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Social Media A Blessing or a Curse
Social Media: A Blessing or a Curse?
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Social Media: A Blessing or a Curse?
Thanks to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, people can now communicate with one another, make new friends, reconnect with old acquaintances, exchange ideas, and share photographs, among other things. Social media today has a significant influence on every aspect of our lives, and this impact is felt everywhere. Youth throughout the globe have profited enormously from social networks’ accessibility and wealth of knowledge. Cinelli et al. (2022) point that people of all ages would not have been able to participate in the wide range of activities that are now possible because of the platform that these social networking sites give. Many individuals are making new friends, while others are relocating their old connections and keeping in contact with them. Social media has reached its full potential in recent years, and this technology has two sides much like a coin. More people will become aware of both its benefits and drawbacks as a consequence of its growth as its influence spreads (Coleman, Pettit, & Buning, 2018). Before the discovery of social media, life was significantly different, and it has changed significantly through the years. The purpose of this essay is to present an argument on social media being a blessing noting that although social networks may be linked to problems like addiction, fraud, and cyberbullying, the technology and innovation it brings has benefited modern society by fostering greater connectivity, introducing online learning, and boosting business reputations.
Increasing people’s sense of closeness and fostering connectivity is among the primary advantages of utilizing social media. People from all around the world are able to speak with one another in a manner that brings closeness and attains the warmth of keeping constant touch. The introduction of social networking on the internet has been a blessing since it has aided in reducing barriers that various religions and belief systems strive to build in the society. In my opinion, I find different faiths and belief systems as a way to separate people and impose boundaries in our society. This technology has, in some ways, helped to the spread of peace among people of a wide variety of cultures, religious traditions, and philosophical orientations (Tlili et al., 2022). It has leveled the playing field so that everyone on one platform is on an equal footing, which has reduced the necessity for such inequities and eliminated the need for such inequalities. This is where the true blessing of social media abides. With social media and the online communities, one does not have to worry about being judged solely on the basis of they portray to be as a person, making people free to be themselves, talk to others, and share thoughts with the whole world.
Similar to the above blessing on connectivity, the use of social networking sites has been of tremendous assistance to the world’s educational system. The proliferation of online educational opportunities and the accessibility of a wide variety of study aids have made it possible for any student to rapidly advance their education. From a personal experience, I found out that one may simply raise their level of knowledge whenever they want and from anywhere in the world by viewing free educational or instructional content on social networking websites such as YouTube and making use of low-cost services. Qazi et al. (2021) note that social media enables better information proliferation by allowing free content to reach millions. This is true regardless of where a person is located or their background. On social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, there are communities full of users who are entirely committed to lending a helping hand to users who are struggling with issues related to their professional or academic lives. This is another significant benefit of participating in social networking. People from all over the world have offered their time to hear what you have to say and attempt to understand the gravity of the situation you are in as best they can.
The usage of social media has the potential to improve a company’s reputation in the public eye as well as its bottom line financially. Baccarella et al. (2018) assert that business are now able to engage with their customers and watch what others are saying about their business thanks to social media’s dual-purpose capabilities. There are many potential applications for social networking, including mobile apps, promotional freebies, and advertising. A business may increase customer loyalty, collect feedback from existing customers, and attract new customers all via the use of social media. The image below shows an example of consumer data that may be used by businesses to improve their sales and interactions with potential customers. In addition, social media helps broaden a company’s market reach, particularly in foreign markets, enables companies to do market research, and reduces the amount of money spent on marketing (Kaur, & Kumar, 2021). For example, social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are being used more often by businesses in order to raise income via the construction of customer networks and advertising, to market a brand, and to share ideas in order to enhance the manner in which business is carried out. It is possible for a business to enhance its search engine position, boost the amount of visitors to its website, and acquire qualified staff by using websites such as LinkedIn and Quora. Lastly, one of the ways in which companies may benefit from social media is by using it as a tool for monitoring their rivals’ activities. Ultimately, social media has really benefited business.
