A Millennial's Perspective on Social Media

Because I was born in 1995, Social Media has always been a huge part of my life.  I had a MySpace before I had a cell phone, and creating my first AIM screen name was one of the best moments of my childhood.  Social Media has figuratively and literally grown up with me.  As I got older, it had become more prominent in people’s everyday lives and has also become more accessible to people all around the world.  The difference between my generation and older generations using Social Media prove how much it can truly affect lives.

Social Media is extremely intrusive in people’s lives.  We have become accustomed to positing about everything and anything that happen in our daily lives.  From pictures of our food to clothing malfunctions to someone breast feeding, you really can find anything on the Internet.  Social Media has become something people rely on for confidence.  If you’re having a good hair day, post a selfie on Instagram for likes.  If you did something nice for someone, tweet about it or put it on Facebook for everyone to see.  Social Media is the modern way of connection and the way to find anything out about someone.  The amount of times I have heard be careful what you put on Social Media because it could be the final decision about being hired or not for a job is ridiculous.  There is no escaping Social Media, which is why it is so intrusive.

This statement is why I know there definitely is a responsibility to using Social Media.  What someone posts about shows who he or she is and what they care about.  Wording something in a specific way, the way someone looks in a picture and even the things that someone shares on Social Media all define who they are.  Anyone can gain access to these things.  The responsibility of Social Media includes posting whatever you want but knowing the consequences.  People negatively commenting on your posts, not being hired for a job and getting into arguments with loved ones are all responsibilities of posting on Social Media.

Politics are one of the ways that many people use Social Media in both a positive and negative way.  During the recent election, the number of political stories and posts I saw were overwhelming.  Hillary Clinton’s health was one example I specifically remember. She fell during a 911-remembrance ceremony and shortly after that story got out, there were rumors of her having all kinds of health problems.   People aren’t afraid to speak their minds when it comes to politics, which can truly be either positive or negative.  

Social Media has constantly been growing and taking over the lives of people all around the world.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, if we as a society can learn to use Social Media in a beneficial way. Below is an image of the direction Social Media has been heading, and will most likely continue to go in the future.