Social Media!! One of the inevitable parts of our life. If I wanna know how I do see social media then I would say that this is a double-edged sword to me. It depends on the carrier on how he/she is using this but in most cases around me, it is showing bad effects. It has turned into an addiction through which I am suffering as well. But there are many who are earning their livelihood from this addiction of others, content creators.
There are twenty-four hours in a day, and a big chunk of the productive hours are eaten by social media. I have tried several times to keep this in check, and minimize the use of social media apps but couldn't. Their algorithms are so powerful that no matter how much you try, they will come to have control over you anyhow. If you aren't controlled already then it is a blessing but coming out of your control is so challenging that I can't express it in words.
What is social media intended for? Communication comes first on the priority list and it's the one and only reason for which I can't just ditch this. It's the source of countless communicative mediums, Friends and family or information about the world, it serves them all pretty nicely. The connectivity it has created for us is insane, there isn't any better alternative than this to stay connected and get constant updates about the known people. Obviously, this is on the good side with no counter to say anything bad about this.
But those flows of information need to be fed carefully because if we don't have the sense to differentiate between true and false news then the aftereffects are unpleasant for sure. Anyone can post anything and oftentimes fake news gets viral like wildfire in a forest where many ignorant people get burnt. Consciousness is very important which is rare in the mass of people, especially those who aren't well educated.
Another thing is it's the source of entertainment, I guess this is the point at which I am suffering day by day, almost every day. Entertainment! This segment has become so addictive that we are spending more than we should. I am a sufferer of this, I know what I am doing but my brain fails to break through it. There are also countless content creators as I have already mentioned who are making their lives through this so it's on us to keep this in control, not to get flooded with the flow, fight with algorithms and maintain a balance.
So far I was talking about platforms like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Being an IT enthusiast, I have also been wandering on LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, etc. These are a blessing in my opinion. The time I have spent on these platforms isn't wasted in my case because I am mostly doing my research or learning something while floating through the other guy’s posts. Actually, I had organized those profiles like that, maybe many are doing the same with the meta platform’s algorithms as well. My garbage is on their meta platforms, and I find productive things here.
So yeah, it's really a double-edged sword, not particularly bad or good, a mix of both. It depends on how we use them, how we deal with the algorithms, and what our needs are. I just can't throw them away nor embrace them to their fullest.