AMPLIFY - Issue Three (Summer 2022)

The pros and cons of social media

It’s obvious to us all that social media has really taken over the world. It’s rare nowadays to even find someone who hasn’t signed up to some social media platform or site. Social media has influenced our society massively, in both good and bad ways. Looking at it positively with just a simple mobile device it has reduced isolation for millions of people world wide. But on the other hand it has created risk and ruins mental health for many others. We’ll start with the social media positives and will go over the benefits and many things you can do with just a simple mobile device in your hand! Firstly , there are so many apps in the world that people use. With Facebook being the most pop - ular with 1.91 billion users in 2021. But not only are there many social media apps but also many apps that are very educational. We carried out a survey of HSDC students to find their views and recommendations on social media. Despite Facebook having the most users, TikTok was most popular with our students. Pinterest was also recommended which is good because it helps encourage your creativity and you can find inspi - ration and share your ideas with others to see what they think. We also asked our students why people use social media so regularly and the responses we got included being able to connect with new people and friends and family around the world. If you were to have a family member that is very far away, social media is handy for contacting them frequently. With the pandemic still happening even now social media is more useful and im - portant than ever and instead of going outside you can stay in and chat or learn just from your laptop or phone! Not only can you communicate with others but you can also express your opinion freely. Another popular social media that is widely used is Twitter, with 69.3 million users in 2021! Twitter is mainly used for expressing opinions and discussing them so if you enjoy doing that why not join the millions that are already using it!

We asked a couple of HSDC students about their positive thoughts on social media and one stu - dent who frequently uses it said that “It’s a good way to connect with family that live far away and you can’t see them.” and another said “It has helped me to meet lot’s of new people and I’ve become closer to ones I already know.” The vast majority said the same thing which means that the success of social media has also helped com - munication evolve.

Looking at social media in another way, one HSDC student said that “It is fun to share posts and browse others’.”. With the helpful addition of captions and comments on pictures and videos, it lets people engage more with the influencer or person who posted. Instead of browsing, you can also post many things yourself and let your crea - tivity flow and is really helpful if you’re looking for any inspiration for your own posts.

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