Image 1: Monthly active social media users on selected platforms (Sourced from: Statista, 2022)
While it is true that social media has many benefits, some of which are highlighted above, it also has a number of disadvantages. One of the curses of social media and related networking activities is the constant cyberbullying cases whenever people interact. Before the advent of social media, everything, even bullying, was much easier to do. Because of the proliferation of the internet, a whole new kind of bullying has emerged; cyberbullying (Dutta, De, & Chandan, 2017). It could be direct through making other people’s online presence miserable using personal accounts, or indirectly through the use of fake social media accounts. Sending communications that include threats or intimidation, as well as spreading rumors and false information, are all examples of cyberbullying. The act of establishing a phony account for the purpose of making fun of another person constitutes cyberbullying. Some users create phony social media accounts that allow them to conduct all of their online activities without risking anybody discovering their true identity. The internet has made it much simpler to engage in behavior like this one, thus increasing cyberbullying.
One of the drawbacks of social media is that it might potentially change people’s behaviors, which is another disadvantage. Some people believe that using social networking sites makes it more difficult to concentrate, which in turn makes it more difficult to get things done. In addition, preteens, teenagers, and young adults often abuse social media and exploit it in an attempt to gain popularity for themselves. Even while the term social media is often used to refer to events that bring people together, it does not seem that this is one of the most important purposes that social media serves. Users of social networking sites like Facebook abuse the system and end up giving these connections false traits by adding as many so-called “friends” as they possibly can, which may number in the thousands in certain cases (Cinelli et al., 2022). Because of how casual and inconsequential these interactions are, many people don’t even know some of the people they consider to be their “friends.” These connections, which are just hurting each other more, have no purpose other than to give the impression that you are closer to other people. It is no longer common practice to use social media platforms in the manner in which they were first conceived: namely, as efficient methods by which to make new acquaintances and establish relationships. This is due to the fact that they have been mistreated throughout their lives. The fact that many people now use social media for constructive reasons is, however, the single most important contribution that social media has made to the world as it exists now.
On social networking platforms, there have been several reports of frauds and scams, in which individuals have been tricked into believing something or purchasing something by other users, only to subsequently find out that what they first believed to be true was fake. Because there is such a large number of influencers and bloggers on Facebook and Instagram, it may be difficult to differentiate between those who provide genuine connection and those who are merely interested in seeming credible via the use of flashy online personas. In a similar vein, the use of social media has the potential to become somewhat addicted (Qazi et al., 2021). This aspect of technology is incredibly detrimental and dreadful to people’s life since it may lead to addiction. These websites have mostly targeted adolescents, encouraging them to become too involved in their activities to the point where they eventually cut themselves off from the rest of society. In spite of the fact that their very survival relies on it, people chose to squander their time on pointless endeavors and activities, such as social networking sites, rather than concentrating on useful projects and endeavors that may benefit both themselves and society as a whole. They are literally fighting for their life.
In an attempt to sum up the argument. social media is both a curse and a blessing, much like fire is crucial for human survival yet lethal when used improperly. In another example, water is necessary in supporting human life but it can cause harm. In other words, social media usage in unpredictable because one cannot accurately predict what how users interact or the information they share. It is quite improbable that there will ever be any techniques that would successfully eradicate social media disadvantages as mentioned above. Even though it is a relatively new kind of technology, its effects are not something that can be ignored. Because of the same issue, the companies that administer social media platforms need to devote more effort to monitoring and regulating such sites. In addition, it is essential for users to have self-control in order to avoid the risks of misusing social media or using it in an incorrect manner. This may be accomplished by exercising self-control. As such, social media platforms may be both a scourge and a benefit in today’s world. It is entirely up to its users to decide whether it is a blessing or a curse. As humans, we have the option of abusing Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube’s power or using TikTok, Twitter, or WhatsApp to make a difference in the world. It is up to us to choose social media’s place in our lives; the differences between individual actions may be little, but the outcome differs considerably.
References
Baccarella, C. V., Wagner, T. F., Kietzmann, J. H., & McCarthy, I. P. (2018). Social media? It’s serious! Understanding the dark side of social media. European Management Journal, 36(4), 431-438. https://beedie.sfu.ca/sms/admin/_DocLibrary/_ic/82d7197664a0ffce171b0b585495808f.pdfCinelli, M., Cresci, S., Quattrociocchi, W., Tesconi, M., & Zola, P. (2022). Coordinated inauthentic behavior and information spreading on twitter. Decision Support Systems, 113819. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167923622000902
Coleman, B. C., Pettit, S. K., & Buning, M. M. (2018). Social media use in higher education: do members of the academy recognize any advantages?. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(1), 420-442.
Dutta, P., De, C., & Chandan, A. (2017). Impact of social media on student life: A blessings or curse. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development Online, 4(7), 479-486.
