Having uploaded my podcast over a week ago, I was amazed at the response which I gathered.  Overall, I believe the general consensus which my listeners had, was that social media is not to blame in its entirety, but the users of the platform.

A good point which was raised in the comments of my podcast was made by Jaron who said “It becomes so much easier to keep scrolling than to deal with the real-life situations”. This concept was discussed briefly in the podcast by Luke and I totally agree with it. Social Media creates this alternative to real life and many people find themselves stuck in it for too long. Whilst this break can often be deserved and needed, the misuse of the platform when we are taking our “break” definitely has a huge negative on our mental health. Although listener, Oliver Eaton, does believe a similar idea to that of Jaron, he raises the point that there’s “automatic pressure to look good”. Combined with Jaron’s ideas you can completely see why people struggle dealing with the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Users feel the need to create a perfect version of themselves in this separate world which can cause strain on them.

I totally agree with the comment made by Rohan. Whilst companies could never have predicted the colossal impact social media had on the world, more needs to be done to rectify these problems. Social media plays such an important role in our lives, and they should take pride in that. As their consumers, we should be looked after better to stop the potential risks of social media. If the trends continue, quite a few platforms could potentially just become a ghost town.   

I think the most important point which I hadn’t raised in my podcast was made by Amanda who said social media “can have negative consequences later in life”. Whilst the battle we face against social media is ongoing today, we don’t know how long this battle could go on. Lots of people end up being caught out by things they have previously posted online. Although this isn’t a direct consequence of social media, it is another thing which bares weight to the argument that social media is actually affecting our lives more than we know.

Thank you for all your responses.
- Sam Redgate-Large