Written by: Mani Ruddock
Just like many of you, I have a love-hate relationship with social media. I love how I can find niche discussions and communities that share my interests. However, I dislike how social media can make me feel insecure and drain me due to all the negativity on display.
Social media has affected our lives and the way we perceive the world. For students, it has affected how we view our majors and our relationships—whether platonic or romantic. It has made people worry about their futures and how they view themselves, through news, drama and trends. These issues have escalated, yielding a negative psychological effect on our brains.
Colleges are close-knit communities, which makes the effects of hate speech on social media ten times worse, states the National Library of Medicine. It affects not only students but also a college’s reputation, climate and morale. This can cause stress, anxiety, depression and desensitization, according to the National Library of Medicine. Victimization, whether direct or indirect, is another issue caused by hateful speech and behavior allowed on social media, which can also be linked to the rise of alcohol and substance abuse, according to a study on cyberbullying by psychologists William Fremouw and Allison Shneck.
Furthermore, hate speech has negative effects on a student’s life, motivation and self-esteem. And, sadly, it is becoming normalized.
Hate speech can quickly and easily turn into a hate crime or violence on campus. According to the “Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hate Crime Statistics Report,” more than 314 hate crime incidents were reported on college and university campuses in 2018. To protect their students against online hate speech and violence, administrators can set up workshops, teach-ins and debates to help students learn about how stalking, slurs, threats and doxing can affect an individual’s life as well as the community’s values. College codes of conduct should also be used more often than they are now to help minimize hate speech on campus.
Social media has pros and cons. However, often it feels like there is more bad than good. With the right tools and advice, we could minimize the normalized hate that we seem to consume every day through social media.