KUNINGAN (MASS) – Nowadays, social media has become a very important thing, and of course, we often use it every day. With social media, we can receive the latest information from various aspects, such as market trends, economy, national and international news social media that is often used every day by the community is like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and others. This social media makes it easy for us to interact, communicate with people who are separated by distance. Social media is very popular in this sophisticated era; everyone from children to adults has their own social media. With the development of a very sophisticated era, we cannot deny that there are many impacts of social media that we feel every day, but with the positive impact, it does not cover up the negative impact that can affect our own lives. Thus, it is important for us to understand social media in our lives by how to use it wisely.
In this increasingly sophisticated digital era, there are many viral trends on social media, some are positive and some are negative. For positive social media trends, there are business opportunities, education and learning, increasing creativity, building communities that cover all aspects, such as increasing social awareness, rapid dissemination of information, and facilitating access to communication. In addition, the positive impact of social media is being able to communicate long-distance, express oneself, share knowledge, and so on.
The following are social media trends that have a negative impact on those who always use social media, namely Cyber Bullying, social media addiction, the spread of hoaxes, decreased mental health, viral content that is useless or has no benefits at all (for example: Velocity, which is currently viral), which can also be called FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), which means being afraid of missing out on something that many people follow or missing out on a trend that is currently viral, such as the example that has been explained previously, and can trigger mental and psychological health problems in a person. In addition, this social media can be a place for the spread of negative content, pornography, hate speech, violence, and so on. Things to be wisely considered by those of us who cannot be separated from social media.
Positive impact: As previously explained, it increases social awareness. Increasing social awareness allows us to spread information about social issues or what is happening in an environment. For example, on the YouTube application platform, there are content creators who make social experiment videos, for example, there are pregnant women who have difficulty tying their shoelaces or someone who pretends to be disabled. The purpose of the social experiment is to show concern, empathy for someone, and to be aware of the social awareness that is happening around their environment.
Negative impact: The negative impact that currently needs to be considered is the social media trend where they are called FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), which means fear of missing out. There are so many viral contents from various applications, whether from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and so on, that trigger a person’s mental and psychological health. An example of what has been explained previously is Velocity. If we cannot be wise in choosing a social media trend, then there will be many negative things that are obtained; indeed, the goal is for entertainment, but we must know wisely that viral or trending content currently has no benefits at all. So, it is better to stay away from FOMO things (what today’s children say) because there are no benefits at all, for our future and the next generation.
Solutions and suggestions to reduce the number of negative impacts of social media, especially hoax news, we as social media users must be more careful in choosing news that is true and made by trusted sources before we spread the news; we are guided to read and verify the truth of the news that we will spread. Avoid reading half-hearted news and not knowing anything about the origin of the news; we can conclude that we should not be consumed by hoax news that is unclear in its origin and must pay more attention to watching and reading news that we also hear and read every day from trusted sources. We must be responsible and wise social media users in reading and spreading news on social media.
Excessive use of social media can have a major impact on a person’s mental health, the existence of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and others has succeeded in creating an environment that triggers the risk of stress, anxiety, and depression in its users. Among teenagers, mental health is very important in this era, especially among teenagers, the use of social media has become an integral part of everyday life. Anxiety and stress can also be caused by interactions on social media, fear of being judged by others, reactions to uploaded content will cause significant depression. This depression is a form of prolonged stress and anxiety that appears in social media users who cannot limit themselves in using technology. However, social media is not always the main cause of this mental health problem. Many people also always compare themselves to others on social media.
Although social media has negative impacts such as addiction, becoming a victim of cyber bullying, being exposed to hoax news, and even following unimportant trends such as “velocity”. Many people are also stressed or inferior, because they compare themselves too much to others on social media. The positive side of social media is that it makes it easier to communicate, find information, learn, and even create an online business. We can also share and care about social issues. Therefore, it is important for us to use social media very wisely. Filter the information first before believing or sharing it, and choose useful content, don’t let social media make us lose ourselves.
Reference
Silitonga, P. (2023). Pengaruh Positif Dan Negatif Media Sosial Terhadap Perkembangan Sosial, Psikologis, Dan Perilaku Remaja Yang Tidak Terbiasa Dengan Teknologi Sosial Media Di Indonesia. Jurnal Pendidikan Sosial Dan Humaniora, 2(4), 13077-13089.
Wulandari, D. (2022). Dampak Positif Dan Negatif Penggunaan Internet Bagi Peserta Didik. Aksioma Ad Diniyah: The Indonesian Journal Of Islamic Studies, 10(2).
Penulis: Angelia Effendi Putri, mahasiswi Unisa Kuningan