Kaur, K., & Kumar, P. (2021). Social media: a blessing or a curse? Voice of owners in the beauty and wellness industry. The TQM Journal. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pawan-Kumar-161/publication/353681136_Social_media_a_blessing_or_a_curse_Voice_of_owners_in_the_beauty_and_wellness_industry/links/610a5c471ca20f6f86fd332e/Social-media-a-blessing-or-a-curse-Voice-of-owners-in-the-beauty-and-wellness-industry.pdfQazi, A., Hardaker, G., Ahmad, I. S., Darwich, M., Maitama, J. Z., & Dayani, A. (2021). The Role of Information & Communication Technology in Elearning Environments: A Systematic Review. IEEE Access, 9, 45539-45551. HYPERLINK “https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6287639/9312710/09381199.pdf”https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6287639/9312710/09381199.pdfStatista (2022). Most popular social networks worldwide as of January 2022, ranked by number of monthly active users. Available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20Social%20networking%20sites,traction%20in%20previously%20underserved%20marketsTlili, A., Huang, R., Shehata, B., Liu, D., Zhao, J., Metwally, A. H. S., … & Burgos, D. (2022). Is Metaverse in education a blessing or a curse: a combined content and bibliometric analysis. Smart Learning Environments, 9(1), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-022-00205-x
HEPATITIS B
HEPATITIS B
The term Hepatitis simply implies to inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by toxins like alcohol or viruses. Other viruses that can injure the liver include hepatitis A & C viruses. However, all the three hepatitis A, B & C viruses are not related to each. What distinguish the viruses from each other is their structure, mode of spreading among persons, severity of signs they normally cause, how they are treated, and the results of the infections.
Environment
Hepatitis B infects the liver, and what causes this is the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV). Approximately 350 million people worldwide are infected with this virus, which causes 620,000 deaths across the world annually. Statistics from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that nearly 46,000 latest cases of hepatitis B reported in U.S.A in the year 2006 (Nettleman & Mortada, 2008).
The rate of new infection in the U.S is highest among individuals aged between 25-44 years (3.1 cases per 100,000 people) and lowest among those younger than 15 years (0.02 per 100,000 people). This can be used draw significant transmission modes of Hepatitis B (drug abuse, sexual transmission, contact with infected blood, etc) and the consequences of universal vaccination of infants. U.S has so far recorded a 75% drop in newly diagnosed cases of Hepatitis B in the past decade. The outcome emerges as a result of increased vaccination, and heightened public awareness of HIV/AIDS that has led to safer sex practices (Nettleman & Mortada, 2008).
Host
In the initial cases of Hepatitis B, a person is said to have an acute infection. Majority of people succeed in eliminating the virus, and become infection free. In other cases, the virus resist, leading chronic infection with Hepatitis B that usually last longer. Approximately 0.8-1.4 million Americans are chronically infected with Hepatitis B. Furthermore; 15%-20% population of Sub-Sahara Africa and Southeast Asia are chronically infected with Hepatitis B (Nettleman & Mortada, 2008).
Agent
The HBV is a DNA virus, implying that it is genetically made up of deoxyribonucleic acids. It belongs to Hepadnaviridae family of virus. The virus is mainly found in the liver; however, it can also be traced in the blood and some body fluids. HBV has an enclosing envelope (outer coat) and a core particle (central portion). The envelope consists the surface antigen (HBsAg). The core contains the core antigen (HBcAg) and a DNA. Both antigens are present in the blood stream and are markers used in the diagnosis and evaluation of patients with suspected viral hepatitis.
HBV replicates in the liver cells, however, the virus itself is not directly accountable for the liver damage. Its’ presence activates an immune response from the body as the body tires to get-rid off the virus, and heal from infection. This response causes inflammation and can critically injure the liver cells (Nettleman & Mortada, 2008).
MODE OF TRANSMISSION
Hepatitis B is transmitted through exposure to infected body secretion or blood. The HBV is present in the semen, saliva, breast milk, blood, and vaginal discharge. Unsafe sexual exposure among the Americans is the major mode of transmission of hepatitis B, followed by the use of contaminated needles for either body piercing, tattooing, injecting illicit drug or acupuncture. Others include mother to a newborn during birth, transfused blood, donated livers, and other organs, however, this cases are nowadays rare due to improvement in medical technology (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).
