ANALYTICAL ESSAY

ROLE OF MEDIA
INTRODUCTION

By now, we are all aware that social media has had a tremendous impact on our culture,
in business, on the world-at-large. Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on
the internet. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web
(Ta, 2014).

According to Amedie (2015), social media is a medium where people are allowed to
exchange their thoughts and ideas and they are being connected to their friends and loved ones
through internet. Social media has removed communication barriers and created decentralized
communication channel and open the door for all to have a voice and participate in a democratic
fashion including people in repressive countries. It allows social groups with a common interest
such as students to work in a collaborative school works and papers outside the campus. It
cultivates creativity and affiliation with a broader range of commentators on social issues like
education, the economic status of a country, politics, race, gender equality, health, relationships,
etc.

Living in a digital era, we, the millennials, are the ones who are experiencing the greatest
impacts social media is bringing. It can become addictive to many people due to a huge range of
features that lure you in (Hoare, 2015). It makes communication easier, we get to share our
precious moments with people, we can also share our ideas and thoughts online, social media
entertains us too because of the new & improved features of it like games, online quizzes, humor
videos, and a lot more; almost everything is now being offered by social media.

The purpose of this research paper is to discuss the positive and negative impacts of
social media to the society, benefits of social media to people, and the social media itself.
Particularly, it seeks to answer the following questions: How does Social Media affects the
behavior of the Society, Why do some netizens find Social Media news reliable, and how does
Social Media help in solving Social Problems.

By the end of this analytical essay, we would also like to give some recommendations
that might help in solving issues regarding the negative impacts of social media in our society.
Facebook Depression caused by Social Media

According to Amedie (2015), one of the most popular social media sites, Facebook, has
1.4 billion users around the world, nearly a fifth of the worlds population, consequently helps
everyone to understand things better, learn and share information and ideas making the world
look like a small community yet large in terms of networks. However, despite of these benefits,
social media has brought side effects that damages the psychological health of the society.

There are researchers who have proposed a new phenomenon called Facebook
depression. It is a kind of depression that is developed when people spend extravagant amount
of time on social media sites such as Facebook and then begin to show some classic symptoms of
depression. Online and offline depression are kind of similar in the sense that due to lack of
acceptance, it both cause anxiety and also propensity towards engaging in risky activities like
drug abuse. Unsafe sexual practices, self-abuse, etc. Also stated by Amedie (2015), Facebook
depression is not just limited to Facebook, but it also refers to the impact of other social
networking sites causing psychological problems. Because Facebook is currently the largest and
most widely used social medium, the phenomenon of social media caused depression has taken
its name.

Social Media, Loneliness, Anxiety and Stress

Being a contributor to depression and anxiety in all sorts of different ways, social media
is also a common source of stress to its users. Cyberbullying, comparison of ones own life to
others, and the fear of missing out; these are some of the reasons why people tend to be stressed
and feel anxious about their surroundings. We are in a generation where online communities are
being used as a basis on what we should do with our lives.

According to Davey (2016), the relatively modern phenomenon of social media and its
associated technology adds a new dimension to loneliness and anxiety by giving a person a way
of directly quantifying friendships, viewing the friendship networks of others to compare for
themselves, and providing instant information about social activities and events. You can easily
compare your own popularity versus your peers, and manage that adolescent fear of missing
out by monitoring non-stop what is going on socially. So its easy to see how technology use can
take the place of the traditional social interaction which includes the face-to-face communication
that develops a more intimate and personal relationship between peers and provide a yardstick
for ones popularity or more significantly, ones feelings of loneliness and alienation.

Social media have become a substitute for seeking connectedness and friendship, and as a
consequence to that, our connections become broader but also shallower at the same time. Our
use of social media in chasing connectedness may give us the opposite result of what we really
are expecting from it, instead of having the feeling of being connected and happiness, we tend to
feel disconnected and lonelier.

Unhappiness, Dissatisfaction, and Restlessness

A study has found that Facebook is making people unhappy and causing its users who
suffer from Facebook envy to be depressed. Users who admitted that they are suffering from
high levels of Facebook envy or the tendency to be jealous of other peoples activities being
posted on social media benefited most from going too alcoholic.

Social media really makes us better connected now than before but this connectedness is
not doing any good to our well-being. The predominant use of social media as a means to
communicate and gain information about other users, as a habitual pastime negatively affects our
well-being on several dimensions.

According to Brenda Wiederhold (2016), a study showed that Facebook lurking may
cause negative emotions. So, if one is a heavy user of Facebook, he/she should use it less to
increase ones well-being (Tromhalt, 2016).

