Power and social media

Elon Musk owns the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

Many people have used social media to influence others. For example, during natural disasters people have encouraged others to donate to charities. Or during elections people have tried to convince others about how to vote.

Some people have become more powerful because of social media. For example, political candidates might have gained popularity due to a large social-media following. And social-media influencers have made whole careers out of posting online.

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  • Well, many people in the world are having their faces stuck on the screen usually on the social media, and they watch videos or see photos for certain people and they love them and make them popular by subscribing or following, but some people may go crazy about it and always dream meeting them face to face and this is the media power because someone like MR Beast no one will even know how he look like without media and know one would bother about him.

    Social media is a double faced sword it depend on how you use it as if someone who is evil got popular and made a trend that shows bad humor he is now using the bad side, but if someone use it for something good such as ways to protect yourself from bacteria now he is using the good side of the social media.

    In our present days most people use the bad side so social media is mostly bad, and solving this problem is by answering the challenge someone must have some control of this huge open source of power and I think it has to be the government. Before anyone could make a page or a channel must have licence from the government and if he became popular and used the bad side, his page or channel have to be closed and he must pay a huge financial fine.

    1. Interesting perspective busy_location. How would the freedom of speech be impacted by the solution you just proposed?

      1. It won't be affected a lot as long as no one is using the bad side of social media anyone who want to transport an idea can do it easily without insulting, shouting or talking about people in a bad way, believe me it is easy.

        To give people more freedom the government can't report anyone if they said something the government don't like in politics it shouldn't be banned everyone has the right to say what they want a long as they respect everyone else.

        To make things even more fair if some citizen gets banned and he think it is not fair he could report to a council that will see if it was fair or not. People who will be in the council must not be biased to any side, be respectful and hard working.

        1. Hello busy_location,
          I understand your point but you said that if we don’t use the bad side of social media we could do things easier, but the thing is that lots of people in this world do use the bad side of social media often. I know for a fact that half the children in the world say that cyber-bullying is a part of every day life. Cyber-bullying happens on social media so I actually do think it has a big impact because now it happens more often so more people are influenced to bully online.
          Moving towards my main point, social media is important though as it can boost people’s careers and even help them get a job. Social media really helps Elon Musk because this is how he gets his followers who support him. Having a strong account on any social media platform can boost your confidence and your job, so I think it does have an exceptionally large impact.
          Concluding, I mostly disagree because social media can have a large impact on anyone, especially those who are already rich and famous. Out of 1 to 10, I’d probably rat ethe impact an 8 or 9. Thank you.

          1. I agree with you.Because your right like once your on social media its like you don't get to see the real side of people and only the fake side because like once you see that person you instantly love them like you want to meet them like busy_location said but once you see them in real life and their not who you expect them to be you don't really care for them.Thank you

        2. I disagree because... It can be affected as many people are used to the social media and most people can't really get off it as they have loads of time to see ehat they need and they also need the internet to survive there really isn't any whre, where someone doesn't really watch and know anything about the Internet so I'm saying that this is more powerful than you think Elon musk is always trying to get his fans attention even turned Twitter to x which is a big change for people and many people are unhappy so I'm see you already that is a big change for the world and many people don't like it.

    2. I do agree because hear in England when you walk around you see a lot of people on their phones and this is a bad influence on daily life.It stops people from going outside and cyber bullies are online too. Social media can have many negative impacts as well as cyber bullying become a greater threat to the adults and young people in the world and that can become a too big of a negative impact on people everywhere

      1. I agree because social media became a main part of all our lives because we spend most of our time on social media. Social media can be useful and at the same time can be harmful. Also here in the United States of America many people are on social media every day.

        1. that true but can you talk more on the harmful part please

    3. I agree with most of your opinions. I agree that, like you said, social media is a "double face sword." There is the good and the bad about it. People can get entertained by it but they can also get sucked into a hole of scrolling and watching. However, I disagree with your opinion on how people should have a licence from the government before they can make a channel or page. I will use Youtube in this example. Some kids around the world might have dreams of becoming a popular YouTuber. They can have a career in YouTube and start earning money for the future way before that have a license. But if they would need a licence then those dreams could be crushed. It would make it harder for them to have early chances of getting practice in. For these reasons, I agree mostly with your opinions.

