Social Media & The Millennials by Janelle Carter

Social Media & The Millennials: Good or Bad?

janellecarter — 2017-12-17 21:32:29 UTC

Social media is the collective of online communication channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Social networks are an extraordinarily important part of Millennials’ lives because it has become much more than a way to connect about personal matters. Social media has become such an important factor in today's society. It can be used to help you find a job, get real-time news and information discovery, creates great opportunities and exposure for business owners, etc. However, entertainment and general fun is the main reason for why people use these social networks. We must ask ourselves though, how does social media affect the way the millennials live today? Is it beneficial for their future or is it destroying their physical and mental well-being?

Advantages of Social Media

janellecarter — 2017-12-17 22:18:58 UTC

Social media is an outlet that has transformed this generation. Some millennials, including myself, feel like social media is the way of the future. We have countless apps and media outlets right at the touch of our fingertips and we use them everyday. Whether it is checking your phone right after waking up, walking to your class, riding the bus, or even taking a bath, social media usage could amount to over twenty hours each week for many individuals. But what is it about social media that truly captivates people and how does this millennial generation benefit from it? A 2015 Pew Research survey found that a solid 90 percent of young adults (18-29) are the most likely to use social media. Apart from the convenience it offers through communicating, posting, catching up, etc., social media has also become a place for empowerment. A lot of people use these social networks to spread awareness for certain issues such as the LGBTQ community, fighting for women’s rights, Black Lives Matter, domestic abuse, and countless more. People can communicate from all over the world and feel connected to one another when fighting for the same cause. Social media also makes the life of businesses easier. It is simpler to reach clients nowadays through advertising. Communication among a huge market is also convenient. Having social media also helps to give new business owners exposure. For example, there are websites that now allow you to write and publish your own book from the comfort of your own home. Apps, such as Twitter, also has utilities like hashtags that allows you spread the word about your business in a quicker way. In my opinion, the advantages of social media outweigh the disadvantages because of the convenience it provides to our society today.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 03:01:56 UTC

Here is a video that goes into a little more detail about the advantages that come with using social media. Advantages that include connecting with people all over the world to helping with criminal investigations!

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 03:06:04 UTC

A statistic graph showing the use of social networking between 2005 and 2015. Research reports have documented in great detail how the rise of social media has affected such things as work, politics and political deliberation, communication patterns around the globe, as well as the way people get and share information about health, civic life, news consumption, communities, teenager life, parenting, dating and even people’s level of stress.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 03:18:18 UTC

An account on twitter explaining how millennials are 247% more likely to be influences by social media and blogs.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 03:25:34 UTC

A very informational Ted Talk that gives you insight as to how social media impacts us from our mood to our mental health, and particularly in the university setting. Samia Khan demonstrates how social media has us putting our (virtual) best face forward, inadvertently creating a multitude of one-sided conversations where students display their successes but hide their personal lows.

Disadvantages of Social Media

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:09:52 UTC

Although social media have some great qualities and benefits, they also have a way of affecting the millennials as well. Studies have proven that by having social media, sometimes you can lack an emotional connection that you could only receive face to face. The quality of a conversation using social media is awful because you cannot sense the emotion or enthusiasm from the other person. It makes you wonder if they actually mean what they say. Social media conversations and text messages today consists of “haha”, “LOL”, and other exclamations that are meant to represent laughter. This has become second nature and is often used when the sender is not even smiling, much less laughing, in real life. This lack of emotional connection is not healthy for when it is time to step away from the social networks and actually have a face to face conversation; whether it’s for a job interview or simply just talking to one of your friends. Millennials in today’s society are also becoming lazy and are depending too much on their technology to get them through life. The new socially active era causes laziness because instead of running to your friends you can message them. Or instead of walking upstairs to call a family member, I can send them a text or make a phone call. Social networking makes life so convenient that it creates laziness. Although it can be very convenient, it can also cause a strain on human interaction. A few more examples of how social media is a disadvantage to the millennials are, it creates a skewed self-image, causes distractions (in and out of the classroom or at your workplace), virtual bullying, fake news, and identity theft. Sometimes social media makes people feel pressured to portray themselves a certain way to the world. We tell ourselves lies about ourselves and develop something we are not. We post pictures of us looking perfect and share the good news. This causes self-esteem issues and makes people feel pressured to look or act a specific way. The disadvantages of social networking and social media will continue to be studied for decade. As a solution, I believe that people should limit their usage on social media and interact face-to-face just as much as they interact online.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:19:45 UTC

This website discusses, in more detail, some of the disadvantages that social media has on the life of a millennial in today's society. Some of these points further the explanation of some of the examples I gave above.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:25:39 UTC

A fun little animated video explaining the disadvantages on social media when it comes to privacy and the type of information that people are putting out into the world. By the end of this video, it should open your eyes to see that even if your are putting information on a page that you think is "private", your data is still not 100% secure.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:37:26 UTC

This blog is written in the point of view of the millennials themselves. Many of them were interviewed and gave their opinion on how they think that social media and social networking impacts their lives.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:41:20 UTC

This video informs us on both the advantages and disadvantages of social networking in one.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:45:56 UTC

A chart showing the increase (by billion) of how many people have joined the social media world since 2011.

Conclusion

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:46:12 UTC

In conclusion, we most definitely shouldn’t avoid the use of technology and social media. Yes, it can have very damaging consequences if used too often, but it has an equally important role for the millennial generation. Avoiding the problem doesn’t actually help anyone. Going to the root of the problem and working through to find a solution will most definitely have a positive impact on the people affected. So I say, don’t teach kids that social media is bad, teach them how to use social media properly and manage what they put out into the world. Social media is becoming the way of the future and will continue to grow and develop.

janellecarter — 2017-12-18 04:54:46 UTC

A blog informing you on the disadvantages that social media can also cause on your business.