The Credibility of Social Media News

We always hear and see satire websites, fake news and hoax information in our social
media feeds. Filipinos are dubbed as gullible and easy to fool that is why we are most of the time
the target of these fake sources of news. Although common sense is used to differentiate the fake
ones from the authentic ones, the chances of being duplicated seem to be higher for Filipino
netizens.

Anything can be easily shared on the internet, with just a piece of information and a click,
you can already be an immediate source of information. Once you repost something or any
information from a satire website, your followers and friends will most probably believe you,
might fall for it and share it as well.

Believing in fake information has a greater impact than you probably could ever think.
You might help in spreading lies and misinformation. Some netizens lack proper education and
knowledge when it comes to being smart and analytic on the internet. Sharing news and
information is not bad as long as you assure that it is authentic and a reliable source of
information.

Social Media and its Contribution in Solving Social Issues

"I think the fundamental idea that Facebook brought was creating this private space that
didn't exist before, and by unlocking and opening that space, there's a huge potential to allow
people to communicate their ideas (Zuckerberg, 2016)"

One of Mark Zuckerbergs, CEO and Founder of Facebook, ambition is to find ways to
provide everyone in the world an access to the internet. With that, everyone can share their ideas
and there is a greater possibility that these ideas could become a big help in solving social issues.

According to Carey (2014), as the global economy shifts from one focused on industry to
a knowledge-based system, it's imperative that everyone has equal access to financial and health-
care tools, and other Web-based services that will help the next generation. Zuckerberg hopes to
accomplish this through Facebook's internet.org initiative.

By looking at real problems our society has, we can most probably relate to it and it is
which we have the most real empathy for. We can pick problems that are real and apply
technology to it. Since we, the millennials, are knowledgeable about technology, instead of using
it only for entertainment and pastime, we could help in solving real life social issues by using
social media beyond what it is usually used for. As millennials, our role in our society is not only
to be aware of the social issues and problems we are facing but we are expected to act
accordingly and make use of our resources and knowledge in helping to solve them.

IV. CONCLUSION
 Through this analytical essay, we are able to find the answers to our questions. Social media
really has a great impact on the behavior of the society. There are few psychological disorders
mentioned above which are caused by social media. Social media has been influencing the
society in a lot of different ways both positively and negatively. We didnt know that by just
simply browsing through our news feeds, there could be a lot of negative effects to us such as
depression, anxiety, loneliness, insecurity, envy, and a lot more.

In the case of social media news, it is also proven that we, Filipinos, are very dependent on it.
We become the target of most of the satire websites because we easily believe on the things we
read and see on social media. Since social media is like a freedom wall where you can post
anything you want freely, you become an instant source of information. Netizens easily believe
on the information and news posted online because it is really hard sometimes to differentiate a
hoax and fake news from an authentic and legitimate one. Yes, we are educated but some are not
smart enough when it comes to the internet world, and that is the reality. A person, as a source of
information online, can greatly influence his friends and followers because you are being trusted
by them. The phrase Think before you click should always be kept in mind for a more peaceful
and healthy society.

There is something that social media can do which we do not always notice or give attention;
it can actually and possibly contribute in solving social issues. As it broadens our friendship and
networks, ideas and thoughts are shared quickly and widely. With that, social issues are being
addressed accordingly and the good thing is it is not only the government alone that works to
solve it but the society is also being a contributor in giving ideas and suggestions to decrease or
even eliminate the issues and problems.

Social media may have a lot of negative effects but there are actually hidden positive sides of
it, we just have to explore beyond the norms and use our knowledge and wide imagination.
Responsible use of social media will prevent us from getting this negatives and using it wisely
will benefit us the most.

V. RECOMMENDATION
 Social Media is recommended as Medium of Communication, it should be a resource by
bringing profound ideas and information that can be useful for future purposes. The Officials
who owned or created the Social Media should make it Significant by preventing the hackers
to invade someones privacy like social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter & Instagram) or
even email websites (e.g. Yahoo Mail & Google Mail). The Government of each country should
make an appropriate actions that can make Social Media a tool not only for the communication
but in the context of Getting or Searching for an Information as well.

In the case of Cyber Bullying, the Social Media creators must prevent those who are
Making dummy accounts just to ruin someones identity. Social Media must benefit people in
terms of giving an innovative ideas and not a hoax or false news that can lead people to an
imperceptible debate. Besides, we all know that some people nowadays, became more
dependent on what they saw & watched on internet as long as it can answer the questions: What?
Why? and How?

Our Recommendation in this research is that, Social Media must be a Mechanism not only
for people who seeks a valid ideas and information but, to gain self-discipline by preventing
fabricated or made-up news or even stories, consume you.