Social media may be society's gateway into a global connection that we have never seen before, but if we look closely, social media has played a role in separating us more than it connects us.
Take a look at the up and coming presidential election. All over Facebook, it is a constant war over who can share more posts slamming the other political party. This is not to say that debates aren't important, but it has gone further than a debate. Nobody respects any one else's point of view any more; it is okay to disagree. There is a fine line between disagreeing and not respecting the opposite point of view. Debates have become arguments. These arguments are making us hate each other and once again, we see a division in our country.
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Take any issue or topic developing domestically or internationally. Whatever this issue is, social media platforms, such as Facebook, play a prominent role in adding fuel to the fire. With the ability to express ourselves without face to face interaction, this opens the door for a much different form of debating. We are all apart of the term "keyboard warrior." At one point, we have all fallen into this category. It feels as if this is the direction our country is moving in. Nothing is being resolved because we don't look for resolutions anymore. We just look for the next opportunity to slander the opposite belief. I feel as if this won't change but it will just get more and more relevant as we extend further and further into our newly found self extension that has become our social media profiles.
Our social skills are falling while our social media skills are rising. This idea that our Facebook rants will change the world is far from true. The truth is if you want change, get off your high horse and go out and do something about it. Your Facebook essay on why something is wrong isn't going to do anything but make you look like a fool. Stop sitting around and waiting for the change you seek and go out and become the change you so desperately want to see invoked in our world. We must take a hold of this issue before it consumes our youngest generation. These kids will one day be our executives. If they grow up in a solely social media-dominated world, it will have devastating effects on generations to come.
As stated before, social media has positive effects. The issue is that we overuse these platforms causing the negative effects to take a demanding stomp over any positive effects that global connection has granted our society. We are drawing a line down society with no correct side. We no longer want to work together; we just want to hurt each other with words over a computer screen. Let's get back to the days when two people could debate on an issue without pulling a knife. Let's take a grasp of this before it takes control. This election time is an exciting time for our country to take a step back and evaluate what we can do better. However, nothing will ever be solved if all we care about is being better than the other side.
