Impacts of Social Media.

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Social media was first launched in the early 2000s and has only garnered popularity since then as a result of its versatility. There are over 4.8 billion social media users globally, which makes up about 60% of the global population (University of Maine, 2023). Data from The Pew Research Centre, (Auxier & Anderson, 2021), says around 84% of young adults in the US use at least one social media platform. On average, people use 6 different social media sites monthly, spending 2 and a half hours daily on them accumulating to spending 11.5 billion hours on social media collectively, (University of Maine, 2023). Due to its global widespread use, it has greatly impacted people’s lives both positively and negatively.  The focus of this essay is to highlight the positive impacts in today’s world.

Social media plays a pivotal role in the growth of businesses. Statistics from the University of Maine, (2023), show the world collectively spends 11.5 billion hours on social media platforms daily use and subsequently shares and obtains information on various products and services within these platforms. Many businesses, as a response, have integrated social media marketing into their business strategy to easily reach and interact with the global market. According to (Spencer, 2021), 89% of marketers see social media as an integral part of their overall strategy and 73% of marketers have seen improved website traffic from social media campaigns thus boosting sales. Amid the Covid-19 crisis, e-commerce went through a surge as more countries went into lockdown. More businesses and consumers took to social media, providing and purchasing more goods and services online, raising e-commerce’s share of global retail trade from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020, (UNCTAD, 2021). This shows that businesses that have an active online social media presence have experienced an increase in revenue compared to businesses that do not.

Social media has led to the expansion of social networks and an increased sense of community through social support on a global scale. Social media provides a platform for global communication and connection regardless of one’s physical location. This has led to an increase in speed of communication, made it easier to interact and make friends, and build relationships with people based in different geographical locations, (Science & Technology News, 2019). Through this connection, social media has fostered empathy among its users when they share life experiences and various issues that they face day to day, and offer each other advice and/or solutions to aforementioned issues, (Science & Technology News, 2019). According to (the Office of The Surgeon General, 2023), a majority of adolescents, 58%, say that they feel more accepted on social media as it helps them connect with people similar to them, and 80% say it helps them stay connected to their friends’ lives. This shows that social media contributes to the enrichment of social lives by enabling the formation of diverse connections.

Social media has changed the way information is acquired and shared by not only making it more accessible but also making it accessible promptly.  Social media platform like X, formerly known as Twitter, is used as a news source, allowing its users to access real-time global events happening as they unfold. A survey by the Pew Research Center, (Liedke & Wang, 2023), shows that half of US adults use social media as a news source, 30% get news from Facebook, 26% from YouTube, 16% from Instagram, 14% from TikTok, and 12% X, indicating that social media plays a significant role in influencing public opinion and awareness of important local or global issues. Moreover, social media also provides a platform for people to share their experiences and perspectives, giving rise to diverse voices that might otherwise have gone unheard (Office of The Surgeon General, 2023). Platforms such as YouTube and Instagram have enabled regular citizens to report on events or issues that traditional media might have overlooked or missed. A great example of that is the influx of news updates on Twitter and other platforms of the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Palestine, whereby, the updates on these platforms are more informative, raw, and timely on the events unfolding in Gaza, compared to the news coming from news outlets. This Spread of information further enhances transparency and brings about a more informed society.

Social media has emerged as a big tool for promoting social causes, aiding in increasing social awareness and activism among the masses. Globally recognized movements such as #Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, which were created to tackle police discrimination and brutality against Black people and sexual harassment and sexual abuse of women in the workplace, respectively, gained their popularity and recognition through social media platforms like Twitter, (Jackson et al., 2020). These social media platforms enabled activists to garner support and allies, mobilize this support, and also foster a sense of solidarity among them. According to Matherly, (2021), since the social justice movement, Black Lives Matter, was revived in 2021, it has brought an influx of activism to social media, and petitions for other causes like action on climate change and abolishing the death penalty. In addition, non-profit organizations and charities recognize and utilize social media as a powerful tool to raise, and spread awareness about various issues, gather public support, and organize fundraising for these issues. 29% of donors say that social media is the communication tool that most inspires them to give (Funraise & Nonprofit Tech for Good, 2020) while 71% of nonprofits worldwide agree that social media is effective for online fundraising (Funraise & Nonprofit Tech for Good, 2019). An example is The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which took place in the summer of 2014 and had everyone on Facebook dumping ice-cold water on their heads, creating challenge hashtags, and raising awareness and money for the ALS Association. The ALS Association received more than $41.8 million from more than 739,000 new donors between July 29 and August 21 2014 which was more than double the donations to the charity for the whole of 2012, (Hales & Calderwood, 2017). This depicts social media’s ability to bring together a large number of people for a cause, creating awareness and therefore, positively impacting the society through effecting positive change.

