While social media can certainly be used in a way that promotes isolation and individualism, it has also proven to be a powerful tool for fostering collective action and social movements. For example, social media platforms have been instrumental in organizing protests, boycotts, and other forms of collective action around a wide range of issues (negative energy). It is also used for climate change and racial justice to combat political corruption and economic inequality (positive energy). Additionally, social media has allowed marginalized groups and individuals to amplify their voices and challenge dominant narratives, leading to increased awareness of social and political injustices. In short, while social media can be used for both positive and negative purposes, how acceptable is it for some authors to exaggerate the harmful side of social media?
The today's researchers should not search too global answers. In my opinion the balance between positive and negative sides of the social media depends from real cognitive situation and the cultural traditon of the authors.
Hi Feyisa,
some authors (e.g. Robert Putnam) have come up with the idea that the use of media in the internet goes along with increasing isolation (or a decrease of "social capital" in other words). I have looked into this with data from Switzerland (see my papers on "Connected and disconnected?" also available here on RG) and couldn't find such a tendency. Kind regards, Volker
Thank you, Volker G. Täube for your response. I will take a look at your paper.
Feyisa Mulisa Researchers say that people who spend more than two hours a day on social networks are twice as likely to feel socially isolated as people who spend less than one hour on these networks. Facebook and other social networks are meant to connect people, but research shows they may be doing the opposite. For example, research from the University of Pittsburgh shows that the more young people spend on social networks, the more isolated they feel. This research was conducted on 1787 people between the ages of 19 and 32 and shows that people who spend more than two hours on social networks have more than twice the chance of social isolation than other people in society. In addition, this research shows that those who view social networks more than 58 times a week are more than three times more likely to experience social isolation than those who do this less than 9 times a week.