Final Essay

Social media has significantly changed the way that human beings communicate with one another. Social media has transitioned society from its traditional means of communication to more technological and efficient ways to keep updated in each others lives on a day to day basis. Some argue that social media has not improved society, but has obliterated it. However, the benefits that social media brings to today’s modern society greatly outweighs any negative impacts that may come along with it. It has changed the way that the world communicates; it gives individuals the ability to connect on a global level. Through the use social media, companies and co-operations now have the ability to easily advertise and promote their products to gain clientele.

Through the use of media, people can post important pictures and status’ regarding their lives. Some may argue that social media has actually decreased the connection between people, destroying relationships, but maybe those relationships are just changing from tradition. Although social media may slightly have decreased the amount of face to face interaction that happens amongst people, overall it has greatly increased the amount of communication between people in general: “Online communication — email, instant messaging, chat rooms, etc. — does not replace more traditional offline forms of contact — face-to-face and telephone. Instead, it adds on to them, increasing the overall volume of contact” (Masket, 2014). As this quotation shows, social media has not destroyed the communication between individuals it has just changed it and made it more efficient. It can seem outright impossible to keep every single loved one and family member updated on important events in people’s lives, however through the use of social media, this pressing issue has been solved. Social media gives individuals the opportunity to share status updates and important pictures to keep every updated on their daily to day lives. Most social media outlets even have notifications for when it is a loved one’s birthday; making it nearly impossible to forget to wish someone happy birthday ever again.

The use of social media to promote social change has been drastically shown through the growing involvement of youth when it comes to social crisis’. An example of this can be shown through the ‘Black Live Matter’ initiate that has overtaken social media: “Social media could serve as a source of life, raw information. It could summon people to the streets and coordinate their movements in real time and it could swiftly push back against spurious media natives with the force of a few thousand retweets” (How Black Lives Matter Uses Social Media to Fight the Power, 2015). This quotation shows how strong of an impact the use of social media can have on fighting for equality in today’s society; it is easily accessible, fast, efficient and a rewarding means of communication. Through the use of social media, light has been shed on the racism that still exists in society so that justice can be brought to these crimes. Another example of the amount of information that social media allows society to have access to can be shown through the rapist, Brock Turner, who was given a very light sentence as punishment for brutally raping his victim. Turner received the following sentence; six months in prison, however due to good behavior, he was released within three months. Turner was in quite the