What is social media? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “Social media are forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos).” When seen at the level of a straight definition, social media is seen as this genius thing perfect for the 21st century, and that is because it is. Social media is an incredible thing. However, there are some things that are not incredible that come with social media. So, where is the healthy balance?
Picture this: 1997. The internet is now pretty much a thing, it’s slow, but it’s a thing. All of a sudden there is this website that everyone is talking about called, sixdegrees.com. The first social media website ever. The website simply followed the six degrees of separation theory, which is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world are six or fewer steps away from each other. This was the start of it all. In the same year you have AOL Messenger come out (Basically, Facebook Messenger but for email), two years later you have Yahoo! And MSN Messenger, and the list just keeps going and progressing.
We think about MySpace being this ancient artifact when in actuality it was launched only a year before the biggest of them all, Facebook. Let us talk about Facebook and how it changed the game. First off, just think to yourself how much the app or website of Facebook has changed just in the last year. It is incredible. So now let us imagine what Facebook was like thirteen years ago. Well, one, the name is not Facebook, it is Thefacebook. Two, its original intent was to be somewhat of a directory for Harvard. What it became however, was the start of the true travesty of social media.
There are many bad things we can associate to social media. Stalking, cyberbullying, things are put out for everyone to see that you do not necessarily want them to see. Now with Facebook live, there have even been murders captured in real time on social media. Has social media gone out of control. I would say that the logical answer is: of course. It is crazy how something that was as simple as a directory for Harvard would turn into the mecca website for every teenage kid and frankly grandparents. I mean, 75% of the time all you see on social media is negative stuff about people’s lives, political debates by uninformed humans (because ironically, they’re getting their news from Facebook), and food recipes. So, why do people obsess over social media?
I believe most humans are just attracted to drama and success which is a lot of what is put on social media. You either see someone’s gold medal or their child’s gold medal and it is immediately juxtaposed when you scroll down to something extremely political that stirs up a huge crowd, and people are obsessed with following this. Why? Why are humans obsessed with drama and success and seeing it? Because we as humans want to be successful and live vicariously through others and when things are a bit too dramatic, we can relate and extend the conversation.
Social media is an important topic to talk about when it comes to pop culture, because it literally is pop culture. I honestly don’t know what life would be without social media and the ability to keep up with friends, family, celebrities I am interested in. Although social media has its tendency to get out of hand, I cannot imagine life going backwards from it.
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