It’s no secret that social media is everywhere and has changed our world. It has become an integral part of who we are, facilitating our daily routines, offering us unlimited information at our fingertips, entertaining and inspiring us, and sometimes, making us want to pull our hair out.
However, not everything on the Internet today is cat pictures, silly memes, interesting articles, or videos of cute babies. (But how awesome would that be?)
Nowadays, it seems that too much of social media focus can be biased, degrading, crude, and quite frankly, a total buzzkill. Instead of us using this powerful and influential tool for educational purposes, to stay connected, or just as pure entertainment (thank you, cat videos), too many users are utilizing it as an outlet for negativity and cyber bullying. The spread of fake news has become a prominent headline and Facebook is trying to get a grip on handling it.
Therefore it’s important for us to keep our social accounts truthful, fair, and not be sucked into the black abyss of negativity. Sure, our news feeds and home pages are littered with ridiculous (and of course hilarious) memes, videos, photos and articles that make us all smile as we scroll. However, if you have even just one social media account, you understand that sometimes, it’s not always the most welcoming place in the world. Social media is such a prominent player today, which is why it is key that it remains a positive and healthy outlet for all users.
So, the million-dollar question: how can we go about this?
Recently, Instagram has taken notice to this, and has taken initiative to put an end to it. (You go, Insta.) They have announced the launch of new features in an effort to keep Instagram a positive place for self-expression. The new and improved tools are specifically targeted around keeping the Instagram world a happier and safer community, and will allow users to turn off comments on a post, remove followers on private accounts, or even like certain comments, all to show support and spread the positive vibes.
Updates can be a touchy subject. As we all know, they can go one of two ways, and sometimes cause more of a headache than they’re worth. However, Instagram’s new update is unique in that its purpose is to solely change the positivity of the platform. And, it’s not stopping at just one small change; they plan to keep working on and rolling out these supportive updates.
To keep all our social media accounts as respectful as possible, it’s important that we keep ourselves in check and remember that social media is first and foremost, a tool. A tool to gain information, educate ourselves, entertain ourselves, and so on. When we forget about this and start taking everything we see and do on social too seriously that is when the negativity blossoms and the tool becomes less useful.
We need to focus on the positive and beneficial aspects of our social media platforms, and all the doors and opportunities that it has opened, and continues to open, for our society. It’s extremely refreshing for Instagram to step up to the plate, take charge, and make a change.
Instagram is onto something great here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other platforms follow suit. Eliminating the hate in the social media world, one update at a time. Gold star for you, Insta.
