It is no surprise when I say that we live in a digitalized world. From emails to online banking, social media, streaming platforms, and even digitalized libraries, there is no one thing that couldn’t be done online. Almost the entire world is just a few clicks away. There’s no point in denying that it makes our lives easier, constantly “buying” us some time. The question, however, is: what do we do with this “saved” time? I feel confident to say, that most of us end up scrolling through our Facebook or Instagram feed. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the end, we all want to feel connected to each other, however, there’s more to it. Social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, where everything looks perfect have a different effect on every single one of us. For this reason, I’d like to bring up some important topics such as cyberbullying, the negative effect of Instagram, and also fake news which are flooding social media.
Cyberbullying is a form of abuse that takes place usually on social media but isn’t limited to it. This type of bullying usually takes the form of a comment under someone’s post, or it’s a hurtful and harmful post directed to a specific person. Cyberbullying might have mental, emotional, and physical effects on a victim, which can lead to depression, low self-esteem, or in severe cases, even to death. It is important to remember that even when we interact with someone on social media, we interact with a human being.
It is one of the most popular apps designed to share videos and photos. It is also one of the apps having the biggest impact on its users. The constant flow of images showing the perfect life (e.g. vacations abroad, nice house, fit body) makes some of the users feel anxious and pressured to reach the same level of life. It is important to remember that the posts on social media are heavily biased. They are intended to be perfect and are usually posted after being photoshopped.
What’s more, Instagram might cause the young users of the platform to associate their own value with the number of likes, and the number of followers. This might have a negative impact on their mental health and result in social anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression.
What is characteristic for social media is that anyone can post anything they like. This kind of environment is perfect for creating fake news. In the era when the number of clicks is everything, the Internet is full of clickbaits, and false information. Rarely anyone verifies any facts before posting it, which leads to spreading fake news. In this case, it is up to the reader to confirm the news with other sources.
There is no doubt that social media and the digital world have plenty to offer. However, we as the users, need to be mindful of all the interactions we have with other people, especially since it is so easy to forget that behind all these posts, and comments are real people. What’s more, it is important for us to keep in mind that the posts we see on Instagram show only a fraction of people’s lives. So, in brief, let’s not believe in everything we see or read on the Internet.