Digital Culture and Social Media
Today’s world is a global village, where everyone is connected from the outermost to the cities, and such is the wonder of technology with a simple click of a button. This communication has been enabled by the internet, where the best communication falls into social media sites such as Facebook, twitter, and WhatsApp. These sites have increased social interaction between various groups of people, making it easy for people to connect with friends. Nonetheless, making these connections would have been quite hard before the technology was improved. Technology illuminates the lives of thousands of people by spreading the knowledge internationally, thereby making us global citizens. In the ancient time, communication was restricted by the physical barriers and the vast landscapes, which separated different groups of people worldwide. One can analyse the impact of social media to the overall life of a student throughout their college life and how it has impacted their studies and social life.
In general humans are social and will always tend to remain in a group. Hence, social media has been used by many people to bring them together as a group. Social need of human nature is the third most important need after our physical and safety needs have been met. Further emphasizing the much desire to make friends and relations to satisfy this need. Thus, students spend most of their time socializing with people from different wakes of life and go ahead to take a photo or a video to mark that vivid moment of interaction in their life. However, this may have an impacts as some of the students are addicted to these platforms.
The social media have helped students to improve the social interactions between the students and the teachers, whereby it is now easier to follow up with a specific area in their study by consulting the tutor via the social media even out of class, which improves their performance. Moreover, social media has helped students to create discussion groups, whereby students are discussing bout various topic and ensure that they improve their performance (Kaplan et al, 442). Social media has also created a channel through which students can voice their concern through sharing news of the happenings in the institution. All these are the powerful and positive impacts of the social media but we cannot downplay the negative impacts the social media has brought into the student life in general.
Cyberbullying has also become common in the modern world due to increased use of social media among students. Typically, cyberbullying is an act of aggression which occurs among individuals between whom a power imbalance exists, the behaviour is often repeated Besides, Cyberbullying cases are being experienced since many students have smartphones and other devices that can access internet with ease. For instance, one-third of teens online have experienced cyberbullying. 33.8% of teens have been bullied online with females experiencing more at 38%, cyberbullying than their male counterparts.38% of girls reporting and 26% boys reporting too (Garett et al. 2). Girls at 15-17years experience most cyberbullying higher than any other group and youths between ages of 11 and 22 experiencing it multiple times (Garett et al. 2). Cyberbullying can take different forms ranging from flaming, which involves sending angry, rude, vulgar messages directed at a person or persons privately or to an online group. Harassment, which can be defined as repeatedly sending a person offensive messages, has also been experienced by many students.
Cyber-stalking includes threats of harm which is very intimidating. Masquerade is also common, which involves pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material that makes a person look bad. Sexting, which involves sending nude photos of another individual without their consent has largely been experienced in social media (Watts et al. 272). These acts of cyberbullying have led to cases of poor mental health among many students. Moreover, some victims of cyberbullying have experienced depression. Suicides have also been encountered, whereby some of the victims get depressed opting to commit suicide. Cultural, religious, and even racial biases are also some of the factors that lead to cyberbullying. Myriads of cyberbullying cases are going unreported especially in the Arab countries and majority choosing to remain silent, which has really affect the social life of these victims of cyberbullying .
Furthermore, many students find it hard when trying to reconnect back with the society especially after a sorry ordeal, which left them feeling embarrassed and totally looking out of place after being exposed badly. Cyberbullying can also involve social critics, whereby some students feel embarked after posting their and receive negative comments (Whittaker et al. 11). For instance, omen my post a good photo in a humble background somewhere in the neighbourhood, whereby some comments may criticize the picture stating that the picture is in an ugly scene that depicts how one lives in a poor background with an impoverished lifestyle. Therefore, such comments lead to sadness and stress among many students. One may also feel that the social class that the friends in school are enjoying does not fit him or her. Having negative comments that entail one’s life will have a great impact in n individual’s life making him alienate himself or herself from the others for the fear of mockery. Sleeping disorder and a low self-esteem are also common in students who have encountered cyberbullying (Watts et al. 269). Moreover, these effects of cyberbullying can greatly affect their overall class performance as well as life in general making them hate themselves and their social status. The low self-esteem if not checked can eventually lead into depression, which is a delicate situation.
In conclusion, social media has adversely led to increased cyberbullying with prevalence in teenage leading to depression and low self-esteem. Cyberbullying needs to be reported anytime it occurs so that immediate action can be taken and help offered at early stages to prevent more cases of cyberbullying. Teenage girls who are more susceptible to cyber bullying should be counselled on how to deal with cyberbullies both on and offline. Students should also be encourage to utilize social media and ensure that they benefit from the platforms. For instance, students should be encouraged to use social media platforms to educate one mother and improve their performance. Also, people who have experienced cyberbullying should be counselled to prevent health complications and suicides. In essence, digital culture and social media have led to both negative and positive impacts in the modern world.
Works Cited
Garett, Renee, Lynwood R. Lord, and Sean D. Young. “Associations between social media and cyberbullying: a review of the literature.” Mhealth 2 (2016).
Kaplan, Andreas M., and Michael Haenlein. “Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster.” Business Horizons 59.4 (2016): 441-450.
Watts, Lynette K., et al. “Cyberbullying in higher education: A literature review.” Computers in Human Behavior 69 (2017): 268-274.
Whittaker, Elizabeth, and Robin M. Kowalski. “Cyberbullying via social media.” Journal of school violence 14.1 (2015): 11-29.
Wiederhold, Brenda K. “Cyberbullying and LGBTQ youth: A deadly combination.” (2014): 569-570