Antithesis: Does social media fame help solve world problems?

 YES

By COREY ROBINSON

Without the use of social media, problems would be much more difficult to solve.

Without awareness of existing problems, they will remain unfixed. The March release of Jason Russell’s YouTube video informed viewers about Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Kony has exploited the people of Uganda and neighboring African countries.

The video now has more than 87 million hits, reaching an audience that would have been impossible without social media.

Because of social media, people and organizations trying to solve problems have greater access to the  rest of the population.

Social media helps people become active in solving problems. The incredible amount of website traffic generated donations of $8,000 to Invisible Children, a charity created to end the use of child soldiers in Kony’s war.

If it were not for social media, there would be less coverage of worldwide issues.

Social media gives users the ability to quickly reach other users and inform them of breaking news or developments.

Social media does help solve worldwide problems and should continue to do so.

 

NO

By VANESSA CHAIREZ

Social media does not help solve problems. It is easy for issues proliferated through social media to go viral whether the information is factual or not.

One example of this is “The Kony 2012” YouTube video that quickly spread across Facebook and Twitter on March 5.

Since being posted, the video has been viewed 87 million times and has been described as being so overexposed, viewers have lost interest in the message.

In addition to overexposure, social media can quickly spread misinformation. Spike Lee tweeted what he thought was the address of George Zimmerman, a charged murderer. The elderly couple with the last name Zimmerman who lived at the address feared for their safety after receiving hate mail and phone calls from the media.

Another way social media does not solve issues is that it is such a challenge to keep the eight-second-attention span of an online  adult user. Issues spread through social media cannot be resolved if an online user never reads the story or views a video.

Social media users have a responsibility to do their own research instead of being so quick to share and retweet for a sense of self-satisfaction.