The world we live in is more connected than it has ever been. A person can literally reach anyone, anywhere in the entire world, so long as that person has an internet connection or phone service. The level at which we can readily communicate with each other is unprecedented.
This level of social media-involvement is wonderful right? This inter-connectedness brings people together in a way that was never before possible, thus being a great help to us all right? Well, some experts would say otherwise. In a recent article posted by Mashable, MIT professor Sherry Turkle related her grave concerns for what social media has done, and will do to our society. She expressed her concerns about the complete invasion of social media into our lives. We have all texted during class, used our phones while we drove, checked our Facebooks at a dinner, or even brought the iPad into the bathroom with us.
What Miss Turkle fears is that we are losing our ability to connect in an authentic way to those that we come into contact with, and there certainly is evidence of that. However, there is a strong argument that can be made for the other side. It is possible, and observable, for social media to bring together in a real way that will make history.
Two key examples that prove this point are the “Egyptian Facebook Revolution” and a campaign called “Kony 2012”
Both of the occurrences show the way that people can be brought together by social media in a huge way. Take Kony 2012 for example. This entire campaign was led by a young man who visited Africa, saw the horrors the children there experienced at the hands of one cruel man (Joseph Kony) ,and decided that he was going to try put a stop to it all. This one young man got some of his friends, and utilized Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, their own website, and a other social media tactics to bring in hundreds of thousands of people to support the cause.
There were no profits made, and many people traveled from across the globe to get involved. That is huge.
So which is it? Does social media damage or fix us? Well in order to get the correct answer to that question, i think we need to look further into what Professor Turkle had to say. She suggests that people utilize social media/networking in a more “self-aware” way, and set up mental rules as to when it will not be accessed. (i.e. the bathroom, at dinner, etc.) She says that this will lead to a more healthy use of what connects us all.
Links for information:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/egypt-facebook-revolution-wael-ghonim_n_822078.html
http://mashable.com/2012/03/01/social-media-less-connected/
pmartell 