Why You Shouldn't See Social Media as a Bad Thing

It seems that as time goes on, social media gets more and more of a bad wrap for itself. More and more people are seeing social media as a virus or a threat and its becoming a problem. As a relatively moderate user of social media, I feel like that the fears come from the irrational things that are reported by the news and what not, and to be frank that's what the news does; report irregularities.

Often times people see a lot of things about harassment or cyber bullying, however when they think about it little do they realize that this isn't too different than the real world. People get bullied and harassed, and yet in the real world there is no mute or ignore or block button. In the real world, there are no admins that we can report inappropriate behaviors to.

So now might be the part where you say 'well if it's so great, than what about it makes it great?' Well, let me start it off with this; without social media, would you know what other places in the world were like? Would you know about the riots in Hong Kong? Or how about where you wanted to plan your next vacation to? Social media is one of the biggest sources of information that we have now, and even though you may not think that, you absorb so much information from social media all the time. Even if it's just how your friends are doing, that's still something that you wouldn't have known through a Google search.

Another amazing thing is it makes everyone connected in the world. With a world that was so sparse with everyone really only knowing people they've met in person, that sort of connectivity was exactly what we needed. I can talk to people from China, Australia, California, Germany, all from the comfort of my New Hampshire home.

Now, this is man with an opinion that directly contrasts my point. In this Ted Talk, Cal Newport goes on to say that he believes you should quit social media for an array of reasons, however I feel like he contradicts his point almost immediately in the beginning as he says that he has never had a social media account. Now the reason why this is a problem for his point and topic is the fact that he makes the argument of all of these different topics of sort of addicting issues with social media, and yet knows nothing of the great things about it.

Social media is, from a business stand point, a source of mass media entertainment. It's made to be engaging, just like a movie or TV shows. The fact that it's almost addicting shows that social media does a really good job of being a source of entertainment. It's the reason why I don't like the argument of that it's bad because it's addicting. In fact, for us as a society it's quite the opposite: If it's that addicting of a social media, than realistically it's a good thing for us as it satiates our constant need for entertainment, especially because it's very easily accessible.

So as a take away, I want you to think about how you use social media; maybe to talk to friends, maybe to learn new things, or maybe to find other places of the world you didn't know about. Either way, you are purely a consumer of it's entertainment, and you shouldn't be angry about it. It's all addicting as it activates your brain with the things you want to see, and what's so bad about that?

Citations
Social Media Icons. Word Stream, www.wordstream.com/social-media-marketing.
     Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
Newport, Cal. "Why You Should Quit Social Media." TED, TED Conferences, June
     2016, www.ted.com/talks/cal_newport_why_you_should_quit_social_media.
     Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

Is Virtual Reality a Social Media Platform?

Virtual Reality has always been a bit of a concerning subject, especially for those who don't understand it. People think it could replace reality itself for the youth, and in an irrational opinion, for the entire world. Now, even though it's a bit pricey for some, it's becoming a large deal very quickly, with people making VR experiences of already existing games, and some for new games, and not to mention the fact that some games now just have VR mode as a standard feature.

So what does this exactly mean? Is it the signs that this is where games will go, the direction they will follow? Well, I don't believe that just yet, but that's not to say that the system of VR will fail. There's one game that has made a huge impact on the idea of Virtual Reality itself. I'm talking about a game called VRChat. In VRChat, you do exactly as it's not so creative title says; you go in VR, and you chat. Well, I mean, of course there's more to it than that, but that's what the base premise of the game was until people began to get creative.

People began to make different worlds to explore with your friends, all different types of experiences and games, such as a cowboy shootout kind of game, or a map where you can draw on a 3d plane by moving markers through the air, maps that are extremely detailed to be a beautiful landscape to roam around in, or even horror maps where you go through labyrinths of scares and spooks with your friends.

Not only that, but you can customize your character if you know how to 3d model and animate (Or you can choose one of the models that have already been made and are public). Because of this, you can be virtually anything. You can have people walking around as the giant robots, or small little people, almost every single one being unique. You have characters from games, anime, television, memes, or even real people at times. I've seen everything to characters from games like League of Legends to 3d scans people got of themselves, or for some of the more resourceful, people who are several 2d images of themselves that cycle as they move around.

So how exactly is this a social media? Well, I can say as someone who uses VRChat quite a bit, I'd say that without a doubt it is a social media in my eyes. The fact of the matter is that even though I'm not talking face to face with someone, it sure feels a lot more connected than something like Facebook or Twitter. The fact that people can look or do virtually anything they want is fantastic and awesome as you can see the true colors of the people in the game. I've connected far beyond my reaches of New Hampshire, meeting people from the UK, Colorado, Germany, Japan, Australia, and many more places far and wide. I've talked with people who are funny and creative, finally finding an outlet to express their artistic talents, and also people who are just there to talk.

You may say that people like me need to go out and meet more people, but now, talking face to face with people has never been easier, and trust me, with this I've gone far and wide.

Citations
Guy In VR Headset. Mar. 2016. npr, 8 Apr. 2016, www.npr.org/sections/      alltechconsidered/2016/04/08/473436382/      wearing-vr-headsets-in-public-is-now-a-very-awkward-thing. Accessed 13 Nov.      2019.