Social media is no doubt everywhere. At least 5.1 billion people around the world have access to social media. Yet, just 9 years ago, that number was only 2 billion, meaning that in less than a decade, 39% of the world got access to social media, apart from the already present 26% according to backlinko.com. Social media is slowly infiltrating our daily lives, from ads to killing downtime to connecting friends and family. The prime demographic for social media is the younger generation, yet 50-65+ also consistently use social media for communication. But communication for various purposes and various demographics can change drastically. Whether it’s shortening users’ attention spans, causing addicting doom scrolls, or spreading misinformation, social media has impacted our lives greatly.
The main purpose of social media was to “connect people and facilitate communication globally,” but that has quickly changed to “serve up brain rotting content, and spy on their users.” For example, back in the day before short-term content, your personalized YouTube recommended would only be long-form, original, exclusive content. Nowadays, you can scroll through the algorithm for at least 30 minutes and see: stolen videos with small green screen kids in the corner, the same videos you just watched in a different style, at least 25+ AI-generated videos, and more than can be counted videos that you just do not care about because it’s just not your demographic.
Social media is also addicting and shortens attention spans. Speaking from personal experience, before 2020ish when I didn’t have social media, I could probably sit down and do a task for 3-4 hours without getting distracted, bored, or quitting. Currently, I can maybe do a task for 40 minutes, but that requires music, social media, entertainment, or something else. That might not be all social media, as aging, puberty, and various other causes could be present, but I feel like social media is one of the main targets.
Social media is rapidly changing and expanding, with many variations and strands emerging faster than can be assessed. Social media can be found in every crevice, corner, and cranny. But it still brings serious consequences and issues that are commonly overlooked.
