Reflective Writing 2
Theme: Popular culture—Social Media
Popular culture is something that has taken
over the world in the past twenty years and has become a large part of almost
every person’s life. The world significantly changed with the beginning of
computers and portable cell phones in the 1970s (Goodwin, 2015). This extreme
progression in technology allowed for people to communicate faster and easier
then ever before. Fast-forward forty years to today and technology, more
specifically social media, now controls all aspects of culture and society in
modern life. There are many things aspects of social media and technology that
have had large effects both positive and negative on people’s lives.
The term social media is thrown around a
lot in daily life, in the media and in politics but it has grown to something
so large that it has changed the way that people live. Social media is
something that is all consuming and addicting and it has revolutionized the way
that people communicate (Ta, 2014). Before all of this technology came along,
it would sometimes take days to reach contact with someone via letter or
telephone call. However now, everything is instant. People can talk to one
another through a multitude of different methods such as applications, texting,
emails, calling, messaging, and video chatting at the click of a button. This
rapid communication trail has made it easy for people to stay in contact no
matter the distance between them, overall making the world a more socially
connected place. According to We Are Social Singapore (2016), there are over
2.3 billion active online social media users and over 3.4 billion people are Internet
users. This unbelievably high number of social media and Internet users is due
to the viral power of media all over the world.
Some of the largest social media companies
are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Facebook, with its 1.65 billion users, started
in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, and it was originally created for Harvard
University students, but this quickly spread to other universities all across
the United States and soon the whole world (Phillips, 2007). Facebook allowed people to chat, share
pictures and notices about what was happening in their daily lives. Instagram,
with its 400 million users, has been a way for people, businesses and
celebrities to share photos and some videos with the world. The celebrities
that are on Instagram are followed by millions of people and give people an
insight into what their lives are like. For businesses, social media can be a great
marketing tool because it is free to have a page on the majority of social
media sites. In more recent years, people have started using a ‘hashtag,’ which
is a way for people to tag businesses and topics in order to get more media
attention and press.
There have been many effects, both positive
and negative on society as a result of social media. One positive effect that
social media has caused is that it is very easy to reconnect with old friends
as well as make new friends. In recent years people have started to find
relationships online as well, but this is a very controversial topic because of
the vain ‘swiping’ that is done based on looks alone to find their soul mate.
Social media has also helped spread awareness for many non-profit organisations
to get funds to support things such as cancer research or LGBT awareness. As a
result of everything now being on their cell phones, it is very easy for people
to become addicted and spend countless hours scrolling through social media
sights, talking to people and sharing photos with friends or followers. Social
media makes people feel as though they are being social, communicating and
talking to friends and acquaintances when in reality, they are alone. This
creates a false sense of connection; people are connected to their phones and
to other people through those phones, but not spending as much time socialising
face to face (Jung, 2013) . Another
major negative effect is cyber bullying; this is a form of harassment that is extremely
difficult to manage because the person behind those words is not actually
saying them aloud but over a faceless method. Cyber bullying is especially
prominent with children, however over 42% of people have said that they have
experienced cyber-bullying (Jung, 2013) . This extreme
bullying has become a cause for many suicide cases, which is a very big problem
for society.
For me personally, social media is a very
large part of my life for many reasons. Because I grew up in the United States
and half my family still live there, it is a great way for me to stay connected
and share what is going on in my life with my family and friends. I am also a
member of a few social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
By using these forms of social media I have been provided work opportunities,
been inspired by chefs all over the world, and have been able to reconnect with
many old friends. I also however have been affected by negative side effects
from social media and have felt the detrimental problems they can cause in
communities and in society as a whole. I personally find it ironic however that
when one member of my high school community committed suicide as a result of
social media cyber bullying, the horrific news was sent out to our school
community via social media. In terms of human rights, there are quite a few
issues that social media causes in terms of privacy boundaries being crossed
and harassment, both of which are a violation of Article 3 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights which states, “Everyone has the right to life,
liberty and the security of person,” (United Nations, 1948). Society today
needs to consider the effects social media has caused to daily life all over
the world in order to prevent future issues surrounding social media. Making
laws stronger surrounding social media in order to be stricter with privacy and
cyber bullying could help prevent these issues.
As a chef studying culinary arts, I use
social media to my advantage. Because I am young and still learning much of the
trade, I look to chefs who are pushing boundaries and making headlines with
their dishes and restaurants. These chefs use social media to post photos and
occasionally recipes to some of their most inventive dishes. This helps and
inspires me daily to push myself and keep trying new ideas that I have. As a
result of using social media, I have been discovered by magazines across New
Zealand, such as Fashion Quarterly, through the photos that I post on my pages
which have led me to getting jobs making birthday, corporate and even wedding
cakes for customers all over the north island. I think that because so many
people use social media all over the world and are inspired through what other
people are doing all over the world.
Social media is one of the biggest sectors
of popular culture today and it touches the lives of so many people in one way
or another. Though social media is such a large topic and is such a prominent
part of modern life, there are definitely positive and negative effects that it
has had on life for people all over the world.
References:
Goodwin,
R. (2015, 04 15). The History of Mobile Phones From 1973 to 2008: The
Handsets That Made it ALL Happen. Retrieved 06 04, 2016, from Know Your
Mobile:
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/nokia/nokia-3310/19848/history-mobile-phones-1973-2008-handsets-made-it-all-happen
Jung, B. (2013, 05 24). The Negative Effects of Social
Media on Society and Individuals. Retrieved 06 04, 2016, from Chron:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html
Phillips, S. (2007, 07 25). A brief history of Facebook.
Retrieved 06 04, 2016, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia
Ta, J. Q. (2014, 08 14). What Impact Has Social Media
Truly Had On Society. Retrieved 06 04, 2016, from Business 2 Community:
http://www.business2community.com/social-media/impact-social-media-truly-society-0974685#Tmv6gcsZCXDzdZZi.97
United Nations. (1948, 12 10). The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. Retrieved 06 04, 2016, from United Nations:
http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
We Are Social Singapore. (2016, 01 26). Digital in 2016.
Retrieved 06 04, 2016, from Slide Share:
http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2016/9-wearesocialsg_9SHARE_OF_GLOBAL_USERSJAN2016NORTH