Intervention
Hepatitis B is preventable through vaccination which is effective to infants, children and adults. Therefore, all families, sex partners and close household members of the chronically infected individuals need to be screened and put on vaccination. Secondly, avoid sharing of sharp objects and also avoid coming in contact with blood and body fluids. Lastly, sexually active individual should practice safer sex especially if they are not in a steady relationship (CDC, 2012).
Conclusion
In summary, there are three types of hepatitis i.e. A, B & C with different characteristics; however, we dealt with hepatitis B. The disease is caused by HBV whose host is human beings, and it infects the liver. It is transmitted through several ways including unsafe sex and sharing of sharp objects with infected people. Although, the disease has a vaccination, it continues to infect a good number of people worldwide. We notice that disease kill approximately 620,000 people across the world yearly.
Reference
Nettleman, M. D & Mortada, E. M. (2008). MedicineNet.com: Hepatitis B (HBV, Hep B). Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/hepatitis_b/article.htm.
CDC (2012). Hepatitis B Information for Health Professional. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HBV/.
Social Media Infrastructures and Algorithms and User Identifies Online
Social Media Infrastructures and Algorithms and User Identifies Online
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Social Media Infrastructures and Algorithms and User Identifies Online
The utilization of social media supports a significant amount of people’s identities and daily activities. Social media platforms rest on digital infrastructures and algorithms. This makes it crucial to understand the influence of algorithmic changes and how to deal with them to serve both work-related and personal identities, goals, and purposes. The zeal to understand the impact of algorithms and within social media platforms is no longer left for mathematicians and computer professionals. Interests in these social media algorithms and their influence starting from how the infrastructure and algorithms are designed, have advanced beyond the common computational understanding of efficiency and optimization towards organization, societal and human understanding of its effects and applications. This paper sheds light on the socio-technical interplays that occur when people attempt to understand the way social media infrastructure and algorithms function and how these algorithms affect a person’s professional and personal identity.
Algorithms are step-by-step instructions that are used for problem-solving. They are constantly used when completing numerous tasks in our daily lives, for example, purchasing items online, predicting the most effective traveling route to the office, or even making forecasts on how a pandemic outbreak could be contained. Therefore, they are straightforward computational procedures consisting of specifications and direct descriptions of the kinds of steps to efficiently solve a problem or a task (Milan, 2015). However, how they operate could appear ambiguous to social media users. How the social media infrastructure and platforms work and how they affect the user’s identity, professional identity, and society is discussed from the individual users’ perspective and the wider society.
Since social media platforms are also professionally used, professional personnel have an emerging trend to manipulate the dominant platform algorithms for their work purposes. Many computer programs are developed with algorithms geared at bringing the user to a specific pre-defined goal in as few steps as possible (Carah & Angus, 2018). Professional work that entails using social media infrastructure such as the ones provided by Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are made of and often redefined by the owners of the platforms. They are also redefined by the different types of users’ data that consist of encoded users’ behaviors and other information, touching on how the user navigates and uses the platform. The large volume of data that continuously flows through these social media infrastructures makes the algorithms’ lifecycle relatively short (Woolley & Howard, 2016). Social identities are the images derived from the relationships formed online. Social identity groups include those that are, for example, formed through mental, social, and physical characteristics of people including gender, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, socioeconomic groups, social class, abilities, and so on. Social media uses these identities as part of its algorithms to include diversity and in data collection. This means that the algorithms should be dynamic and constantly changing. As they change, the social media users’ work of understanding how they operate and their online identities are also subject to change. The interactions of different users online and their willingness to share their data form the crucial resources for social media infrastructure owners to mine data and customize the social media algorithms. Therefore, these algorithms are critical agents of the socio-technical two-way arrangement of platform owners and platform users.
From the professionals’ perspective, how information is shared on social media infrastructure and the algorithms lurking behind how they operate is relatively unknown. Platforms like Facebook are not static. Such platforms could be understood as dynamic, growing infrastructures in which the algorithms are cultivated and improved over time. Because of uncertainty over how social media algorithms change and operate, professionals’ tasks and online identities that use these platforms are due to change (Napoli, 2015). Therefore, working with social media sites is described as a continually changing entanglement of professional identity, tension, and technology where it is crucial to adapt to the key components.
