Marinelle Joy O.

Atienza Output 1

1RDT01 Reflection

Social Media Reflection

The articles highlighted the various significant impacts of social media,

particularly on young users, all over the world. Regardless of how innovative and
progressive technology is, it can only lead to one of two outcomes: the best or the
worst. Only we, the human users, are allowed to choose where it will take us.

It's evident that social media has put us in charge of our daily routines. It has
enslaved us to the point where everything we do is reliant upon that, and our actions
and decisions are influenced by it. It is inherent for us to use it right after we wake up
and right before we fall asleep. According to the latest Statista Digital Economy
Compass, in 2021, the global average time spent on social media platforms per day will
be 142 minutes, up from 90 minutes in 2012. As of January 2021, there were 4.20
billion active social media users out of a total population of 7.83 billion. 

Indeed, there are substantial advantages to using social media, including the
ability to connect with people all over the world, reach a target market for our
businesses, gain significant knowledge, gain a new level of accessibility, and stay
connected from long-distance relationships. It also allowed us to gain different
perspectives from different people, regardless of who they are, where they are from, or
what their nationality is. As a consequence, we were able to attain a broader view of the
world. Social media contains a wealth of information about current events. We are not
stuck in a rut where we are content and resist change.

Why do we use social media?

To be frank, some people use social media as a way to escape from the harsh
realities of life. Is it difficult to make friends? Talk to other people on social media. Have
you had a long and exhausting day at work? On social media, unwind. Are you lonely
and depressed? Take a look at social media videos and memes. The point is that, what
we don't have now and what we want in the real world can be found in the virtual world.
We, as humans, have a tendency to seek out things that can fill the void, which is where
social media comes in. Even if they're not always real and only present for a short time,
it's difficult to deny that they've been a huge source of comfort for us when no one else
can. It’s the only thing that is present with us when nobody else could.
 Take a look around. There isn't a single person on the planet who isn't scrolling
through social media right now; Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Even at family
gatherings and reunions, there is little physical interaction because everyone is on
social media, making claims about how valiant their day was or admiring other people's
exciting lives. Every week or month, a new trend would emerge, only to fade away a few
months later. This is referred to as a microtrend. Some people are afraid of missing out
on current trends, which rise and fall in popularity at a rapid pace. As a result, they are
more connected virtually than they are in real life. They tend to rely on other people's
lives via social media because there are no exciting events happening in their own lives.
And that’s where it goes downhill.

However, we frequently take advantage of the freedom and ease of access that
social media provides. We have become unproductive as a result of mindless scrolling,
which has led to procrastination. Because of my prolonged attachment to the screen, I,
too, have a shorter attention span. Aside from that, it would have a psychological and
emotional impact on us. It will grow on us and become a habit because we programmed
ourselves to do a specific task every day (scrolling through social media). Stopping that
routine would make us feel as if something was missing, and we would become
detached from reality, as we had allowed our bodies to become accustomed to that
thoughtless unhealthy habit. When it came to work, school, or small chores, every day
would feel like a challenge.

I recognized that social media had had a significant impact on our physical,
emotional, and mental health, as well as the way we behave, think, and make decisions,
ranging from emulating current trends to attempting to resemble our favorite social
media influencer. We force ourselves to surf endlessly on social media even when we
don't have anything important to accomplish, and before we know it, the day has passed
us by without us doing anything meaningful. We had already been manipulated by
social media, which had instilled in us the belief that browsing through our Facebook,
Instagram, or Twitter feeds was more essential than our domestic tasks, work, or
schoolwork.

While social media has had a big impact on our lives, eliminating it completely to
alleviate the problems it brings isn't a complete solution. It is both great and ideal. It would
temporarily solve the problem, but it would almost certainly lead to a worse one in the
future. As a result, it is up to us, the users, to educate ourselves. It is us who should control
social media and not the other way around. It is up to us to make good use of it and not
allow it devour us. There's a lot more to life than daily browsing. It is up to us to remember
that there is a whole world out there waiting for us that isn't visible on our screens.