Social media has changed the way education is accessed and taught, increasing learning opportunities and therefore, fostering the exchange of knowledge. Schools, teachers, and even students use social media platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, and X, to share resources, collaborate on various projects, and engage in discussions on forums. One huge benefit of integrating social media into education is the emergence of personalized learning experiences. These personalized learning experiences offer self-paced learning, free or affordable learning materials, and the ability to learn from anywhere in the world, (My Computer Career, 2024). Moreover, social media groups, communities, and forums are created for niche topics and interests, enabling learners to connect with like-minded people and garner specialized information from them. Social media also facilitates collaborative learning and working through tools like Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom, which allow teachers to create virtual classrooms. Furthermore, social media has enabled the accessibility of learning resources, especially for people and students living in remote or impoverished communities. According to UNESCO, (2023), social media platforms played an important role in providing educational content and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling remote learning and offering a solution to the worldwide disruption of education. This depicts that social media through facilitating the accessibility of education resources and fostering the exchange of knowledge, and personalized learning experiences, has contributed to a more literate society, positively impacting it.

Contrary to common misconception, social media can have a positive impact when used mindfully and with purpose. Social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, and Reddit give people space to find support, share life experiences, and create a sense of belonging among their users, effectively impacting their mental health positively. One of social media’s positive aspects is its ability to reduce the feeling of loneliness and isolation especially among marginalized groups, by providing a positive community and connection with others by creating spaces to share identities, abilities, and interests, (Office of The Surgeon General, 2023). According to an analysis by Vaingankar et al., (2022), social media consumption has 3 features; connection, content, and outlet for expression, with each feature influencing different aspects of positive mental health, positive relationships and social capital, coping, happiness, self-concept, positivity, personal growth, and psychological well-being. This shows that social media can have a positive impact on mental health when used responsibly.

In conclusion, while social media has many negative impacts, for example, cyberbullying, decreased productivity, mental health issues, privacy issues, and spread of misinformation, among others, it is also clear that it has positively impacted the world. Through creating job opportunities, growing businesses, disseminating information, creating and expanding social networks, facilitating easy access to educational material, and promoting humanitarian, environmental, political, and economic causes, social media has proved to be a source of positive change in all aspects of our lives. Moving forward, it is vital to recognize and use social media’s potential responsibly to promote more positive societal changes and create a more connected, informed, and inclusive world.

Auxier, B., & Anderson, M. (2021, April 7). Social media use in 2021. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/07/social-media-use-in-2021/

Funraise, & Nonprofit Tech for Good. (2020, September 14). 2020 global trends in giving report. Global Trends in Giving Survey. https://www.funraise.org/giving-report

Hales, J. H., & Calderwood, I. (2017, August 23). 8 massive moments when hashtag activism really worked. Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/hashtag-activism-hashtag10-twitter-trends-dresslik/

Jackson, S. J., Bailey, M., & Welles, B. F. (2020, March 10). #hashtagactivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice. MIT Press. https://direct.mit.edu/books/monograph/4597/HashtagActivismNetworks-of-Race-and-Gender-Justice

Liedke, J., & Wang, L. (2023, November 15). Social Media and News Fact sheet. Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/

Matherly, C. (2021, February 8). Opinion: Is Social Media Activism actually effective? The Breeze. https://www.breezejmu.org/opinion/opinion-is-social-media-activism-actually-effective/article_7853d8b6-6a57-11eb-8fb1-e70f4d287663.html

My Computer Career. (2024, January 15). What are online learning platforms? MyComputerCareer. https://www.mycomputercareer.edu/news/what-are-online-learning-platforms/

Office of The Surgeon General. (2023). Social media has both positive and negative impacts on children and adolescents - Social media and youth mental health - NCBI bookshelf. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594763/

Science & Technology News. (2019, June 6). Top 6 positive effects of social media: Social Networking Sites and the Positive Impact they have on the Society. Technology.Org. https://www.technology.org/2019/06/06/social-networking-sites-and-the-positive-impact-they-have-on-the-society/

Spencer, M. (2021, December 16). Social media and small businesses: The good, the bad and the authentic. The Daily Universe. https://universe.byu.edu/2021/12/16/social-media-and-small-businesses-the-good-the-bad-and-the-authentic/

UNCTAD. (2021, March 15). How covid-19 triggered the digital and e-commerce turning point. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. https://unctad.org/news/how-covid-19-triggered-digital-and-e-commerce-turning-point

UNESCO. (2023, April 20). Beyond Disruption: Digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. UNESCO.org. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/beyond-disruption-digital-learning-during-covid-19-pandemic

University of Maine. (2023, December 29). Social Media Statistics Details - undiscovered Maine - University of Maine. Undiscovered Maine. https://umaine.edu/undiscoveredmaine/small-business/resources/marketing-for-small-business/social-media-tools/social-media-statistics-details/

Vaingankar, J. A., Dam, Samari, Chang, Seow, Luo, Verma, & Subramaniam. (2022, March 4). Social media–driven routes to positive mental health among youth: Qualitative enquiry and concept mapping study. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8933808/