This year Netflix released an original film called the Social Dilemma which addressed that social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are able to collect massive amounts of data. In short, they know more about us more than we know about ourselves. Sometimes I become so invested in these social platforms that I am oblivious as to how much they are able to learn about me from a single use of their apps.
When you sign up for social media, the majority of the time we are asked for our names, birthdays, and if we want to connect with anyone in our contacts. Filling that information out already tells them too much about our personal details.
Users are constantly liking posts and pages, sharing publications, connecting with new people, or changing relationship statuses. People all over the world can update their status or post about their lives several times a day. We can literally see what someone is doing with their life just by looking at their profiles.
Not only do we give these platforms endless amounts of information about ourselves we also spend a good deal of our time on them. This is a habit that needs to change in social media users. There’s no doubt that spending countless hours on social media can eventually lead to a toxic situation.
When you post something, it has the potential to be seen by billions of people globally. If your content is posted publicly and you share something that goes viral, within minutes you will be bombarded with reactions whether they are positive or negative.
One fact that stood out in the Social Dilemma was that there was a huge correlation to an increase in suicide rates and social media. The negative feedback that people get from comment sections and private messages are taken to heart by millions of people which can lead to depression and, in some cases, suicide.
The world needs to take a break from social media and simply focus on their lives in the real world. I am not opposed to having social media because it does have benefits such as promoting organizations that work for a good cause or providing opportunities to find new jobs. However, I am opposed to letting social media take control of the way we communicate with others and how we spend our time.
Instead we should try our best to limit the amount of time we spend on these platforms. This is something that I definitely need to work on. I know this will be a difficult task for many people. We do not have to completely stop using social media, we just have to learn how to properly balance our usage. No one lives forever and if we really want to live our life to the fullest the best course of action is to focus on the real world.