How has social media sites affected your life beneficially or non-beneficially? For me, I have experienced a lot of good aspects of social medial; however, I have also experienced some bad aspects. Social media has changed drastically throughout the past couple of years with the new apps and latest technology coming out every year. This has affected me in some ways and I also can see that this concept affects the rest of the world as well. Recently one of the most popular social media sites is YouTube. YouTube, along with many other apps, allows social media influencers to earn a profit from the content they give to their views and followers. I believe that social media has a lot of bad concepts to the apps; however, I also believe that the good aspects of social media overpower the bad by a long shot when people learn to treat others with respect. 
Social media has mostly been quite beneficial because through many apps and sights I have met and reached out to some important people in my life. Some people that I have recently reached out to are my childhood best friend from Cedar Rapids and my future roommate for college. Through social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, I also feel that I have developed better relationships with my friends because we are able to stay in touch with each other when we are not with each other. Another idea that I absolutely love about social media is the fact that I am allowed to express who I truly am through what I love most, being photos. I love to share with my followers the pictures I take and edit because I feel proud that I have the talent to be creative through certain sites. I frequently get compliments about my edits and photos on Instagram and other apps, which also makes me very happy and proud. The last concept I want to discuss is the fact that I am able to keep in touch with my family and friends through each app. I have several family members from out of state, so with social media, they are able to see my photos and keep up to date with the fun I am having. Although these are very positive aspects to social media, I do have a couple negative thoughts about social media.  

I believe that social media has some negative aspects to the apps because people are often times distracted from the real world as they are always caught up with events happening in other people’s lives and the concept of taking pictures. Using myself as an example, when I am on a driving vacation or simply sitting with my family or friends, I find myself scrolling through Instagram or snapchatting people I have streaks with, instead of interacting with the real world. In another way, I somewhat feel social media has caused a little stress to my life because I have to remind myself to send streak snaps so I do not lose a high number with certain people. Relating to this concept, one of the most non-beneficial aspects social media has brought me is the idea that when I am outside of the mid-west for vacation, I become very involved with trying to find service to post an Instagram, scroll through feeds, or open and send snapchats. As most of my Instagram followers know, I go in spurts where I literally post up to three or four times a week; or when on a vacation, up to two or three times a day. Instagram has affected my life beneficially because I feel good about expressing my true passions through my photos and captions, and I frequently receive comments about how well taken my photos are or how pretty my Instagram feed is. The app has non-beneficially affected my life because I have heard comments about myself where people say my posting is annoying or that I am just bragging to people about what I am doing on my vacations or in my everyday life. This rumor could not be further than true; however, I do see how people may think I am bragging. I post on social media because I love to take and edit photos and I want to share the photos with people who like to see my posts. I also like to look back on my feed and see the pictures I am most proud of to remember the memory behind each picture. All this said, I believe that social media has affected my life more beneficially than non-beneficially because even though I become distracted from the apps, and sometimes hear negative thoughts about my Instagram, the positive outcomes overpower the negative ones by a ton.  

When thinking about social media in general, many people believe that it has changed dramatically throughout the past couple of years. I was in middle school before I received my first smart phone and downloaded social media, where now a days kids are downloading social media in their beginning years of elementary school. Whether the concept of younger kids getting smartphones is a good or bad idea depends on the person because everybody has their own opinion.. In my questionnaire, I asked my classmates how social media has changed in general. Most people answered that they believe social media has changed due to the fact that more and more apps are becoming popular and the younger generations are becoming involved with the apps. A good point made in one of the surveys was that young kids receive phones earlier in their lives so parents can track their location and keep in touch with them at all times. I think this point is very valid to address when discussing the age group of kids receiving and downloading apps on phones. When I asked my class how social media has affected them personally, many people simply addressed that they have met and developed closer relationships with friends; however, some people had a very good point to discuss regarding the most recent form of media. Finstas are basically second Instagram accounts for people to post about their personal lives and issues. A couple of people in my surveys discussed the fact that due to finsta accounts they have seen or been involved in a lot of drama that led to a broken friendship. Both them and I believe that this issue is due to the fact that everybody assumes or knows a negative post is about them which leads to a dramatic fight, and sometimes an end to that friendship. Although this aspect is very negative toward finstas, there is a very good reason to have one which is the idea that they bring people closer together and allows everybody to express themselves with no filter whatsoever. Therefore, social media in general according my classmates affects many people in different ways so everybody’s views on it will be divergent. Another idea that is very important to social media is the concept of people making a profit from different apps and websites. 

The last point of discussion I want to address relates to the idea of people earning a profit and making social media a career. A lot of influencers’ profit comes from the social media site, YouTube. Although YouTube has been around for many years now, I am sure many people can agree that the app’s perk was for sure in the years 2017-2018. I believe  YouTube’s perk is due to the fact that more and more people are trying to become a top YouTuber. Some ways I have noticed people trying to gain a following is through makeup channels, vlog channels, and story time channels. Most likely if somebody has hundreds of thousands or, better yet, millions of subscribers, they are earning a profit from their content. People can make a profit through PR packages which is basically free makeup, clothes, and other material that brands send to people with a high following, in hopes of them talking about their brand on their channel. Another way people make money, which is more accountable than PR, is through advertisements which sponsor YouTubers in return for them to promote their product. Then, obviously, the main way YouTubers earn a profit is from the actual YouTube company who pays their clients who help the corporation make money as a whole. Talking about YouTube in general, a non-beneficial aspect to the site is the idea that many influencers and fans start drama and leave hate comments on other YouTube channels. After doing some research, this year has been known as the worst year for YouTube drama yet. On the other hand, one aspect of YouTube that I really enjoy seeing is the way fans and other YouTubers inspire each other to be confident and express who they truly are to the people around them. For example, I recently watched a video about a woman who does makeup tutorials and one day decided to tell the story about when she was nine years old and hazardous oils spilled all over her head, leaving permanent scars and baldness. She never told anybody and continued to cover her head with makeup and wigs in order for nobody to notice. Once she started her YouTube channel and gained enough courage to post the video, she gained so much support which helped her overcome her insecurities and become more confident about the way she looks. After watching this certain video, I followed up with some of her other videos where she emotionally discusses how many cancer patients, and other people with traumatic experiences like hers reached out to her and told her that her videos inspired them to be more confident in themselves.  

I believe that social media is very beneficial for many people trying to make new friends and express themselves; however, everyone should always remember to stay positive on the sites and allow for quality time with loved ones without checking their phone every hour.