Social Media: The Price We Have To Pay
Andrea Louise Delos Santos
As we are now experiencing the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has become more dependent on technology. With this scenario, it seems to concern both the young and older people. Technology has now become the foremost essential in today's society, especially for the students, as this academic year’s face-to-face classes have been canceled. As a result, classes are now conducted online and have also opened doors for social media innovation. With the use of laptops, computers, televisions, and mobile phones, the consumption of various social media sites have increased, especially now that we spend most of our days at home due to quarantine. It has now become a considerable part of our generation's lifestyle to spend a lot of time browsing on the different social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. It's safe to mention that, if not addicted, many individuals have described themselves to be obsessed.
Social media has an immense impact on our lives, both positive and negative. One example is that social media helps us to stay in touch with our relatives and friends who are miles and miles away from us. The thought that we can connect with individuals coming from different parts of the world tops the list of advantages of technology. However, with the benefits provided by social media comes a set of responsibilities we, the users, must do. Unfortunately, the negative impacts are increasing based on what is happening in our current society, including cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is defined as intimidating, threatening, or humiliating another person using a computer or other electronic devices through social media. It is a severe problem that affects many people's social and private lives, which is common among adolescents and children. As we all know, this is experienced by many people, and the common characteristic of cyberbullying is sending insulting messages or posting offensive photos of a person. Consequently, by commenting on hurtful words, many individuals are involved in humiliating the victim. They are just dragging the victim down instead of encouraging them to stay positive after all those experiences. It facilitates instant and widespread ways to inflict harm on others more quickly because they don't filter their words as they think their screens protect them. It could also be in the form of spreading false rumors to embarrass the individual or destroy his or her image. These aggressive and hateful behaviors should be stopped because of the negative impacts it has on the bullied individual.
Some cyberbullies are teenagers or individuals who have issues themselves. Cyberbullying, just like real-life bullying, can also take place on the part of the entire group. Cyberbullying has severe consequences for its victims, wherein depression to suicide attempts mainly occur. There are many instances of teenagers committing suicide because of online humiliation.
To avoid getting harassed online, there are steps we could follow to stir away from these unwanted situations. If you are the target of these cyberbullies, never respond to the messages, but keep it as proof. Another step is to never share your personal information on social media sites since it is possible to publish only limited information online. Without your consent, don't let anyone take a picture or video of you because it may be used against you to harass you. And the most important rule is, "Think before you click." We should always be cautious about what we share or post online.
Cyberbullying can't be ignored because it mostly involves teenagers. To prevent such activities, regular programs should be conducted for students. Innocent teenagers do not deserve many people's misjudgment. Our mental health is as important as our physical health, so we need to discipline ourselves and be responsible users so that no person will be victimized. No one deserves to be oppressed. We need to start imposing limitations on using social media; thus, we should use it to spread awareness and positive vibes because all of us currently need it in this time of the pandemic.
