What's the Internet?

There is a first time for everything. That includes the first time I used the Internet. It was in the fourth grade. The class was given a list of different locations that we would want to visit one day and we had to find pictures of that particular place. It was a range from Cedar point, the beach, or even Los Angeles. On the list was Walt Disney World. I had always wanted to go so I chose to search Disney. I was excited to look at all the characters and the different places that the parks included such as the Cinderella Castle. I fell in love immediately.

     Social media is a major part of societies daily lives; however, it can have positive and negative connotations. For example, about a year ago United Airlines faced severe ridicule for having passengers film an incident that took place between an officer and flier. The video included the flier, in distress, explaining, “I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go.” He said this multiple times until the officer forcefully removed him from the aisle and, after hitting his head on an armrest, dragged the flier off by his feet. There were numerous videos posted throughout social media at different times within the duration of the situation. These clips were then posted to Facebook and Twitter. The videos soon went viral and further made the reputation of the company decline. Southwest even came out with a new advertisement saying, “We beat our competitors, not our customers.” Social media was used in a positive and negative way, depending on which perspective one is coming from. Based on the perspective of the business, it was negatively impacting the company because there was no way for the public relations department to come up with a statement of what had happened and how they are handling the situation. Opinions were drawn and damage had already taken place. Based on the perspective of the customers, people watching were able to see what happens in a situation of an overbooked flight. It warned people to be aware of how airlines handle difficult situations.

The direction I see social media taking in the future is becoming more advanced than before. Today people can post how they are feeling, pictures of events or friends and family, spreading awareness and much more. Who knows what the future of this technology could go.

Social media definitely changed since I began. It’s more detailed and much riskier than before. I believe social media is intrusive in a way that it’s always there.  There is a responsibility to using social media. Users have to be aware that the world is still dangerous and should never leave personal or private information online. In my opinion, young children should not be on social media because they don’t understand what the consequences of sharing personal information is. It’s 2018 and look at the advances and problems that people have had, who knows what the future holds for social media.