Since Y2K, technology has recorded tremendous advancements. It has spread its tentacles across many platforms, and every sector in life have since registered colossal breakthroughs. One of the revolutionary introduction then, was the mobile phone. It was so unprecedented that people on the streets looked with awe and wonder at someone who's making a phone call. Speaking to a handset device then seemed awkward, and as with every awkward deed, it attracted feasting eyes.
Just like every other technological inventions, the mobile phone has undergone through its own evolutionary circle. From big phones with long antenna pole, to smaller ones without a pole, and back to big phones but this time, smarter ones. Somewhere in the circle of mobile phone evolution, social media was birthed.
Social media has since then changed our lifestyle. It now seems awkward talking to someone on the street. It is so old fashioned. What are you doing, chatting with someone on the street? People will look at you with awe and wonder. What an archaic way to socialize. We now use terms like: I'll whatsapp you, I'll ping you, I'll snap chat you, I'll skype you... This new way of communication has made mobile phones more personal than personal computers. One hardly stays an hour without checking his smartphone - I'm a culprit. It is like a part of the human body - only independent.
Social networks have connected us to people far from us, and distance us from people close to us. Talk about building bridges and walls. In family reunions for instance, you see family members glueing their eyes to their phone screens and their hands busy fingering their smart devices. Instead of holding chit chats with their loved ones whom they've not seen for over a year, two or even more. The only evidence of such reunion is the group selfies that ends up on social networks.
Aside from bridging fences and borders, another thing social media has done is eliminate the regard of social status or age. There are no code of ethics on social media, anybody can take shots at you. Irrespective of your social reputation, age or wealth; If you post a photo or a text on a subject, and it is misinterpreted, you get firsthand criticisms. More often than not, the criticisms escalates to feuds. Online beefs. Such is often the case when you post about sensitive subjects about religion, race and politics.
Talk about politics. Politicians have taken to social media to spread their propaganda. They use it as as a very lethal weapon of mass deceit. The propagandists continue with their evangelism, even in the face of clear contrary evidence. Lies are spread and truths covered; and the gullible swindled.
Another ill of social media is the uncensorship of contents. On Facebook for instance, anything can appear on your homepage timeline. I mean anything. Good, bad and ugly. Even at that, what appears on the homepages are lesser evils compared to what are being circulated via inboxes - the most secret zone.
The lack of authenticity of posts is worth mentioning here. So long as you can concoct an eye-catchy headline, and google a corresponding image, your post is likely to go viral, even if the story is fabricated. The idea is making the post eye-catching. The relevance or authenticity is not considered.
I can't help but wonder how the younger generation of kids will adapt to life with a massive social media presence. Back then, parents protect their children from the influence of the outside world by confining their kids within the perimeter of their homes, of course with the exception of schools and religious gatherings. But today, things are different. Children nowadays, can reach the ends of the earth while in their rooms, without turning the door knob. New gen parents now have to take pragmatic approaches, different from that of yesteryears' to instil morality into their kids.
I mean, there're several forces lurking around on social media that the underaged might be exposed. An instance, CNN reports that most terrorists recruitments are carried out through social media. In fact, the victims of social media brainwashing are not children alone but adults as well. To get an insight into what I'm talking about, visit the pages of any succession movements, anti religious/race groups, political parties...
These are just tad bits of the adverse effects of social media. There are many more negatives. It questions the moral decadence of the next generation. However, humanity will thrive as usual, there will be an adaptation, maybe in the form of social media bill or policing. I also believe notwithstanding, there will continue to be a balance of good and evil.
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