Digital Connectedness
The Internet influenced my life at a very young age. I learned to type on computer software in elementary school, I have had one or multiple social media accounts since I was in middle school, and I currently stream professional sporting events right to my dorm from the Internet because of our lack of cable. I really do think of the Internet as a blessing and something that makes my life easier. However, some people think that the Internet has affected people in a negative way. Some people believe that being connected to what goes on around the world is not good for our personal health or our private lives. Personally, I think that staying connected and using the Internet frequently is beneficial to society and individually. Some of its most noticeable benefits would include: staying connected with friends or family far away, staying connected to real-time news and politics, and Online activism mobilizing people towards real-world participation. Despite what many critics say, staying connected with friends and family through social media is beneficial to people.
Staying connected is one of the many great aspects of social media and the Internet today. While some think that posting on social media is superficial, and competitive, others might argue that it is the best way to keep up with people you do not get to see in your everyday life. For example, if I were to post on Instagram a picture of myself playing soccer at Rosemont College, I would not be doing so because I felt obliged, I would do it because that is what is going on in my life at the moment. Furthermore, I would hope that the people who follow me on social media would enjoy my post because I most likely have a good friendship with said person and would be equally interested in their latest post about what is going on in their life. The general premise of a social media post in my opinion is to update friends on what you have been up to or what’s on your mind. While some may think of social media as something that causes worry and constant comparison, I along with many others, view it as an ideal method of sharing personal thoughts or life experience’s with good friends that one might not keep in close contact with rather than a platform for social competition. Another benefit of digital connectedness is the ease at which one can keep up with real-time news and politics using the Internet.
The way we consume and react to the news has been completely changed due to digital connectedness. Due to social media and high-speed Internet, consumers can hear news from all around the world in seconds. Staying connected with what is going on in real-time is a feat extraordinary in itself, but more impressive even is its value in protecting people. News of a fire or even a dangerous person in your area can be distributed to people in an instant with apps such as Twitter. An example of this would be when there was a man on a killing spree in the Cleveland area. Within seconds of his killing spree starting, the people of Cleveland were already aware of the situation and were able to seek shelter to avoid the killer. It is reasons like this that make digital connectedness essential to public safety in the modern-day. Some think that the fast spread of news is not all good. There is some evidence that the quick spread of news can also spread fake news. This misinforms Internet users who then may misinform other people either online or face-to-face. While I realize this as a problem with digital connectedness, I see it as more of a side effect. The spread of fake news can be limited with practice and effort to keep credible sources in the limelight online. If platforms like Facebook can do a better job of this then fake news will greatly decrease. This will then allow people to get only credible stories. Another thing that digital connectedness does that affects people positively, is its ability to mobilize people towards collective action offline.
Digital connectedness can mobilize people online towards collective action. This became apparent after the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Weather emergencies, and increased awareness on disorders that affect teens. The ideology behind these social media campaigns is to make the issues clear and present them to social media users. The genius behind this is instead of having to show someone an issue your passionate about in person, you can just retweet or share it or post about it. The mobilization ability of social media platforms in this day and age is limitless. The main counterpoint made on this specific aspect of digital connectedness is that all of the attention on the subject can sometimes force others seeing the content to get involved in fear of seeming unaware or ignorant to important issues. This is a consumer problem that is a very easy fix. Simply think of social media and your online persona as an extension of your own personality. In this instance, only people who would share and partake in the issues offline would also partake online. So just because people may feel pressured to share or partake, does not mean it’s an issue that you can isolate to just online because the same people would feel pressured in person as well. Digital connectedness benefits users of social media with its ability to keep friends and family connected, its ability to distribute news quickly and successfully, and the limitless possibilities of social mobility through social media and Internet campaigns.
The Internet is a vastly complicated phenomenon. However, the emergence of digital connectedness has affected humanity in a positive way. This is apparent when one looks at the millions and millions of happy people posting their lives online, along with the countless people kept safe due to the quicker distribution of news. And one must not forget the mobilization ability that digital connectedness has created for important social issues. Digital connectedness may continue to grow and prosper and one can only hope that if and when it does it continues to affect humanity in a positive way.
