SocialNetworkaDouble-EdgedSword
ChaimaeRhezzal,a25-year-oldstudentfromMoroccostudyingattheCommunicationUniversityofChina
Technologycreatesnewwaysforpeopletocommunicate,congregateandshareinformationofasocialnature.Communicationtechnologyhaschangedandwillcontinuetochangethewayweliveandinteract.
Socialmedia,forthemostpart,isaconvenientandfreeplatformtocommunicatewithacquaintances,friendsandlovedonesdespiteoftheirdistances.Ithasbecomeatoolofchoice,especiallyforyoungpeople.
Thishasledtotheevolutionofinterpersonalrelationshipsasbillionsofpeoplespendalotoftimeeverydayontheirfavoriteplatforms.Forinstance,Tencent,aChineseInternetgiant,estimatesthat38billionmessagesareshareddailyonitsWeChatplatformalone.Throughsharingofcontentandknowledge,culturesblendtogether,friendshipsareforged,andpeoplefromverydifferentbackgroundslearntocultivatetheirdifferences.Itistruethatsocialmediaisadouble-edgedsword.Admittedly,theymoveusawayfromeachotherandlimittravelandvisits,especiallybetweenfamilies;butsocialmediaistherealproofthattheworldhasbecomeaglobalvillage.Webuildfriendshipswithpeoplewenevermetandwhomwemaynevermeet.Wegiveourpointofviewonthenewsofcountrieswenevervisited.
Itisnoweasytobridgerelationshipswitholdacquaintancesthroughsocialmedia.Wecanalsokeepconnectedwithouttravelinglongdistancestomeetsomeonethroughtheunifyingpowerofonlinesocialnetworks.Ontheotherhand,newformsofdistance,likeindirectrelationshipshavereplacedourtraditionalaffectionatedirectrelationships.Theemojihasreplacedthephysicalhugsfromlovedones,andpeoplemeasuretheirconnectivitybythenumberoflikesontheirpages.Havewesubstitutedfriendshipsforfollowers?Weevenshareourprivatemomentswithtotalstrangers,sometimeswithoutalertingourclosefamiliesandfriends.
Admittedly,theymoveusawayfromeachotherandlimittravelandvisits,especiallybetweenfamilies;butsocialmediaistherealproofthattheworldhasbecomeaglobalvillage.
BecomingAddictedtoYourPhone
LinXia,a36-year-oldjournalistwithChinaNationalRadio
Thereisnodoubtthatsocialmediahaschangedthewayweliveandcommunicate.Ibelievethatsocialmediahasbothbroughtustogetherandpushedusfurtherapart.
Thefirstandmainadvantageofsocialmediaisconnectivity.Withoutsocialmedia,itwouldn鈥檛beeasyforustocommunicatewitheachotherwiththepressofabutton.Asajournalist,itisdifficulttocontactintervieweesthousandsofmilesaway.SocialappslikeSkypeandFacebookbringsuscloserwhenwecannotalwaysphysicallyseeeachother.TextingsomeonethroughFacebookorotherplatformsallowsmetobeincontactwithanyoneanywhereintheworld.
Socialmediahasanotherfunction,whichistohelppeoplekeep-up-to-datewiththelatesthappeningsaroundtheworld.Today,mostofthetime,theinformationspreadbysocialmediaismuchfasterthanthatbytelevisionorprintmedia.Anduserscanalsofollowexpertsandprofessionalsviasocialmediatogetinformation.
However,theaddictivepartofsocialmediaisnotgoodandcandisturbthepersonalpartofourlives,especiallyforteenagers.Theyareattheagewhentheyneedtolearnsocialandcommunicationskills.However,lookingatchildrenonthestreets,insubwaysoratrestaurants,mostofthemhavetheirheadsdownstaringattheirphones,phubbingandchattingthroughsocialmedia.Theygetextensivelyinvolvedonlineandareeventuallycutofffromthesociety.Virtualcommunicationhasdisadvantagesasitishardtosensewhatapersonisreallythinking.
Leakageofpersonalinformationandtheprivacyissueshouldalsobeconcernswhencommunicatingviasocialmedia,whichcancausefinanciallossesandexposureofone鈥檚personallife.Ireadreportsofsomecelebrities鈥檖ersonalsocialmediaaccountsbeinghackedandtheirreputationbeingdamaged.Thisisoneofthedangerousdisadvantagesofsocialmedia.
Leakageofpersonalinformationandtheprivacyissueshouldalsobeconcernswhencommunicatingviasocialmedia,whichcancausefinanciallossesandexposureofone鈥檚personallife.