The Divisive Potential of Social Media

Words by Maddie Balcombe

There is no denying that, today, social media platforms have become indispensable to the workings of our society. In fact, it is rare to go a day without hearing the words: “I saw this on TikTok”, or “it’s trending on Twitter”, or “did you see their post on Instagram?” Social media has transformed the way we live, the way we communicate and the way we perceive society. However, recently I have been wondering if the prevalence of social media within our lives is always a good thing.

I am not ashamed to say that I have actively used social media platforms every day for the past eleven years of my life. In 2012, long before the days of filters and reels, I joined Instagram. Then, in 2013 I made my first Twitter account. Then came the Tumblr pages, the Facebook profile, the Snapchat account, the (albeit shortlived) YouTube channel… the list really is endless! Back in the early-mid 2010s, I remember feeling so excited by social media. These platforms were a place for people to bond over shared interests; a place to recognise talent and creativity; a place of positive change. Social media, with its charm of instant connectivity and ability to defy physical borders, is meant to unite us. However, eleven years later, I can’t help but feel as though it is now just driving us further apart.

Lately I’ve begun to notice, as social media continues to progress and evolve, that everyone seems to have an opinion on everything, even when it does not concern them. Social media allows users immediate access to intimate details of people’s lives. We see what people are eating in a day and what they’re wearing of an evening, we hear their political opinions and religious views, and we observe them at their highest points as well as their lowest moments. These levels of oversharing tend to give consumers an illusion of familiarity with the people that they are seeing on their feed. This illusion can be dangerous as, when we consume this kind of content, it’s easy to forget that there is a real person with real feelings behind the TikTok video, