By Hannah Shirey ’23, Staff Writer

I think it’s safe to say that social media plays a significant role in society. Social media does have its pros, but it certainly has its cons as well.

Social media has become something we rely on so heavily. Some might even say social media has become our number one source of communication. Nowadays it seems like we connect more with people through social networking than we do in person.

Social media is changing us as a society. It is putting people against each other by publicly giving people the platform to disagree, argue and degrade. People do these acts because they know they can easily hide behind their phone or laptop.

Many people suffer from cyber bullying through social networking. Cyberbullying is characterized as any act committed by an individual that threatens, embarrasses, torments or humiliates another individual using digital technology. It is a growing problem among preteens, teens and young adults. One third of all kids have been a victim of cyber bullying. We can all agree that cyber bullying is one of social media’s biggest down falls.

At the same time, social media helps us stay connected to people from all parts of the world. It allows us to reconnect with old friends that we do not see often. Without social media, I believe personal relationships in general would decrease.

Additionally, social media provides its users with relevant information in a quick, convenient manner. Through social media, people find out when something important happens almost immediately after the event occurred.

The opposing side to this argument is that social media can often convey misleading or false information. This information can sometimes offend people or cause them harm. This also brings up another issue regarding privacy on social media.

Social media has caused a tremendous increase in online security breaches and privacy issues. Social networks store far too much of our personal information than necessary. This causes hackers to steal thousands of users’ personal information. Social media causes people to feel uncomfortable and can even cause some to fear that they are being stalked or getting their identity stolen.

To determine if social media is mostly good or mostly bad is extremely difficult. With that being said, I do believe that a world without social media would solve a lot of today’s problems.