Social media platforms have become immensely popular for professional use geared towards increasing the citizens’ participation efforts in local governments. This is because they are platforms that citizens are already familiar with from their regular private use. The social media infrastructure stimulates sociality and creativity in a way that most conventional government platforms do not. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are a group of social media infrastructures that are distinctive in the sense that they have allowed people to self-design their identities and increase their visibilities on social networks (Napoli, 2015). With the algorithms at play, being social on social media is not only an act of making a person’s network visible to a group of people that you are already familiar with. However, it is a performance that has been constituted by the users’ regular engagement in connections and content-driven and inspired by social media algorithms and business logic (Woolley & Howard, 2016). Social media algorithms could help local governments to improve their image or identify in the eyes of the public through exploiting the algorithms’ ability to make a particular news item to trend or sponsoring content that paints their work in a positive light.
As working with social media is becoming more common, an accurate understanding of the platform algorithms’ interwovenness and work has increasingly become salient. The social media infrastructures are enablers of a set of double logics. Their duality is also a double-edged sword of empowerment of the platforms and their users. This means that, on the one hand, these platforms can steer connections and content to their users based on their commercial logic. On the other hand, these social media platforms are still dependent on users to share their identities and interaction data with the various platforms (Woolley & Howard, 2016). In this kind of interplay between the platform users’ and owners’ commercial interests, the algorithms become intriguing. They serve as a boundary item between the platform users’ identity and the owners, with both sides being similarly interested in harnessing the algorithms to suit their various purposes.
Rating and relevance are crucial aspects of the algorithms woven into the infrastructure of social media platforms. Relevance is based on what the user in past interactions online has shown interest in. This is primarily the kind of content that has been shared, commented on, liked, or the kind of content generated by other users who interact with him. Depending on how the user adapts to the algorithms, other users interact differently with various social media posts (Milan, 2015). It should also be noted that depending on the engagement levels on posts and the negative and positive reactions originating from the users, professionals and their unique attributes or identities who work with these platforms will be rated by the users and the algorithms (Woolley & Howard, 2016). Such a rating is crucial data that gets fed into the algorithm of the specific social media platform. The algorithm would therefore shape future connections and content that will be visible to the users. This means that it is the algorithm that will structure the content available to the user based on the data and information collected concerning the user’s attributes, likes, and general identity. The platform owners aim to develop even more relevant services for the users and make even more accurate predictions touching on user demands and preferences.
Social media change elements and algorithms work as a concept employing socio-technical interplay. Initially, the socio-technical approach was primarily a response to overcome the opposition between social and technological determinism. Still, it was criticized for being nothing more than an instrumental normative tradition. The practices’ practical impact involved in socio-technical research has also been probed over the years. The role of technology and how interactions between people, technology, and organizations occur are yet to be fully understood. Several decades later, it is still common to see literature has yet to delve deeper into how dynamic algorithms and the ambiguity of their operations affect the way people are going about their personal and professional duties. There was a time when the hardware view prevailed as a multiple-context specific technology definition standard in organizations that mostly used machinery (Woolley & Howard, 2016). However, the modern changes as elaborated in the discussion area on a distinctively different level. There is still the need to delve into the socio-technical interplay and what takes place during activities that are affected by the ever-changing elements of infrastructure, algorithms, and user identity within the platforms used for work-related tasks.
The paper presents the case for a call for comprehensive discussions between social media infrastructure, algorithms, and their interplay with user data and identity. This has been achieved through an in-depth evaluation of how algorithms affect professional and personal interactions on social media platforms. The paper’s main contribution lies in conceptualizing algorithmic work, what it entails, and how it works with social media layout and media. It can be stated that algorithmic work is a socio-technical relational arrangement between social media users and the algorithms. The structures and performance of algorithmic work constitute adjusting the actual social media and user operations and interactions as the algorithms change.
References
Carah, N., & Angus, D. (2018). Algorithmic brand culture: participatory labor, machine
learning, and branding on social media. Media, Culture & Society, 40(2), 178194.
Milan, S. (2015). When algorithms shape collective action: Social media and the dynamics of
cloud protesting. Social Media+ Society, 1(2), 2056305115622481
Napoli, P. M. (2015). Social media and the public interest: Governance of news platforms in the
realm of individual and algorithmic gatekeepers. Telecommunications Policy, 39(9), 751-760.
Woolley, S. C., & Howard, P. N. (2016). Automation, algorithms, and politics| political
communication, computational propaganda, and autonomous agents
Introduction. International Journal of Communication, 10, 9