Can you imagine your life without your phone? No social media, no pictures, not even communication! In the past few years social media has been a big influence on society. No one cannot live without their phones. Our society is too invested in the different applications and websites. It is one of the first things a person checks when they wake up in the morning and can spend a whole day using, none-stop. Social media is one of the reasons that the average screen time has aggressively increased from an average of five hours per day to a solid nine hours per day. Social media makes procrastination a more reasonable approach to avoid your duties. Some people feel that the media provides them with hilarious entertainment and opportunities while others feel that social media negatively impacts them; it is a phenomenon which does not guarantee a safe and positive environment. When it comes to the topic of social media, most of us will readily agree that media platforms have value and potential; however, it creates unrealistic expectations and drifts you from reality, making it effective only when used with precaution.

With all of its flaws, social media does have some corners of great positivity and can provide a safe space. Different platforms can provide many opportunities for young creators to share their talent with millions of people. Kansh, for example, is a young hip hop artist who became known in many social media platforms sharing his music. He taught himself how to produce beats, and later he began to produce his own songs; for the past couple months many of Kansh’s hit songs have been popular mostly on Tik Tok. Similarly, social media can definitely create many possibilities for creators to get noticed by record labels, modeling agencies and more. Furthermore, social media does embrace the differences that people have and share with the world. Some people may share their secret talent or something weird but cool like having the ability to move your ears, or sing with your mouth closed. Social platforms can sometimes give engaging ideas and fun activities to do with family and friends. Pinterest, for example, is a great social platform that users can share their home decoration, life hacks, DIY’s and many more. This platform can be very inspiring when you want to give your living room a make-over or decorate a plain wall in your hallway. There are many positive approaches that social media has to inspire and entertain society; however, it can negatively impact your environment. 

Social media, nonetheless, can create unrealistic expectations and disturb the peace of its users. Social media creates an illusion of what a person is and how they live. Many women want to look like Gigi Hadid and live a luxurious life like Kim Kardashian. They compare themselves to these celebrities who portray perfection and success in social media with their luxurious vacations and their expensive cars, but can lead to negative thoughts and negative self-talk as well; it becomes a sign of intimidation to users who do not look similar to a model or have not reached the financial success someone online had at a very young age. This phenomenon can also create insecurities within the person and low-self esteem. Different social platforms can then take advantage of your vulnerability and try to convince you to buy fitness programs that are unrealistic. They guarantee you that in 7 days you will look like Gigi Hadid if only you purchase their fitness programs for $14.99 a month. Many people fall for these false fitness programs because they are desperate, but when they buy it, many feel disappointed with their results. On the other hand, some social media users tend to express their negative thoughts of others, creating an unsafe place for a person to share what they desire. Young women today have to be very careful with what they post and with what information they share because they can be subject to body shaming and cyberbullying. Not everyone using social media has good intentions towards anyone which is very dangerous to society and most importantly, your safety. In many cases people who are determined to harm you will look everywhere to find your flaws or your weaknesses and most of the time social media shows more than you know about yourself. The media is its separate world with its many dangers. In addition, Society is also very addicted to their phones and does not realize that when time passes by, it is gone forever. That time you had dinner with your grandparents, but instead you decided to pay more attention to the comment section than your grandparents love story. These small moments should matter more than a post on Instagram or a comment section.You will regret not listening to them when you had a chance. The unrealistic views and expectations that social media provides, release the negative energy that makes people feel miserable. 

The risks of social media and the unrealistic views matter because it is affecting most of society today. Some fail to acknowledge that it is only an illusion. Social media can only go so far but it will never be real. It is a surreal reality that man has created for entertainment. Social media has a very strong potential although you should be aware of the serious flaws it has. Social platforms are made to be addicting and cause a dilemma between its users. Many of its users are not aware that the use of social media drane their energy and sends off negativity with the horrible comments and the comparisons between celebrities; however, they do not take action to stop the negativity because they do not realize what is making them insecure and sad. People must live life without worrying about how they look and should embrace more with what they have and who they are. Social media was once a goal to be reached and a beautiful resource, now it is a daunting reality. 

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash