By MASON ROBINSON
Sheridan High School Student
Editor’s Note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.
The definition of media is “the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the internet) regarded collectively,” according to dictionary.com.
The media is the main source of information in an average person’s life. This is bad and good at the same time. For example, it can inform you about important events, but on the other hand it can be used to misinform you and spread hate. I understand this is a bit of an ironic topic, especially since you are reading this in a newspaper, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I will be explaining the pros and cons of having such advanced media technology.
Let’s start with the pros of having such an advanced media.
First, mostly everyone has access to different types of media, whether it’s the news or a social media platform. This is important because if something significant happens you can find out about it and not have the uneasy feeling of unknowing. Although everything you read may not be significant, it is still information you can collect. Without the news you might miss out on issues or events going on in your part of town or even on the other side of the planet. Having a source to inform you about relevant topics is useful, especially in a pandemic.
Using social media is helpful for keeping up and connecting with your friends and family, which is very convenient. Although social media is fairly new, it seems to have everyone’s attention, which is useful for transmitting information. Using social media, you can connect with other people. This has the potential for making new friends and opening your horizons and meeting new people. Although this doesn’t seem that significant, try and live a week without social media like Instagram or Facebook, and you will realize how important it is to your day-to-day life.
Although the media is helpful, it can be super dangerous at the same time. The media uses tricks to try to manipulate what you think. Whatever media you watch or use is mostly one-sided. The media does this on purpose, trying to connect with one’s beliefs or opinions which corners the market and gets them better ratings or views.
Although it may seem like this has no truth at all, think how many times you agree with the media you watch and use. I can guarantee that you will not disagree a lot because that’s how they pull you in and keep you watching. This isn’t good for people because being able to create an opinion with unbiased material is a great skill to have. But nowadays, people seem to believe all the information that is fed to them.
Social media also has some pretty sketchy things besides the regular information. For example, people can make different accounts and catfish random strangers online. This can end up in loss of money or even kidnapping. Nowadays, people are always on social media, which can result in lack of emotional connection. If you are looking at your phone 24/7, then you will forget how to interact with people, which is one of our biggest traits as human beings (socially existing). Social media also gives people the chance to criticize and just be mean to other people without having to reveal their face or identity. Another reason social media isn’t that great is because it can give people a skewed self-image.
All in all, social media is good and bad for all the reasons above. In my opinion, you just have to be wary of the way you use the media in today’s day and age. Most of the time, if you use the media carefully then you have a very low chance of being harmed by it. But if you’re not careful, then you could be in for a real treat. So my message to you is to be cautious when browsing social media and not be totally manipulated by somebody else’s opinion.