Living an easier life

Habiba Hafez

Could we be sacrificing our mental health on social media? It’s an addiction that drains out the user. Fear of missing out, (FoMO) is a common concept that social media introduced. It is the frequent visits to social media sites in fear of missing out on social media. Furthermore, Self-image issueand the way social media has put bounders to beauty. Nevertheless, Social media has altered the way we communicate and connect with one another, and it's challenging to imagine living without it. According to scientific study “59% of the whole world uses social media, for an average of two and a half hours per day”. Nowadays, the world revolves around it. Social media has even provided jobs and has made our lives easier on many scales. It would be illogical to state a comment such as social media is a destructive form of platform.

Recently social media was able to replace the traditional TVs. Rarely do we still open the TV to be informed on news or any event. Furthermore, social media has allowed individuals to reach a larger audience and share their ideas and views. Unlike news shows on television, which can be quite biased, social media inspires people to rise up for themselves, express their opinions, and share their ideas. Social media allows sharing news without political censorship in countries that is under tyranny. Which channels do not provide. Furthermore, it gives everyone almost the same opportunity to be famous, share their thoughts and visions. And with-it influencers are born.

Social media proved to be an effective platform in big crisis. Without social media the world wouldn’t have known the details shared by the survivors of Turkey and Syria’s earthquake, and news wouldn’t have travelled in the same speed. Many victims of the earthquake communicated from underneath the rubbles with the outside world using social media which helped locate and rescue them. Many survivors also blogged their experience or sent a message to their family or displayed a status which provided evidence of their survival. Furthermore, associations were able to reach for larger audiences and advertise for their cause through social media, which resulted in large donations. It’s an extension which allowed organization to raise funds and direct people on how they can donate cloth or blankets. Even awareness videos spread faster through social media instructing people how to behave if an earthquake occurred.

Needless to say, social media opened to us doors to discuss sensitive topics such as death. Death, without a question, has become an important aspect of the evolution of social media. It has created a unique platform for advertising funeral. Notifying friends of someone's death used to require visits or extensive phone calls. Likewise, deaths were as well announced in newspapers in the obituaries. However, the procedure has become much simpler and more efficient in recent years. As an example, a close friend of mine recently shared the news of someone's death on Instagram. Rather than contacting each individual, a few clicks were all that was required, and condolences were easily exchanged.

In this era, it is hard to state that “social media is purely negative” or ”stay away!” The pros concours the cons. Social media allows us to live an easier life than the generation before us.