to think there is nothing positive about social media

[meloncotton]

I am trying to find anything positive about social media, we all know the negatives but are there any positives?

YABU - There are positives which outweigh the negatives
YANBU - Social Media use negatively affects people overall

It's so sad that everyone cites knowing about local events taking place being the main plus about social media. Local events took place before social media, more often and with higher attendance. Our town square is now mediated by private companies. They've stolen the real thing and sold us back a poor copy.

I generally dislike social media in all its forms, but more for what it’s become rather than the medium itself. Much of Facebook is universally acknowledged to be full of vacuous fuckwits, yet it’s the only game in town when it comes to keeping in touch with the local Historical Society back in my old area in Yorkshire.
There are also a couple of niche hobby groups which exist nowhere else, so it’s worth it for these reasons alone. I’m also a member of a couple of groups on Groups.io, which seem to be mostly civilised and largely free of fuckwittery.

Twitter/X seems to have become a toxic swamp and I don’t use Instagram at all. WhatsApp is limited, for me, to friends, family and a few ex-work colleagues. I should probably say that I’m introverted, grumpy and 67 years old, so probably not a typical SM user anyway!

I agree with this. The most negative things I see on social media comes from MN funnily enough.

FB keeps me updated with family up North and abroad. I love seeing people's photos. I'm also in groups which are really for Coeliacs, ADHD,

The algorithm on Insta and TikTok ensure that I only see posts I'm interested in, which is mainly funny animals.

Pinterest is great for creative ideas. It saved my bacon many times when the kids needed to make stuff for school.

I love YouTube for true crime videos and learning how to do stuff, such as DIY or DDs algebra homework 🤣 DD uses it for gymnastic drills.

It can be proper fun.

It is what you make from it. I follow actual friends, local businesses, museums, artists and proper fun accounts like Brian Morabito who is proper hilarious with naration of various paintings.

I only have Facebook and Instagram. Instagram I haven’t actually posted for about 9 years. I just use it to follow small businesses - mainly ones making cute kids room decor that I will buy from their websites or Etsy.

Facebook I use every day. Again can’t even tell you the last time I posted and to be honest I would love to delete it, but I feel pretty trapped because like another user said, most local events and news in my area is exclusively posted on Facebook. I just go on to check a few bits, but it takes me ages because my news feed is full of absolute rubbish from random pages I have no interest in. No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get rid of them. Wish they had an option to only see posts from friends and groups you’ve followed, but all I see is suggested pages! It’s pretty unusable for me now, but I keep it solely because I wouldn’t know what was going on otherwise. Even local road closures or updates from the police are on Facebook. Tried to look on their websites for them but couldn’t find anything.

I do use YouTube and Pinterest regularly, which is probably classed as social media technically, but I personally don’t see those sites as social media.

I found it very triggering in the middle of a mental health crisis and totally deleted my accounts because it added nothing to my life and to be honest I don't miss the mental noise. Perhaps if I was in a better state I would use it but it became self defeating and made me feel more vulnerable and anxious. I was broadcasting my feelings and emotions and it was not a healthy thing. I think it's good to use it mindfully but I'm not in a place where I feel able to do that.

I think there are positives but they don't outweigh the negatives.

Pet pictures/videos
Wildlife pictures/videos
Beautiful landscape photos
The fact that there are lots of other people out there who also love the above and share them to spread the joy restores a little of my faith in humanity.

Local clubs and interests. That's about it.

It's about not getting sucked in and doing moderation, and then it can absolutely be a positive.

I have friends and family all over the world. Social media lets me chat with them cost free and plan meetups easily.

I use social media to fundraise for our local cat rescue and share referrals for people wanting to rehome a cat.

I run a support group for relatives of addicts - social media is essential to maintain this.

I keep in touch with my kids via social media.

You don't have to fall down rabbit holes if you don't want to.

I got rid of all my social media, I know people say MN is social media but it’s not the same essentially in that people don’t post videos, pictures and daily updates quite the same. Anyway my mental health is a million times better since I got rid of Facebook and instagram, no more comparing to others and getting sucked into the “I must have that” mindset. So freeing!

Wish they had an option to only see posts from friends and groups you’ve followed,

this re Facebook: if you use it on the laptop (doesn't work on the mobile version or the app) if you look at "feeds" on the left, you can select friends or whatever. That helps a lot.

