By Marleld Duran

Staff Writer

In the age of the Internet, social media has expanded its role in daily life. With its multiple effects on society, social media has made a greater positive influence on users than negative.

Accessibility to the world has helped raise awareness for different movements and aided businesses in reaching a larger audience through free promotion. Users across different regions of the world have been informed of various campaigns through social media. Movements such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too have been universalized with the rapid spread of information through online media platforms. The New York Times stated that Me Too, a campaign raising awareness for sexual assault, was originally created in 1997. It is the aid of new platforms that have launched in the past decade such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, that encouraged more women to speak out about being victims of sexual abuse.

In light of Puerto Rico’s debilitating debt crisis, LeLe Pons, a social media influencer, partnered with ATTN:, a media company, to expose her 19.5 million Instagram followers to news about the territory’s struggles. The video posted explained the situation within the island and urged viewers to help in any way possible. According to Huffington Post, teenagers make up a vast majority of social media users. For much of the online community, especially younger audiences, it is influencers like Pons that provide information about the global community.

Because of the popularity of social media, some users have gathered followings large enough to make a career out of posting content, such as YouTubers and Viners. Social media has created a new category of jobs. According to Forbes, jobs have not only emerged in content creation, but agencies, advertising, and services as well. In a study conducted by Common Sense Media, one in five teenagers reported that social media has helped raise their confidence. Sites such as Instagram allow its users to share photos such as selfies.
One mother, Eileen Masio, told CNN that every time her daughter posts a selfie, there are always comments from other people complimenting her.

“[Teens] believe that social media helps their friendships, makes them feel more outgoing and gives them confidence,” stated Shira Lee Katz, Common Sense Media’s director of digital media to CNN.

Because of its wide range of uses, social media has helped its users in several forms. In an era centered on easily accessible information, the positive impact of social media outweighs any detriments.