The Impact of Social Media: A Slice of Life Post

 

 

Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back with another Slice of Life Post after a brief hiatus. We’ve been so busy with the kids and getting our basement put together I had to take a break. I’ve also been writing. My story is coming together and I’m feeling pretty good about it. I’m hoping to finish it in the next couple of weeks. (crosses fingers).

Anyway, it’s good to be back today. I’ve been thinking about social media and how it has impacted my life. One of the ways it has had a positive impact is I’ve been able to reconnect with old friends I’d lost touch with. These reconnections have been incredible. We’ve gotten together and gone down memory lane, renewing old bonds and strengthening our friendship. I think our friendships change as we grow and some friends stay with us and some don’t.

Photo via Visual Hunt

          Another way social media has had a positive impact is I’ve been able to make contacts that help me with my writing. Research has just become that much easier. Social media has opened doors for everyone. Because of social media we can chat with our favorite celebrities and build relationships with people who can help us in our career, and maybe we can help someone else in their career. We’ve never had the ability to reach out and be this close to someone famous like this before. It’s kind of mind boggling when you think about it.

Photo via VisualHunt

          There are some negatives to social media as well. There are trolls out there who enjoy creating dissension. If you happen to run into one of these people it can make your experience with that platform unpleasant.

There’s also the situation where someone can stalk you via social media. I’ve had friends who’ve experienced this. These stalkers try to create a rift between the person they’re stalking and some of their more loyal followers. It’s not as dangerous as real life stalking, but it is disconcerting.

I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the fact bullying happens on social media as well. It’s unfortunate, but true. Especially these days with all the political division among people, things can get out of hand fairly quickly.

Photo credit: Lisa monster via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND

          Social media is an awesome tool for reconnecting and staying in touch, but like everything else it has a dark side too. We need to teach our children about this dark side and prepare them for it. We must teach them to choose their words wisely and teach them about the power our words have. They can be uplifting or they can be demoralizing. We get to choose.

Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for organizing Slice of Life! To read other Slicers posts click here.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post! How do you think social media has impacted your life? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!