As for Twix: i only look at the "following" tab and because i don't follow wankers it's mostly full of football and cats. SM is what you make it, you have to put a bit of effort in.

I have very mixed feelings about SM.

On the one hand, it really helps stay in contact with my far-flung relations and friends. Rather than no contact at all I have a vague idea what some of my cousins are up to, and can get in touch with them easily if I or one of my DC will be in their area and sort out a visit, and they can get hold of me in the same way. It's also useful for groups for specific interests, and helps you to meet people with similar interests and seek info and advice.

On the other, it can be hell for teens, and it can lead to insane echo chambers for adults.

Pinterest went weird with the AI stuff about a year ago - fake photos trying to look like real rooms (americanised Victorian hallway tweaked to try to look like a UK one in various colour schemes with sizes of pictures just off, etc).

Instagram became too saturated with look at me winning at lifers, although some craft pages are OK still.

Fb because toxic in Brexit and never rebounded. Very one sided feeds and people becoming apathetic to the point it's hard to believe anything on there or elsewhere online. Avoid it completely now.

Totally how you use it.

what about teens and how they use it?

I have some fairly niche interests and I’ve connected to people all over the world, learned so much and developed some great connections that have become real life friendships.

On the other hand, algorithms have developed echo chambers which seems to have lead to the creation of a toxic personality type who can’t appreciate different views, perceive discussion as inflammatory arguments, different opinions as personal attacks and their view as the only sensible one.

Its perpetuates the ridiculous school yard tribalism the in crowd and out crowd, having to think a certain way to be in the in crowd. Critical thinking has by and large gone out the window as people parrot the sane mantra to stay in the incrowd. So much is linked to social media, people fear being ostracised, like they can’t survive.

The dangerous thing is people either don’t think, or don’t want to accept how much the “in” narrative is manipulated, people buy in to all manner of things without any element of challenge. Look at some of the utterly ridiculous things people believe in.

It presents a “right” and “wrong” answer. In order to stay in the club you need to always pick the “right”
answer. Pick the right answer”wrong answer and often you’re thrown out the club, off to Facebook jail you go. The judge and jury a faceless algorithm- something necessarily binary decides your fate with no possibility of appeal.

I do wonder if people see how they’re being manipulated and are too scared of being ostracised to challenge it, or just don’t see it.

It’s effectively recreating a replication of witch hunts, inquisitions, searching out heretics.

I agree with the last poster. I've definitely made friends with people but also lost them as a result of using SM as a passive way of maintaining contact. Removing myself has shown me who is in my life (not many) and mainly that people just view and judge or send trite messages that aren't friendship - just a validation of seconds.

Mine was originally linked with work so had a lot of followers but eventually it was personal and it felt wrong to be exposing myself and my thoughts to people who knew nothing about me. I just don't care about it anymore. I can see that it is not a good thing for real relationships and actively takes me away from my life.

Positives: can create a community for marginalised people, eg people with disabilities or life-limiting conditions who might find it difficult to leave the house. Social media connects them with others in similar situations.
I know of people in this sort of situation who have started blogs off the back of their social media, who are now getting paid for their writing/appearing on podcasts etc.
Is a great way for artists/comedians/other performers to build a fan base: there were comedians at the Edinburgh festival this year who'd built a following on TikTok.
I've got a friend who's an artist; a significant proportion of her sales are driven by her innovative social media.
Can engage young people in politics/charity/campaigning etc.
All this is contingent on teaching critical information literacy in schools: teaching young people how to identify fake news; to think about the source/intention/veracity of information etc.

Maybe you’ve not given it much thought then?

I will tell my children not to use or use extremely sparingly with the danger of oversharing and the inability to recall a post or image you regret. I think there are two groups on my feed, the rare posters who put the occasional family pic up and those that seem to get validation for the feelings through the likes of friends and possibly strangers. The latter I think is worrying psychologically and I have been guilty of this.

another thing that should be obvious is that people lost the best perspectives of themselves leading to jealousy. I don't know why we put our selves through this and gain unrealistic portrayals of our friends viewing their lives as essentially PR.

Social media is great in itself, but the way some people use it is problematic.

We need better education about risks and balance, and perhaps more restrictions e.g. on children and teens use of it.