Social media has impacted society both positively and negatively. While even though we can sometimes feel overwhelmed in the amount of negativity, I personally believe social media is a good thing for our society. Social media is a place for people to express themselves, and it allows them to feel like they have a voice.

When it comes to social media, there is definitely a lot of good that comes with it. First, there is the obvious, communication. Social media allows us to remain in contact with friends and family from all over the world. Whether they live a mile down the road or halfway across the globe, you can send them a message through various different social media networks. I do not have any extended family within 80 miles of me, so social media has made a huge impact on how I stay updated in their lives. There is also communication between businesses and their customers. Many companies allow their customers to be able to message them through Facebook, or they will reply to comments on something they post. This can allow for questions to be answered faster than if I emailed the company. Customers can also tell a business exactly what they want and what they would like to see in the future.

Where there is good, there is also bad. Cyber bullying and slander are huge problems in the world of social media. Teenagers will often times say nasty, terrible things about each other over social media. Sometimes they will do it from personal accounts, but people will also make anonymous accounts to “throw shade” from. People would sometimes rather expose someone else’s secrets over the internet to cause them pain, rather than actually try to work out whatever the initial problem was. It is not difficult to find some form of cyber bullying on social media.

Social media has made many impacts on our lives for both the better and the worse. All in all, I definitely am thankful to have social networks such as Facebook and Instagram to remain updated in people’s lives and to express myself freely.