helped the businesses in reaching their customers effectively.
Furthermore, social media is also playing a vital role in sharing knowledge. In a case of any
emergency or natural disaster, this portal publishes news on an urgent basis to take help from
the community for any important issue. Recently, on September 7, in the typhoon Yagi, in
which a lot of people lost their lives in Vietnam, used social networking sites to circulate
information regarding safety centers and how to avoid this disaster. Social media is an
extended voice of the marginalized and oppressed; hence, it develops itself as a medium for
advocacy.
A very fine example of social change is the #MeToo movement. It helped a lot of women
show, via social media, the sexual harassment they had to go through, creating an
unprecedented wave of protests and campaigns for the rights of women. Similarly, the
movement under the hashtag #PrideMonth has become a social one for the rights of the
LGBT+ community and is taking greater impetus in several countries these days.
Social media allows people to access information and current news easily. This helps in
creating awareness of the events happening around the globe. Social media significantly
affects people's mindset and can be used to mobilize the citizens towards that which is most
important in their lives. "Social media campaigns have led to an increased financial and
resource response in reaction to catastrophes, medical needs, and social rights.". Movements
such as #BlackLivesMatter demonstrated a potentiality of social media for social change,
with the international solidarity that whipped up a storm of discussion and action against
racism.
Social media has become, at the same time, a ground of self-expression and individualism.
On this platform, numerous artists, musicians, writers, and any other creators can show their
work to any public in the world, thus receive attention and opportunities, which they
otherwise would probably have never seen. Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube gave beginning
careers for so many great talents, building their personal brand and accumulating a
community of millions of followers.
However, social networks also create very serious problems. One such problem can be
estimated as the most serious: the spread of counterfeit news and false information. The
digital era has made unlimited sharing of data possible; besides, a lot of what circulates
cannot be filtered to determine whether it's truthful or not, counterfeit. During the COVID-19
pandemic, news regarding treatment and the origin of the virus was spreading fast on social
media platforms, which actually brought more confusion and incited more fear in society. All
these exaggerated or interpretively wrong articles published on websites like "Kenh 14",
"TheAnh28" reflect the bad psychology among users.
Social networks greatly contribute to several problems related to mental health. Continuous
exposure to other people's retouched images and allegedly perfect lives puts too much
pressure on individuals, making them feel insecure. Researchers Licia Braghieri, Daniel
Levy, and Alex Makarin say that using Facebook increases the number of chances for
students to develop depression by 9% and increases the occurrence of anxiety disorders by
12%. According to statistics provided by Mental Health America, major depression among
teens rose by 206,000 cases in 2021 compared to the previous year. The CDC reported a 31
percent increase in suicide attempts by teens in the United States from 2019 to 2020. Within
just a year, in 2021, suspected suicide attempts by adolescent girls aged 12-17 years old
showed a 51 percent increase from the same period in 2019. Also, one-quarter of the cases of
severe depression reported between the periods of 2000 to 2019 for college students in the
United States have been attributed to the use of Facebook. Media social has many times
thrown people into making unhelpful comparisons, increasing self-dissatisfaction. Moreover,
their addictive disposition might be susceptible to consuming a lot of precious time and
rendering people inefficient in workplaces and academia. The American Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry maintains, 90 percent of teenagers in the United States between 13 to
17 years have used or still use social media. According to this, Statista cited that 63% of
parents in the United States claimed their children use social media more compared to
previously in 2020. The rise in the use of social media has brought serious concern about
mental health. These destructive impacts of social media are symbolic of some type of
epidemic to many health professionals.
As a result, many people waste too much of their daily time accessing these social
networking sites, and hence their outputs at work places or schools go down noticeably.
Furthermore, this current phenomenon is likely to affect society at large, because personal
communications are becoming very rare, which can lead to less bonded relationships in the
society.
Moreover, social media can also polarize society. Algorithms show only the content that is
most aligned with users' preferences; hence, they build an echo chamber where a person is
only able to see material confirming one's prejudices. Further polarization can be the only
result, with little more understanding between groups. Misinformation and sensationalist
stories can be added to the fire in these regards and may even add hate and more conflict in
society.
