Social Media’s Giant: The Pros & Cons of Facebook

Whether we like it or not, Facebook changed our society—both online and offline. With the eponymous social media platform hitting 20 years in February 2024, let us see the many ways that it impacted our lives.

So, here’s the good and the bad of how Facebook changed our lives.

Ways Facebook Has Improved Our Lives

While Facebook received a lot of negative press in recent years, it wasn’t all negative. After all, Facebook did not get over 2 billion users by being a bad social media platform. So, these are some of the few good things the social media platform brought to humanity.

Facebook Brought People Together

Although Facebook wasn’t the first social media platform to bring people together, it is, by far, the most successful. With Facebook, many people can keep their circles updated with the events in their lives, no matter how near or far they are.

Facebook also made it easy to share memories by letting users post photos and videos and tag people in them. So it allowed people who’ve met and interacted in real life to keep an online repository of their shared memories, making it easier to reconnect with these people.

And, if you’re looking to connect with more people, millions of Facebook groups allow you to meet others with the same interests. This feature became even more critical during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Since almost no one could go out to meet others, Facebook groups allowed many to meet new people without leaving the safety of their homes.

Social media brings us closer to each other —and Facebook is the best example of this phenomenon.

Connecting Our Past and Present

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Aside from bringing people closer together, Facebook also lets us connect across time. You can easily find friends you've met over 20 years ago and have since lost contact with on the platform.

Furthermore, Facebook occasionally reminds us of our noteworthy posts from the past. Whether this is your wedding, a holiday, or any other event, the social media platform uses its algorithm to send reminders to your feed. There’s also aneffective way to use Facebook’s “On This Day” feature to ensure that Facebook knows you’re celebrating an important milestone.

Facebook Allowed Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs to Flourish

With its massive audience, Facebook is definitely one ofthe best social media platforms for businesses . And because it knows that companies are more than willing to invest to tap into this market, the social media platform developed several tools they can use.

Some of these tools are free, like Facebook Pages and Groups, while others are paid, like Facebook Ads. But even with just the free tools, many entrepreneurs found success through the social media platform.

Again, this tool was crucial during the pandemic, when many who’ve lost their jobs turned to online entrepreneurship to get them through the global lockdowns.

Ways Facebook Has Worsened Our Lives

Despite the good things Facebook brought to humanity, it also had to deal with many issues. Some of these issues were new to our society, as Facebook seemingly became the wild west of misnformation dissemination.

So, what are some of the biggest things that affected us negatively?

Misinformation on Facebook Deceived the Masses

With the democratization of media through Facebook and other social media platforms, it became easier for fake news and disreputable sites to spread their content. And when you couple this with sensational headlines and quick share buttons, misinformation spread like wildfire over the social media platform.

A study published by the National Library of Medicine has shown a correlation between Facebook posts and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. That means false social media posts, especially those that go viral, could have a real and lasting impact on individuals and our society. AlthoughFacebook eventually took steps to control misinformation , some say it was too little, too late.

Your Data, Cambridge Analytica, Presidential Elections, and International Politics

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Because Facebook collects and stores so much personal data on all its users, some companies have taken advantage of this data to manipulate public opinion. It has grown so much that it’s alleged that this data mining allowed external parties to influence national elections.

According toa Rappler report , Cambridge Analytica and SCL, its parent company, influenced presidential elections successfully in the Philippines. There were also allegations that unauthorized data mining on Facebook was used to affect the 2016 US Presidential Elections,forcing Facebook to address the Cambridge Analytica scandal and fix its systems to avoid a repeat of this incident.

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Facebook Increased Polarization

Facebook allows people to express their opinions on nearly anything—from whether pineapple belongs on pizza to their political and religious affiliation. And while it’s normal for others to react negatively and disagree with a post, our smartphone screens, computer displays, and keyboards serve as a shield when we reply.

Because we only see the Facebook post and not the person behind it, many people have resorted to arguing and this has resulted in broken relationships. This is especially true on contentious topics like COVID-19 and politics. Some have even resorted to cyberbullying—one of the significantnegative effects of social media on people and its users .

Although some people may say that it only showed the true colors of the people who made the comments, it’s unfortunate many have lost their sense of community and their ability to “agree to disagree.” All because they no longer see the person behind the post—only their disagreement with their beliefs.

Facebook Is a Big Part of Modern Human History

What started as a directory for Harvard students in 2003 became a global phenomenon with over 2 billion users. With over 25% of the living population signed up for the social media platform, Facebook is indeed a significant part of our society.

And although Facebook, now Meta, is hounded by several issues, we still can’t deny that it has also brought a positive change to humanity. But no matter how big a company grows, there’s still no telling what the future will hold. Only time will tell if Facebook will go on to have an influence on us in the future.