Effect of Media and Technology on Today’s Society

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The media and technology have made the world a small global village where online or virtue interaction has greatly expanded. This aspect has hindered today’s society in various ways. Today’s society is greatly restricted, due to the media and technology. Interaction has become more difficult because of this. The media must be controlled so that it can’t spoil or otherwise negatively influence society. Technology has allowed us to believe that life will be better than it is. There are also relationships where one partner is much more involved with the internet than the other partner – this not only provides less contact but also causes an imbalance within many relationships.

The use of social media has greatly increased across the world. However, some users of these platforms tend to misuse them and post or share content that tends to violate copyright law or solicits illegal activity, or encourages hate speech. Thus, this paper attempts to discuss how these media influence our society by looking at their positive and negative impacts on users of these platforms. This paper will outline various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, among others, and the effects of misuse of these platforms on society. Social networking sites are the current trending communication platform; it is possible to find people connected either physically or virtually. These applications allow users to share information about events that occur daily or weekly.

Some aspects of social media are also contributing to racial discrimination in various parts of the world. Racial discrimination is a vice in society that is not often talked about. It has been happening in different parts of the world for centuries, but it still does exist in some areas today. Social media has made it easier than ever for people to say or post things they would never say in person to others. This means that many of the judgments that are made on social media are usually based on pictures or words that show what race the person is. Although discrimination is at an all-time low because of social media, it still does happen and will persist unless society changes how it perceives people with different skin colors (Gallo & Cho, 2021).

Some aspects of social media are affecting the user’s mental health negatively. Mental health issues such as depressive symptoms, anxiety, and alcohol use disorder have been observed on some people using social media platforms. A study conducted in 2015, found that people who spend 10 hours on social media per day are twice more likely to suffer from depression than those who spend 2 hours on social media per day. The researchers also stressed that the age of the user and the use of certain social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram can affect someone’s mental health. The researchers found out that people suffering from depression and anxiety use Facebook and Instagram more than YouTube and Twitter. YouTube and Twitter were used by people suffering from alcohol use disorder and depressive symptoms.

Hours of social media users are also a concern in Today’s society. Many people are using social media for more than 5 hours a day, while some use it for almost 16 hours. Studies show that there are six main platforms that 80% of Americans visit daily. These platforms are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Tumblr. Social media is not all bad but constant usage can lead to depression and anxiety in some cases. It’s good to use social media every once in a while but it’s not healthy to spend 16 hours on one app or network every day. The media and technology not only does it affect the mental health of the users but also the physical health of the user. Some people such as children and teenagers tend to spend most of their day using media and technology, which can lead to an increase in risk for obesity (Tao & Fisher, 2021). The physical effects on people are not seen immediately but the impact of technology is seen more in young children and teenagers. One of these effects on our physical health is obesity. Obesity is a complex disease that has many factors that contribute to its occurrence. People who are obese have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks, strokes, hypertension, diabetes, several types of cancer including prostate cancer and certain types of gastrointestinal cancers as well as a metabolic syndrome which can cause early-onset dementia for those with high cholesterol or diabetes.

The use of technology and the internet have resulted in an eruption of new kinds of crime. Social media is a novel medium for communication and interaction. It can also be used for malicious purposes to commit a crime. More crimes are being committed using social media than you might think. Social media has changed the way we live by influencing how we communicate, spend our time, date, work, and express ourselves creatively – it’s so much more than just Facebook or Instagram. This blog post will provide information on the various types of crimes that are being committed through social media platforms (Gladwell, 2011).

There are various bodies responsible for ensuring that social media and other internet platforms are free from bullying, cyber-bullying, violence, and crime. They aim to maintain the integrity of the platforms that are used by society for communication, academic achievement, personal development, and research. However; these regulations are often wide-reaching in their reach with considerable consequences for those who neglect their responsibilities on these platforms. For example; social media regulations make it an offense to use a platform if one has any part of them under 18 years old unless one has parental consent which usually requires paperwork or an online form to be sent in which they need to confirm their decision before they can access the service.

In conclusion, technology and media play a vital role in today’s society. It has helped in enhancing efficiency in undertaking various tasks. It has increased virtual interaction among people and greatly reduced physical interaction among them. Social media and technology are hindering today’s society in various ways. There are some restrictions imposed on employees by their employers. Private information is misused by technology companies for advertisement and commercial purposes. It has weakened our family and social relationships. Hence, it is necessary to regulate and monitor social media and technology to make them an aid rather than a hindrance in today’s fast-moving world.

References

Gallo, J. A., & Cho, C. Y. (2021). Social Media: Misinformation and Content Moderation Issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service Report, 46662.

Gladwell, M. (2011). From innovation to revolution-do social media made protests possible: An absence of evidence. Foreign Aff., 90, 153.

Tao, X., & Fisher, C. B. (2021). Exposure to social media racial discrimination and mental health among adolescents of color. Journal of youth and adolescence, 1-15.