Notably, one must mention the privacy concerns brought about by the usage of social media.
Information collected through the usage of social media may sometimes be used for direct
marketing sans any explicit awareness by its user. Data breach and hacking into personal data
create grave risks that may lead to identity loss, financial loss, and many other security
related problems. Users have to be very aware of the settings of privacy and the information
they choose to share.
Indeed, accompanying this responsible management and utilization will, therefore, make it
possible to reap potential benefits arising from its use while lessening its negative impacts.
Such programs should be set up to educate them on how to securely and responsibly interact
with such platforms, even training in distinguishing fact from fiction in information and
personal privacy protection in a digitized world. Indeed, there is also an emergent need for
policies that would curb and limit the spread of false information. This can be reduced a little
with either the intervention of automated moderation systems or human moderators.
However, ensuring users do not leave empty-handed is critical.
Other than that, there should also be an important measure to spread awareness of how social
media can result in anti-social impacts on the psyche. This may help reduce its usage by
people, shifting them towards better gestures and tasks which in turn would have enhanced
lives and improved interpersonal relationships.
These are the reasons why education urgently needs to be directed at acquiring digital
literacy and the necessary competencies to make independent judgments about the veracity of
any information on the internet. Resources and training provided through schools and
community centers will also enable people to act confidently in a digitized world.
Additionally, such facilities will make it encouraging to balance the time spent online and
offline for the sake of mental health and worthier, deeper contact with other people.
The onus for protection absolutely lies with the social media companies, which needs
fostering through strong moderation policies, making it transparent how the data is collected,
and giving all controls to the users over the private settings. Collaboration among social
media companies, governments, and civil society will go a long way in creating an online
environment that is safer and supportive.
While much positive change has resulted from social media-use, such as the instant
connecting and sharing of information, one cannot slight the negative potentials either. It is
only through responsible and wise usage that we are going to derive real benefits from social
media and minimize its risks. Social media has to be handled responsibly and wisely, for
availing of the opportunities it offers and minimizing its risks. Programs of training in safe
and responsible use, coupled with further policy development to restrict misinformation, are
key elements in such a process. It could enhance awareness of adverse consequences on
mental health and participation in field activities geared toward better livelihoods and social
cohesion within the community. Social media has changed the way we reach out to the world,
interact, and communicate; it should, therefore, be used effectively for its benefits while
curtailing the creation of its negative effects.
CITATIONS:

1. Allcott, H., Braghieri, L., Eichmeyer, S., & Gentzkow, M. (2021). The Welfare Effects
of Social Media. American Economic Review, 111(3), 629-676. | https://
 www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20211218
2. Kepios. (2023). Digital 2024: Global Overview Report. | https://kepios.com/reports
3. CNN. (2024, September 13). Typhoon Yagi: Asia’s most powerful storm submerges
parts of Vietnam and Thailand. | https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/13/asia/typhoon-yagi
most-powerful-storm-photos-intl-hnk/index.html
4. BlogHer. (2020, June 16). Pride Month Hashtags to Thoughtfully Show Support on
Instagram. | https://www.blogher.com/social-media/pride-month-black-lives-matter
hashtags-instagram-773/
5. Ison, J. (2019). ‘It’s Not Just Men and Women’: LGBTQIA People and #MeToo. In B.
Fileborn & R. Loney-Howes (Eds.), #MeToo and the Politics of Social Change (pp.
151-167). Springer. | https://copilot.microsoft.com/^https://link.springer.com/content/
pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-15213-0_10.pdf
6. Statista. (n.d.). Social networks. Retrieved October 13, 2024 | https://
www.statista.com/topics/1164/social-networks/
7. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Basic facts about depression. Retrieved October 13,
2024. | https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/depression-facts
8. World Health Organization. (n.d.). Depression. Retrieved October 13, 2024. | https://
www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression