Samantha Strom

COM 417

Final Paper

Social Media: A Double-Edged Sword

When I went home for spring break, my little sister insisted I attend this lecture

with my mom. She had seen it during school that day, and thought it was important. The

concept behind the lecture she had seen was about not judging people by their

appearances and getting to know them as complex individuals with a unique story.

While the speaker gave us an overview of what he had talked to the students about, he

focused more on what we, as parents, could do. I was really buying into what he was

saying until about the last ten minutes, when he started talking about the damaging

effects of social media. He explained that people cultivate a perfect image of their life

online, so thats all you see, and you start to believe that everyone else has their life

together but you.

While I definitely understood the speakers point, I found myself getting

defensive. Thats not the way social media is supposed to be used. Yes, you want to put

your best foot forward, but you also want to be authentic and vulnerable. In short, you

are still supposed to be a person. This applies to brands too, oddly enough. People

want to talk to people.

Social media is a double-edged sword. On its own, it is neither good or bad, and

is a source of entertainment. However, depending on its use, it could be a tool for

destruction, but it could also be constructive. Thus, social media is neither inherently

good or bad, nor is it promoting a better or worse world. It is merely a tool. If wielded
incorrectly, it could tear our world apart. But if wielded correctly, it could help build a

better world.

As the speaker pointed out, social media gives people the opportunity to share or

not share every part of their lives, and can make their lives look flawless, making others

feel inferior because they are not as perfect as people seem online. Some people even

get famous for the way they share their lives, such as Instagram star Essena ONeill,

who quit social media last October. She said of social media, Its contrived images and

edited clips ranked against each other. Its a system based on social approval, likes,

validation in views, success in followers. Its perfectly orchestrated self absorbed

judgement. She deleted over 2,000 photos on Instagram that day, and edited the rest

of the images captions to show what went into creating that image, pulling back the

curtain obscuring the imperfections on her seemingly perfect life. I believe that this pitfall

can be combatted with authenticity and taking what you see with a grain of salt. No

ones life is perfect, but some people are good at capturing and sharing the moments

that make it seem like it is.

This is not the only potential pitfall of social media. Brian Jung, in his article, The

Negative Effects of Social Media on Society and Individuals, lists a false sense of

connection, cyber-bullying, decreased productivity, and privacy as the negative effects

social media brings about.

One of the most called-upon fault of social media is that it creates a false sense

of connection. Many have argued that with all this online interconnectivity, we forget to

foster our real relationships. Yes, sometimes the social nature of social media can make

people feel more isolated than ever, as we can see our friends doing things without us,
but it also can help foster those real relationships too. Before the days of social media, I

didnt keep in contact with any of my friends from camp or who moved away. Because

of these networks, I can keep friendships alive and well long after I last saw someone. It

has been a great help keeping in contact with my high school best friends.

Another common complaint is that it provides a platform for a new kind of

bullying; cyber-bullying. As someone who was the victim of cyber-bullying (and in-

person bullying, for that matter) for years, I understand this concern. This platform can

be particularly damaging because the internet is forever, and bullying can easily be

done either directly and privately or in front of all of their peers. On the flip side, victims

of bullying can easily delete or report the offending content if it is public, and delete or

block the bully from their social network. Thus, bullying may actually be easier to

escape online than it is in real life.

While a decrease in productivity doesnt necessarily promote a worse world, it

could certainly be an annoyance. I know that it is quite the time suck. Honestly, I have

no defense of this one. I do, however, have some tips to minimize your time wasted.

First, set time limits. Only allow yourself 5 minutes on social media when you go on.

That way, you know exactly how long youre wasting. You could even set a timer so you

know when your time is up. Second, streamline. Is there any social media platform that

youre not particularly attached to? Disconnect. If not, there are other ways to

streamline. Join a social network streamlining site, like Hootesuite, where you can make

streams of the content and content creators (i.e. friends) that you actually care about.

You can see all of your platforms all in one place, cutting down on your time switching

back and forth between platforms entirely.

 The issue of privacy is a legitimate concern. People will put much more

information online than they might not share with the world otherwise. Its as if having

the screen between the person posting and the rest of the world gets rid of the filters

they would have, were they talking face-to-face. Social media does encourage over-

sharing, but people can opt out of doing so. Dont want people to know your sexual

orientation? Dont list it on your profile. Dont put up statuses about how bad your

breakup was unless youre sure you want everyone to know. You can adjust your

privacy settings so only people youve approved can see what you post. However, a

good rule of thumb is, if you wouldnt want your grandma or a future employer to see it,

dont post it.

If youve safeguarded against the pitfalls, social media can be freely used as a

neutral platform for entertainment and news. Beyond this, social media can be used as

a way to connect, innovate and grow. It is an effective tool for businesses and

celebrities to build brand and connect with customers. More importantly, it can be a

force for social change. In 2010, Wael Ghonim created a Facebook page after the death

of a young Egyptian man, Khaled Said. He called the page Kullena Khaled Said, which

means We Are All Khaled Said. He became an accidental activist and had a hand in

organizing the Arab Spring in 2012 with his Facebook event, January 25: Revolution

Against Torture, Poverty, Corruption and Unemployment.

Welding the power of social media for good is not an easy task. Another example

of someone who did just that is Robert Chatwani. When his best friend and business

partner, Sameer Bhatia, needed a bone marrow transplant, but the registry came up

with no matches, Chatwani utilized the power of social media on his friends behalf. He
sent out an email to hundreds of friends and colleagues, telling them what was going

on, how long Bhatia had to find a match, and instructing them on how to get tested,

spread the word, and learn more. Within 48 hours, the message had reached 35,000

people. Within that network, someone else was also diagnosed with the same disease,

Acute Myelogenous Lukemia, so the two support networks teamed up and used

platforms like Facebook, Google Apps, and YouTube to inspire bone-marrow drives all

over the country. In eleven weeks they had 480 bone marrow drives and over a million

media impressions, causing 24,611 new people to be registered. Most importantly, both

men found matches. Chatwani harnessed the power of social media and ended up

saving two lives, and potentially, countless more (Aaker, Smith, Adler 2010).

The model that Aaker, Smith, and Adler illustrate in their book, The Dragonfly

Effect, is aptly called the Dragonfly Model. Each wing of the dragonfly represents an

aspect of how to use social media to create social change. The first is Focus. In order to

change the world, you have to have a single, concrete, measurable goal. Then is Grab

Attention. If you cant cut through the noise and grab your audience, they wont pay

attention to your message. Next is Engage. You have to take it a step further. Make

them care about the issue; tell a compelling story. Last, you have to empower the

reader to Take Action. You have to convince them to take the action needed to move

from customers to team members. As the cardinal rule of public relations states, make it

as easy as possible for people to do what you want them to do. Make it simple, and lay

out the steps to minimize confusion.

When social media is used with purpose, and a model such as this is utilized, it

can truly be a wonderful force for social change, and can help us build a better world of
social responsibility and civic duty. However, not all social movements have comparable

impacts. Take, for example the Kony 2012 movement. This was a campaign to spread

awareness of Joseph Konys human rights abuses, and ultimately arrest him and bring

him and bring him to justice. It was spurred by a short film called Kony 2012, which was

released on YouTube on March 5, 2012, by Invisible Children, a non-profit organization

committed to ending the conflict between the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph

Konys violent rebel group made of primarily kidnapped child soldiers, and the Ugandan

government.

The movement spread like wildfire. I know that my Facebook wall was absolutely

plastered with messages publicizing the name Joseph Kony and encouraging people to

watch and share the film. Invisible Children actually visited my school around the time

the short film was released, so we had all bought shirts. One kid I knew, Kevin, decided

to hang Kony 2012 posters all over town after school one day, and used social media to

encourage people to join him. I believe this was the closest I saw to anyone actually

doing something about the issue. I believe that part of the reason was that there wasnt

any tangible call to action. The whole campaign was on social media, and it stayed

there. Joseph Kony, four years later, has still not been found, and the conflict between

the LRA and the Ugandan government rages on. Moreover, people have long stopped

talking about the issue. Its anyones guess whether this is a result of the lack of action

taken to reach the goal of finding him, modern audiences shortened attention spans, or

the highly-publicized naked psychotic breakdown in the streets of San Diego of the

founder of Invisible Children, Jason Russell, shortly after Kony 2012 went viral.

The Kony 2012 movement was an attempt to change the world for the better, but
failed to make any lasting impact. All people were called to do was share on social

media, so that was all they did. This is a phenomena now commonly referred to as

slacktivism. Urban Dictionary defines slacktivism as The act of participating in

obviously pointless activities as an expedient alternative to actually expending effort to

fix a problem. In fact, one of the examples used to show how the word is used talks

about Kony 2012.

John: "Did you see Facebook last night?"

Steve: "Yeah it was just a bunch of slacktivism with that Kony 2012 video"

While slacktivism doesnt make the impact it attempts to, I wouldnt say its

hurting the world either. It brings important issues to light. If people are talking about

something, and care about it, maybe it could make the leap off of social media, if

following a model like the Dragonfly model. Slacktivism could be a side effect of the

narcotizing dysfunction of social media. The idea is that mass media makes people feel

like theyre doing something, while actually making them apathetic. Breaking through

this apathy is what the dragonfly model is built to do.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge utilized the dragonfly model, but it gets a lot of

flack for being a slacktivism movement. The focus was dual, to both spread awareness

of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and to raise money to research for a cure. The

challenge itself grabs attention, and people each shared their personal connections to

ALS, engaging the audience. The challenge encouraged the audience to take action by

dumping ice water on their heads and sharing it online and/or donating $100 to ALS
research.

ALS is a pretty big deal in my hometown, due to a shop teacher at my middle

school that passed away from it, so people from my area already knew what it was,

which made them all the more motivated to share. I was an intern at the Les Turner ALS

Foundation the summer when this went viral, and I know for a fact that it made a

positive impact. The week of August 14, 2014, Les Turner ALS Foundation reported that

donations were up 3,696%. With this money, they were able to hire a third doctor at

their labs at Northwestern. I was shocked by how much more was raised that week

because Les Turner only serves the Chicago area. Most posts promoting the challenge

linked to alsa.org, the national foundation.

The dragonfly model is one way to use the sword of social media for good. Social

media truly is a neutral tool on its own, one used for entertainment and news, but can

be used to create a better or worse world, depending on how it is wielded. This is why I

disagree with the speaker I saw over spring break. He saw the negative side effects if

social media was used improperly, and was blinded to the good it could do.
 References

Aaker, J. L., Smith, A., & Adler, C. (2010). The dragonfly effect: Quick, effective, and

powerful ways to use social media to drive social change. San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass.

Jung, B., & Demand Media. (n.d.). The Negative Effect of Social Media on Society and

Individuals. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/

negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html

KONY 2012 | Invisible Children. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://

invisiblechildren.com/kony-2012/

Les Turner ALS FOUNDATION. (2014, August 14). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from

https://www.facebook.com/LesTurnerALS/

McCluskey, M. (2015, November 2). Teen Instagram Star Speaks Out About The Ugly

Truth Behind Social Media Fame. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://time.com/

4096988/teen-instagram-star-essena-oneill-quitting-social-media/

Vargas, J. A. (2012, February 17). Spring Awakening: How an Egyptian Revolution

Began on Facebook. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/

2012/02/19/books/review/how-an-egyptian-revolution-began-on-facebook.html?

_r=1

What ever happened to African warlord Joseph Kony? (2014, June 12). Retrieved April

14, 2016, from http://www.news.com.au/world/africa/what-ever-happened-to-

african-warlord-joseph-kony/story-fnh81gzi-1226951404637

Slacktivism. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.urbandictionary.com/

define.php?term=slacktivism