In this digital era, social media has become a platform for people to express their lives, such as a day in their life, a place for them to run a business, share and save beautiful and memorable moments, a place to seek entertainment and tranquility, and a place to seek and increase their knowledge, where digital will also influence how their mindset works, how they see the world, and how they will adapt to the surrounding environment which has various differences, start from opinions, perspectives, characteristics, and attitudes.
Social media, the place to share and seek knowledge, greatly influences society. Not all information on social media is accurate. Some of the information in social media is created based on people’s own perspectives, and the reality is that people’s perspectives are not all was same, which means is very different, and can affect the truth of what happened. Some information is shared based on different perspectives and will be changed according to how the person sees the event and the truth. Accurate information is also taken from the many opinions of the community’s agreement in the world and in accordance with what is happening more in the world before it is published. For example, news about child abuse can confuse the public because some report claims the case is child abuse, while another report claims it is simply a more assertive way of educating children. This is why social media is crucial for people’s mindsets, which unconsciously control them into believing inaccurate information about what is happening, simply because some people change reality to suit their own perspective.
Besides inaccurate information, social media is also a place where social disputes end up becoming quarrels between people, social media becomes a place where inequality becomes a big problem in society, pros and cons in the issue of social inequality that can lead to violence. An example is economic inequality, where people who publicize their secure, happy, and smooth lives make others feel like failures and inferior. Some people also use this as motivation to achieve their desired positions. Naturally, those who are for and against will always be at odds and put each other down, whether through demeaning words or inappropriate actions.
From various social problems that occur in social media, it will certainly provoke aggressiveness from some people who think that what they believe is true. Those who don’t understand, don’t find out, and don’t study what’s happening in the world will usually be stubborn and aggressive in expressing their opinions, they will reject the fact that what they believe is wrong. For example, there are cases of people dying after being hit by a train, where some people believe that it is the fault of the train driver who did not stop the train when someone was about to be hit, they reject the fact that the railway crossing was closed and no one should have been on the railway tracks (or on the edge of the railway tracks), they reject the fact that it is not allowed to do activities near the railway tracks, they believe that whatever happened on the railway tracks is the fault of the train itself which did not immediately stop when there were people near the railway tracks, where the reality is that the train cannot be stopped easily. From this incident, it is hoped that the public will immediately realize and stop endangering themselves by stopping activities near the train tracks, because not all trains move slowly. Parents are also expected to protect and look after their children, remain careful wherever they are, and avoid problems as much as possible, especially on social media.
Another example that we can take from how social media influences human mindset is the case of differences between women and men in the world, this issue is still being discussed even now, there are still many pros and cons in both genders, from cases of infidelity, harassment, and domestic violence. Whether it is men or women, they believe that infidelity occurs because the victim of infidelity becomes boring, they do not blame the perpetrator who cheated who had various reasons for cheating. They also believe that harassment occurs because the victim may dress uncovered or appear too excessive. They also believe that domestic violence occurs because the victim denies and refuses to obey the perpetrator. However, there are still men or women who contradict the opinion of society, those who still believe that infidelity is the fault of the perpetrator who cannot be grateful or is not serious in the relationship, they believe that harassment does not look at appearance, where everyone, whether women or men, can be victims of harassment, from those who dress modestly, to those who look simple. They also believe that domestic violence is the result of the perpetrator who does not understand what he will face when he agrees to live with their partner and cannot handle problems in the household. Perpetrators of infidelity, harassment and domestic violence are free because some members of society still defend and condone the perpetrators of these acts, and many reports are even considered trivial and not followed up on.
But from all the cases and problems that occur on social media, there are still people who use social media properly, such as people who remind each other when there is inaccurate news, they also remind each other to continue using social media properly, such as not insulting other people’s physical appearance, not supporting or normalizing crime, and not being influenced by bad things on social media, from typing to words, whether from those who watch or upload posts on social media.
From what we see on social media, we should pay more attention to the positive things that we can take advantage of and apply in our lives. This doesn’t mean we ignore the negative things on social media. If we find a negative post on social media, it’s better to follow up, whether by reporting the post or telling other social media users not to be influenced by negative things on social media.
That’s a real example of how social media affects people’s mindsets, from sources of information that are still less accurate, perspectives that change reality, and arguments in social media that occur due to pros and cons. However, society must be able to resolve problems that occur on social media. Arguments will only make the problem worse. People who use social media and are involved in arguments are expected to participate in resolving the problem. Social media itself is not the reason why it is a bad tool for society, but the reason behind why social media influences people’s mindsets comes from society itself, social media is only a tool (place) for those who change the mindset of other people to follow their mindsets that are not necessarily true.
In addition to cases and problems on social media, public responses to posts on social media also greatly influence human mindsets, where many comments, reactions, and support from the public can have a bad influence on others, such as comments with harsh language, excessive reactions, and support given to negative posts, that is why social media greatly influences human mindsets, whether from posts or from public responses.
That is the explanation of why social media can actually influence people’s mindsets. In conclusion, in this material there are many things that happen in life, and even more than what is written above. Society can also change social media that initially contained negative into positive, for example when we as a society, we must be able to understand each other more deeply and find the best solutions to the problems we face, by implementing it its the same as we share kindness on social media, which little by little will change the negative things on social media to slowly disappear, but the problem that will be faced when doing this is that people still ignore and do not apply it, but the more people share kindness, the greater our chances of changing negative things on social media into positive things.
From various cases, problems, and incidents that occur on social media, we should really understand what we can get when using social media, whether it is benefits or knowledge. And don’t spread information that we ourselves don’t know the truth of, and try to find out a problem by not quickly concluding the problem. Besides that, we must also be able to maintain our beliefs, do not change our perspective to follow the perspectives of others whose truth is uncertain, use social media well, know more deeply when searching for information, do not let social media make you dependent on them, and do not misuse social media for something negative, always maintain good manners, choose the words carefully, don’t hurt other people’s feelings, you must admit the mistakes you do and accept the consequences of your own actions, and remain careful in using social media, because by misusing social media you not only harm yourself but also the people around you who you love.
By: Ristianti Geian Pratiwi
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