Social impact of social media
The social impact of social media is by far the biggest, as social media work through the
formation of social networks by users in a virtual world. Its most significant impact is the
formation of networks which span space and time and leads to the free-flowing of cultures
and formation of new cultures which impacts the world. It has impacted how people consume
information, how the consumption of media has gone from public to private and personal.
However, on the flip side, social media work on algorithms. The information a user gets
through social media is determined by the user preferences, which is self-declared by the user
and detected by the algorithm. Hence, if one is an environmentalist, then one will get news
and user-generated content on environmental activism. This selective exposure of information
is harmful to the user as the user is not able to get alternate perspectives, for example, the
trade-off between development and the environment. In politics, this can lead to things like
political polarization, being associated with a political party or ideology which is detrimental to
democracy. This is also what is called the ”echo chamber” effect. Meanwhile, research has also
shown evidence that social media use leads to the persuasion of political beliefs, i.e., individuals
who use social media were more likely to have their political beliefs persuaded than those who
did not.