Hi everyone, hope you are all having an amazing day! In this post I am going to be discussing my various opinions and experiences that relate to social media in a Q&A format.
Question 1: Do different social networking sites offer other benefits and drawbacks (as opposed to Facebook)?
To set the stage and to provide a bit of background, I believe that Facebook's primary purpose as a social media site is to provide a space where people can talk to each other online, kind of like an public forum that can be edited to show only what you desire. The benefit of this approach is that it is pretty easy to build a community, however it has a drawback related to the social stigma among the younger demographic, as since Facebook is primarily used by older generations it is seen as 'not cool' by younger audiences. Due to this, I find that there are several networking sites that provide different benefits and drawbacks. Twitter for instance is great for networking as it works as a way for people to make announcements to a large audience while still allowing for 1 on 1 chatting. Twitter is also seen in a much more positive light by younger people when compared to Facebook. However, Twitter also hosts several communities that are very toxic, with the idea of 'canceling' coming from Twitter itself. Here is an infographic that discusses
Question 2: Is there an ideal number of "friends" or connections individual have on Facebook that can improve their mental health?
My own opinion on this question is that while I don't use Facebook or other mass-connection social medias, I still believe that if I were to use one I would try to keep my connected individuals to be around 10. This amount is perfect for me as it allows for people to almost always have someone to talk to if everyone is somewhat active, while not being a threat geared towards overstimulation. However that number is what I like to call the 'inner shell', the 'outer shell' is made up of an endless amount as I am simply connected to them to see the content they produce in some form, whether it be videos, art, or memes.
Question 3: Do social networking sites have any responsibility in promoting mental health in their users? If so, how might they go about doing so?
I don't actually believe it is up to social media sites to promote mental health, as it is up to the individual to have the willpower and objectivity to see what they need in their life to help themselves mentally. However this doesn't mean social media sites should encourage mental decline, I believe it is quite the opposite. It is up to the various social media sites to make sure that their environments are not hostile to the overall mental health. At worst I believe they should strive to be neutral. This can be done through a myriad of ways, such as by banning toxic users or enacting policies that stop cyberbullying.
If you want to learn more about why mental health is important and why you should be looking out for it, check out this article.
Sources used:
https://peachyessay.com/sample-essay/comparison-and-contrast-between-facebook-and-twitter/
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