Social Media Since the Early 2000s

Remember Myspace? The go-to social media website in the early 2000s? Where everyone needed friends and more friends. Where you could have Chris Brown on your background page and your mouse cursor turn into a glittery heart? Looking back, it was a fun time. However, I often wonder--about any social media, not just Myspace--if it does more harm than good. 

Myspace eventually phased out of popular culture when Facebook made it's rise to fame (or infamy). Facebook got rid of the gratuitous details in favor of having apps connect you to all kinds of companies and other media outlets to keep you coming back. Some would argue that a website knowing what kind of underwear you wish to purchase based on something you "like" is a bit intrusive. Others would argue for convenience.

The intrusiveness of social media, comes not from the creators and moderators of the social media websites, rather, I think it comes from its users. It goes without saying that the amount of information Facebook can gather about you to shove other media at you is rather absurd. However, it is up to the user to determine what Facebook gets to see and what it doesn't. If a user of Facebook only uses it for friends and family, then they don't have a need to "like" the Candy Crush Saga page. However, a user who likes all their favorite games and apps will get similar games and apps on their timeline, in the sidebars, all over their pages. Furthermore, the sharing of personal information on sites like Facebook is--again--the users choice. Questions such as sexual orientation and posting about what you're doing every second is a users choice, Facebook does not require you to post at any given intervals.

Social media can often be used for "good" and "evil." In the case of the good, there are constant posts on Tumblr that advocate or ask for help for needy people by way of GoFundMes or similar websites. "Reblogging" as Tumblr calls it, helps to spread the word and find people who are able to donate. The same goes for those that reblog projects on crowd-funding websites.
Tumblr--and websites like Tumblr--have a downside as well. It can serve heavily as a place for what the internet calls "trolls," people who get joy out of making fun of people. The problem with this is that, should it get out of hand, it can have serious penalties, like some people becoming depressed or committing suicide.

As much as I'd like to not admit it, media is moving rapidly toward being fully online. Social media connects us in ways that, even 20 years ago, no one would have even imagined. It is hard to say where this will take us. I hope that as time goes on, we will be able to be smarter about our media use. Do more fact checking, be smart about what we share and what we don't, and overall become better people because of it.