T.J. Easter
Beatriz Villa
English 3
19th January 2020
Importance of Social Media
Social media has grown tremendously in the recent past. The use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others has grown in leaps and bounds, and a significant number of people are using these platforms in their day to day activities. Social media has dramatically affected everything, and some people don’t even realize it. Society influences social media because we are the ones that create, post, and share. The people have full control of what we want to see and not. It’s the same as if we were to watch television; the shows that do well and stay on the air show that the majority like and want to continue to see. Besides the guidelines that vary through certain media, we have control over what we/others see online or television. So we generally can’t complain when something we see on any form of media is upsetting to us because society affects the content on social media platforms.
Believe it or not, but the media plays a big part in presidential elections. Every four years, when a new election occurs, it’s always on television, and the reason for that being is for those who can make the drive out to the candidate’s campaign speech they can watch it at home, so that gives the candidates the ability to reach out to all audiences. Media plays a significant role in the election because sometimes it’s not even the candidates convincing people to their side, it’s regular people that give pitches about who they support to other people who essentially persuade them that the person that they are talking about is a right candidate. Social media is an echo chamber and a direct line to the masses (Brichacek, 2018). This shows how fans of a particular candidate can develop a very “intimate” relationship with the candidate over social media and ultimately become loyal fans. The social media gives a conducive environment for candidates to educate the masses on their policy and sell their candidature. They also use the mainstream like television and radio to campaign and appeal to the voters to vote them in.
Social media can be used to influence peoples’ beliefs and lifestyles. Over time, social media has been used to educate society on beauty tips, cookery, body exercises, and many other aspects of lifestyle. Social media has also been used to propagate or disapprove some religious beliefs.
Social media also helps in running businesses; this is because one can reach out to many potential clients who could be in any part of the world. Marketing for products through social media is cheaper compared to the use of human labor. It also helps the business to keep with the current trends globally, making the business competitive. All these aspects help increasing sales for the business.
Despite social media being of great importance, there are disadvantages related to the same. One of these vices is cyberbullying among children, the youth, and some celebrities. Mean people have created fake accounts, and they attack their target victims by sending threats, rumors, and intimidation messages.
Furthermore, the use of social media has resulted in the hacking of personal and private data, which is later shared on the internet. Additionally, there has been the use of identity theft, which has often lead to financial loss. Hacking of accounts on Facebook and Twitter has affected individual personal lives when unpalatable material is posted.
Social media has also been associated with addiction, fraud, and scams. It has also been used to compromise one’s security since all the personal information is easily accessible.
In conclusion, Social media is a double-edged sword because, as a medium, it can be used to destroy society or to make it. It’s up to each of us to use social media for our benefit but not to destroy others.
Work Cited
Brichacek, Andra. “Six Ways the Media Influence Elections.” School of Journalism and Communication, 4 Dec. 2018,
journalism.uoregon.edu/news/six-ways-media-influences-elections.
Petty, Amber. “How Men’s Perfect Body Types Have Changed Throughout History.” TheList.com, The List, 9 May 2018, www.thelist.com/56105/mens-perfect-body-types-changed-throughout-history/.
Public Affairs. “Prevent Cyberbullying.” StopBullying.gov, 4 Dec. 2019, www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/prevention.
Donaldson, Jimmy, and Mark Robert. “Help Us Plant 20 Million Trees – Join #TeamTrees.” #Teamtrees, 25 Oct. 2019, teamtrees.org/.