Social media has a very large effect on everyone today. No matter the age, from children to adults, social media has taken over todays world.
Social media is a wonderful tool to get in touch with friends all over the world. It is also a wonderful way to make new friends, and meet new partners. In fact, that's how I actually met my partner.
There are many sites that you can log your children into as well, in order for them to keep in touch with friends they cant see, especially now during the pandemic.
But as many advantages as there are, there are just as many negative effects of it.
Social media has taken over the world, and not only in a positive way. Because of how powerful the impact of social media has become, in many cases, it can even affect your ability to get a job.
Because of the variety of people you come into contact with, it's difficult to say who is or who is not who they say they are. It is extremely easy to pretend to be someone else on social media. And this is very often the case with what happens. And unfortunately, this puts a lot of people at risk. Especially younger teenagers or children who think they have made a friend, and want to meet up. Very often this leads to very dangerous situations, where they can be kidnapped, drugged, or raped.
Not many people actually realize this, or they don't take it as seriously as they sure.
Another thing that social media has done, is completely taken over the lives of most of the people using it. While it is a wonderful tool to meet new people, advertise your business, or build up a profile for work, many people have taken it too far.
Many people have let social media completely take over their lives. Please keep in mind, I do not mean the people who need it for work or other purposes. I am talking about the people that have let it take over their lives, and lose touch with those around them completely. Letting it consume their lives to the point where their entire world revolves around it and it alone.
Also, please note, I do not mean people that have only managed to make friends online. These are cases I understand well, as I have been in that situation myself. This is not aimed at them, so please don't assume so.
Many people have started going on social media in order to participate in various activities, and make and talk to friends. But, that's where it started. In many cases, once people got a taste for it, they started spending more and more time on it, and have withdrawn from many of the people around them, in order to completely immerse themselves in it.
Also, because of the standards that are put up on social media, both men and women, struggle even more with their self-esteem than they already do. Not only are the standards online, on tv, and in magazines anymore. But it is everywhere on social media as well.
Then there are all the Rated R sites, that not only get frequented by adults, but by children as well. And as it is social media, there are always ways to get around rules and regulations, especially if you use the correct hashtag.
So social media has gone from being used to connect with those you know, and to meet new people, to completely dominating our lives in many ways. It also exposes children to things that they are not yet ready to see.
While social media is wonderful, and I use it frequently to meet new people and stay in contact with those I care about, we must not forget that there are those around us that are also important. That also care. We should spend time with them. And we should also realize that the standards shown on social media, while extensive, is not realistic. No one looks perfect 24/7. And many of the things you see are done with makeup and filters.
Do not judge yourself by what you see on social media. Do not do all the trends and obsess over views and likes and followers. What is relevant today, won't be relevant tomorrow. We as humans move to quickly from one thing to another to be able to spend a lot of attention on one specific person or trend. So don't base your view of yourself on the view if others, when those views can change in minutes from one thing to another. And most importantly of all, don't go meet someone blindly. Make sure you are in a public space, so that you can get help if you need it. Stay safe.
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