The (Un-intended) impact of social media
As we know, Social media has become a huge part of our lives. Social media is interactive computer-mediated technology that facilitates users to share information, ideas, entertainment, which is designed to make it easier for users and has become a part of our daily lives. Apart from all the benefits, conveniences, and entertainment offered, social media is like two sides of a coin, which also has another impact behind all its benefits. This article will explain about the unintended impacts of social media in our lives, as well as about how the social media company business model works.
Social media is designed to keep its users active and use social media without knowing the time. This is applied to the business model that social media has known as 4C, which consists of; content (distribution of online content), commerce (the online marketplace), context (providing the platform), and connection (online networking infrastructure) (Writz, Schilke, & Ullrich, 2010). These four things focus on social media companies to benefit from advertisements and subscriptions from their users. This leads to our desire as users to always be online and scroll through our social media accounts.
There is a quote that says, “we are the product of these social media companies”. Apparently, this appears because it turns out that the data we submit to social media companies are sold to understand the algorithms and interests we have. The data is then purchased by companies or businesses that place advertisements on our gadget screens while we are browsing using our social media. If you observe it, surely you have experienced an advertisement that suddenly appears in your feed that is the exact thing you want/need, even though you did not browse the item on the gadget you are using right now. The ads that appear on our social media are deliberately ‘adjusted’ to attract our attention and lead to our desire to keep browsing and scrolling on our social media accounts, engaging with many posts as possible, yet they-social media companies try to learn our algorithm, on-how long we stop at one exact post, which group we engage, what kind of account we follow and interact, etc.
This leads to the negative impact resulting from the business model applied by social media, one of which is the increase in cases of mental health, such as narcissism, self-esteem, isolation, Body Dysmorphic Disorder — arises because people begin to compare themselves with what they see in them. social media
Another thing that often arises because of a business model like this is the emergence of hate speech and radical groups that are increasingly occurring on social media. Especially in times of election and pandemics like nowadays, misleading news and hoax have become easier to spread and make many people worry and anxious about what is really happening. And the last impact and the riskiest of the things that have been mentioned above is the increase in cases of suicide and self-harm, especially among teenagers which gradually increase and could impact their future.
Based on the impact above, we decided to find out, using an anonymous survey distributed through social media (Instagram, Facebook, email) — whether these users know how social media’s business model works and the impact of using it continuously. In the end, there were 40 participants who joined the research process. This survey consists of 4 parts, namely; business model, tribalism, social media addiction, and mental health, and at the end of the survey, we ignite several solutions regarding this problem.
It can be concluded that most of them- 90% are aware of how social media makes money (business model works), and they even agree that they are a ‘product’ of social media.
However, 57.5% of the participants answered that they did not feel any disadvantaged by this business model, and even supported positively on the application of the business model.
Furthermore, through the same survey, we asked whether they joined a certain group (ex: political group), had they ever been involved in arguments on social media, and the results were quite surprising, where nearly 50% of them had been involved in arguments on social media. This has to do with the anonymity that social media users have when using social media, and they can ‘hide’ through their accounts, thus triggering them to be more courageous in voicing their opinions. Another impact arising from the use of social media is the risk of disrupting the mental health of its users. The survey results also showed that more than 57% of the participants compared themselves with other people on social media and felt anxious when they were not connected to their social media accounts. It was also added that 87.5% of the participants answered that they used their social media before going to bed, and the duration of use was more than 4 hours.
In addition to this matter, we mention a few solutions, such as:
- Add subscription function: to limit the sale of the data we have. The survey shows that 50% of them agree with this subscription, and they are okay with being charged more than $10 per month.
- Establish law: The implementation of regulations regarding content restrictions on social media has actually been done by several countries, one of them is China, and it can be concluded that this method is quite successful, although it also raises some pros and cons. And our survey results show that more than 50% of participants agree that there should be a law that regulates restrictions on what people say and do on social media, as well as restrictions on what social media companies do with our data.
Hopefully, this article could help you realized the ‘bad’ impact while we browse and using our social media account. Remember,
“Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse” — Sophocles
and please check the video above for more detailed survey results!