    4. Busy_location I agree with u about social media is a good and bad thing but your forgetting that social media also changed the world, without social media Mr beast probably wouldn't have the money he had today and without him Africa would still have water of course but they would still have huts and not 1000 houses, anyway my main point is that without social media so many people wouldn't be doing these good stuff.

    5. i totally agree with you. people are nowadays doing crazy things and posting it on social media. the thing it is affecting the young minds . it is influencing the kids so much because they are the ones whois using the internet nowadays majority .kids see these kinds of crazy content thinking it is cool and follow their ways which is not good . for example there is a group of people in my state who wears crazy clothes and does crazy things and use inappropriate languages. if these kinds of people are let to post contents in social media it will spoil the young generation for sure. so the government and the social media platform has the power to restrict the contents to be posted.

      1. I totally agree with you.
        And more on the part that the plataforms should restrict the content for each age. A 22 year old person does not have the same maturity and intelligence as a 12 year old person,this means that the content to watch can not and should not be te same,however this is something that today plataforms do not take into account.

    6. I strongly agree with you because most people are always glued to a phone or screen.Social media is also like a double sided sword there is always a bad and good side of things.In conclusion I do strongly agree with you on mostly what you talked about.

    7. I agree with you because Mr beast wouldn't have been popular if it weren't for social media but he posts some dangerous stuff like when he made a friend do obstacle course, some of the obstacles his friend didn't have safety, if it weren't for social media he wouldn't have money but people doesn't need to be wealthy or have wealth but mostly I agree with you "busy location".

    8. That is so true , I think the same thing as you do.
      Social Media is a good deal , but that has nothing to do with the negative impact on people specially among young people that do not know much about life or pretty much anything.
      Lets say that social media dictates that you should be constantly buying new things, that teenager or even worrier , that kid or child ,will do not know the reality so they will act like social media says , the wrong way in real life, and that teenager , kid or child will lose of its life quality due to that shapeless "reality".

  • Social media is a powerful tool that can be both good and bad.
    Some of the positives are, Social media connects people all over the world, allowing them to share different ideas. This can help understand different perspectives and work together on global challenges.
    Social media can also expose corruption and wrongdoing by those in power. This helps us to know whom to vote on elections.
    However, social media also has some negatives like, by spreading fake news and misinformation. This can have serious consequences, from influencing elections to real world harm. So who is responsible?
    Social media companies need to be responsible of how they design their platforms. This includes minimising the spread of misinformation and protecting user's privacy. And we too ( users) have a big responsibility to be critical thinkers. We need to check the sources of information we see online and avoid spreading harmful content.

    1. I agree with this because it can bring good and bad thingsand can help things but can also spread misunderstanding and confusion

    2. I highly agree with this because when you talk about the negatives of social media i do agree that it does become very concerning for us when information is false and most importantly information that is crucial for choosing decisions politics wise.

    3. I agree with you, social media has its goods and bads, but this depends on how the platform owners program it and how we users put it to use.

    4. I also agree with you completely that social media is a bad. Because of the following reasons;
      Some persons insult other people about how they look or their appearance especially fat people or too slim people. It makes them feel as if they are not enough or feel sad and depressed which may lead to suicide or loss of many lives. Some people will go to the extent of going for surgeries to fix their bodies which may lead to death or serious sicknesses. Spreading of fake news all around social media platforms.
      The good reasons are ;
      They help you to access your best blogger's videos it also creates new platform designs
      it helps to be updated of the latest news

      1. Yes, I agree that social media is bad but not for the reasons you are suggesting. Social media is mainly bad because of the way information is spread by the 'social media influencers' and this misleading information could spread and tarnish someone's image while the person who said it is getting follows and likes. Soon that person will have so much power and people backing him up, he or she will spread any false information they want. Social media owners should check the news and contents people are posting to regulate the way social media gives power.

      2. I agree with you for the fact you said social media is bad,but for you to say social media is completely bad is a really wrong thing because many people in the world today will tell you that the same social media you said is bad is part of what sponsors their businesses today. if social media is as bad as you think it s i would say you are wrong because i am sure you still use social media today.

      3. I also agree that it has its disadvantages but why not consider its advantages like, helping us to communicate to one another, speaking out our minds, being informed on what's going around us,we can also advertise in terms of business and others like helping us choose the right leaders.

