Negative Effects of Social Media

In the 21st century social media has made a big impact on society. From young to old it has changed how everything is done. Connecting with others and getting news has never been easier. However, there are also negative effects like cyberbullying or how news may be exaggerated to seem more important than they really are. Considering how easy it is to create an account and click on new story titles many people can be a victim to these problems.

Teenagers that are using social media can not only be bullied at school but also online. This can lead to depression and possibility even worse, suicide. In Japan, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, a 15 percent rise in suicides between 2008 and 2009 has been blamed on group suicides arranged on internet chat rooms (Williams, 2011). Teenagers may try to escape the bullying by blocking a user however social media platforms like Facebook allows you to message users without being friends with them even when blocked creating a new account is fast and easy. In the worst-case teenagers may resort to suicide to escape the bullying.

Words can be used to evoke emotions. In 2014 there was massive panic about Ebola even though it was an old virus. Dr. Craig Spencer had contracted Ebola while treating patients in Guinea (Stockwell. 2017). He was quarantined before it was contagious and therefore no one else was in danger. However, This did not stop a media explosion declaring an imminent apocalypse.

A frenzy of clickbait and terrifying narratives emerged as every major new entity raced to capitalize on the collective Ebola panic (Stockwell, 2017). Ebola was a virus that most people living in the United States had not heard of. Social Media had clickbait titles on how terrifying a disease Ebola was even though it displayed no danger to the public. The clickbait news had advertisements that generated millions of dollars.

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