Nowadays, society speaks of social media in the most negative of terms. From cyber bullying to enforcing unrealistic views on body image, social media, in all forms, seems to have become everyone’s worst enemy.
While all the problems platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have caused are real, pressing issues, we are all quick to forget about the immense possibility and endless opportunities that the age of social media has brought with it. Just a few years ago, things we now do on an hourly basis were not possible.
These applications and programmes started out as a means of communication, and I think we’ve grown so used to how simple social media has made connecting with other people that we’ve forgotten how incredible this type of communication really is!
In neighbouring cities, other countries, across oceans, the friends you don’t see in person every day you are now able to see every day anyway! You’re there for cousins’ graduations, the births of nieces and nephews, and each and every older relative you have can leave embarrassing comments on the announcements of your own of accomplishments.
Gone are the days when you’d have to be mailed pictures of your cousin’s matric dance dress, you no longer have to wait months for news of your aunt’s engagement, sharing the beautiful moments in our lives can now be done instantaneously.
Being ‘present’ for the important moments in the lives of our loved ones through Facebook, as well as being able to hear their voice or see their face over Skype whenever you need to are things we take for granted but couldn’t imagine our lives without.
Another way in which social media has made our world smaller is by bringing knowledge we’d never dreamed of being able to access right into the palm of our hand, literally! We no longer have to take out library books, wait for the next day’s newspaper or rely on word of mouth. Social media has made finding out new information more accessible than ever.
This is SO important. Education is the greatest tool one can have, and can go very far in improving one’s circumstances. Now, no matter what your race, gender, religion or geographical location, you can access all kinds of information to extend your knowledge.
Another type of learning that social media has given us is the identifying and understanding of social ills that we perhaps weren’t aware of before. Issues can be discussed, campaigns can be started, and revolutions can be won all with the help of people you’ve educated online.
Before, there was no way for us to be told about the horrific conditions in Congolese cobalt mines, no way for us to be empathetic to the plight of civilians under military control in South Sudan. Gaining access to information about social injustices is one of the most incredible things social media has gifted us with, because with it comes the ability to do something about it, the ability to make a change.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly to the average social media user, is that we are now enabled with infinite ways of expressing ourselves. Platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, heck, even Pinterest, give us means of sharing our thoughts and opinions. Social media allows us to feel heard by those around us.
Being given a voice is one of the most powerful things that can happen to a human. Being given the freedom to say, do, listen to, like and share what we want means we can BE who we want. While social media often leads individuals to feel pressured by society, in actual fact, we have never been able to be more individual than we are right now!
Social media will always be used and abused by those with their own agendas, but by being careful who you follow, and who you allow to follow you, social media can take you to heights you never dreamed of reaching. Whether it is in a social, intellectual or entrepreneurial sense, the power of these platforms can be harnessed to take you wherever you want to go, and then some.