    5. You are right. Social media has a great impact on the world because it is one of the key sites that people get information from which is always not true because it is one of the major problems or challenges people have with social media. It also affects the way people think and react because many people get a lot of information and some times it changes people minds and opinions about a particular thing but I suggest that you don't rely on it completely. In my perspective the users are the ones responsible for social media because every thing people hear and say are in the hands of the users so, coming to the fact that people blamed Elon Musk who is owner of most of social media platforms for the spread of misinformation which I don't think is right so to conclude I think that any thing that goes wrong on social media, the users are the one to blame.

    6. I agree with you, attentive_impression, Social media can either have a positive or negative impact on everything. As you stated, "Social media connects people all over the world, allowing them to share different ideas." I 100% agree with this statement, since this is one of the positive impacts that Social media has on humans. With social media being available people can meet each other and express how you feel in life, and they will mostly understand. You can express yourself through social media by making a video and talking about your situation, music, art, poems, narratives, etc. And this will connect you with many different people and you will surely be making friends through social media. However, like you said social media can negatively impact us too. One example of this is when social media is providing fake news or anything that isn't real and that people believe. This is very dangerous because the person might not know what he or she is believing and they don't know if they are putting their lives in danger or something. Thank you!

    7. I agree with you because social can be good while it can also be bad! One reason why it can be good is that social media can help you a lot while social media can also convince you to do very bad things but what really matters is how you take social media and how social media takes you!
      Credit to Majectic_Cliff.

      1. hi my fellow suderling I agree with your opinion look at mine at the bottom of this page I agree with you because social media an be good but also bad.

      2. Hey fellow Pawmate! I agree with you! That's because Social Media is both bad and good! The reasons you state is probably connected to my ideas! My ideas is that Social Media can teach you, also it can bring bad things into your mind! I think what really matters is what yourself thinks of your fyp (for you page!)

        Credits to- outstanding_fox, majectic_cliff

    8. I agree social media can be used to make the world better, make people happier, and produce equality . Social media can also be used to do bad like cyberbullying , rumors, lies, and abuse. It can leave physical scars/harm and can lead to arguments .

    9. I agree with you that social media can be bad or good.But also it really just depends on who is going on social media.Some people just use it to find ideas,or learn a recipe.Elon Musk uses it for to gain power or control.But some just dance or promote their business.Just to clarify it really depends s on how you use it.

    10. I agree that social media is a powerful tool but there are many things which are just messed up and need to be solved. Some measures for the same are :-
      1. Awareness should be spread among the youth and minor community which type of content is suitable for their age.
      2. Content should be segregated on the basis of ratings like in films and minor accounts should be restricted from seeing mature content.
      3. there should be stricter norms regarding content ( like twitch does ).

      1. I agree because social media is so easily accessible and can have such a wide variety of opinions and views that more rules should be put in place regarding younger peoples access to it, personally I believe they shouldn't be given any access to social media until they are at least 13. It's a powerful tool but it is too easily manipulatable for it to be safe for younger people

    11. I agree with you, I think that social media is like a poker face, , double-sided ,but it has not always been like that , it has one positive side , that we all know about and the other side that would be a negative one, that not so many people know about , or if they know , they do not want to recognize it.
      When thinking about social media we think of Tiktok , of Instragram , Facebook... , but there are many more socials like Pinterest , Youtube, Bereal...
      The quite big difference between them is that the first group is more a dangerous zone : There are many people addicted to Tiktok, that cannot live without it , this dead addiction zone could be almost the same as the cocaine addiction , due to the interferral with things (such as social media, doomscrolling...) that makes us to lose our true dopamine, serotonine....
      The difference with the second group is that it is a little bit more chilling , there are almost no addictions and some people find Youtube and Pinterest quite inspiring as both of them have "aesthetic content".
      Furthermore I find social media to be usefull , if we deed from using the social media from 1 hour to 5 hours that must and is a big problem, that should be watched out by an expert on Social Mefia ddiction field.

  • Social networks have a strong influence on the young population today. It always sets some standards of beauty, knowledge and destroys the real beauty of people. We strive to be equal and perfect like our role models on social medias, but in fact, they are not really perfect as they show it through the screen. We need to work ond ourselves, strive for ourselves and our own development.

    1. Thoughtful comment generous_goat. How might social networks support young people in showing 'real' lives?