Andres Zacarias

ENGL 210

Professor skelly

September-20-2023

                                                                        OP-ED

Introduction:

            You think social media is a graceful thing to have in this generation? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but its not really something that didn’t generate a lot of good compared to the negative that was generated. In today’s modern world technology has played a big part in enhancing everybody’s life. But in some ways, it may have created some cons that some maybe no one expected such as social media being invented and installed onto smart phones, laptops and any other devices that allow access to Instagram, snapchat, Facebook, reddit and twitter. As a person that has witnessed and is currently in the era where social media is at its peak, I can see that it is not always such a good thing to get hooked on. For instance it’s the peak of hosting controversial arguments, conspiracy theories where people tend to argue a lot of the time, even as saying something so small can offend a person. But don’t think it is a safe place for children or even teenagers, it is also a platform where most adult women or men prey on innocent victims which can lead to sexual assault, kidnap, or even murder. Not to mention it’s also where people receive death threats from anonymous people who know their address and can get their information so quickly. But the main thing that social media has done to impact the world the most is causing suicide, depression, anxiety, loneliness, mental health problems especially to those of teenagers. 

Body paragraph 1:

            Having an opinion on something isn’t something bad to have but to most people it probably is a big issue. Controversial arguments are debates where strong and opposing opinions are generated which it could end up leading to heated arguments by groups who hold different beliefs, truths, and values. People like Andrew Tate who have a lot of opinions on certain things will post about on social media, on one of his twitter post’s he tweeted about gender, and it says “transitioning gender is directly challenging the decisions of god…. how can that possibly end well?” Tweeting something like this on social media where everyone can see it has caused a lot of backlashes and hate towards Andrew Tate. People have been making videos about him and reply to him talking about whatever he believes in is all just wrong. Andrew Tate continues to post about his opinions on woman, what people should do with their life’s and what’s a waste of time as in gaming, and not doing anything to have a good career such as business or any type of good career.

Body paragraph 2:

In my own personal experience, I have encountered a lot of people who have had traumatic experiences where it has led to depression, anxiety, or even loneliness, thank God it has never led to suicide. But in an article I found written by Ian Krietzberg, published by the new York times he says mentions that people on social media wanted to slander on Dave Chapelle because on his Netflix special he discuses about being in a relationship with a trans woman where he himself has made many crude jokes on transgender and the lgbtq which then lead to the suicide of the transgender woman. Social media can do great harm to ones mental health which can lead to terrible things that most people do not deserve.

Body paragraph 3:

 A very good friend of mine has given me their own opinion on why social media may be a waste to human society. I asked questions such as “How do you feel about social media?”, “what do you feel is the main reason for the cons that social media has generated?” and “do you feel that social media should be deleted forever?”. Their response was “To be honest in my personal experience of being on Instagram and other social media platforms, I feel as if media has not really done anything to benefit my life but rather let me view what’s going on in the world, connect me to people that I consider my friends but other than that it’s just something to kill time for me, I don’t think I would ever want to be to obsessed. Well cons exist in everything we do but when it comes to social media, I feel like the main reason for the negative that has generated on any platform is due to the people that be on it. Think about it, a lot of people be very toxic (meaning mean/generating hate) for no apparent reason towards people who comment on posts, having an opinion where most people would disagree, spreading fear for people who want to believe what people say and even be a place for weirdos like predators praying on teenagers or little kids. If I had to choose whether to delete social media or not, I would have to say keep it because without social media wouldn’t inform us about anything we need to know it’s basically a better version of newspapers. Even though it has a lot of negative effects I would keep it.”

Conclusion:

            I have come to terms that social media and technology, although it may be addicting and harmful, it should still be up and not deleted from the world. True that a lot of bad things has been created through media it just comes to show that we need to do a better job at keeping an eye at what’s being shown around it will take a long time before people start changing their ways on social media but until that happens the negative will continue to form in new ways that we won’t be able to see coming from a mile away.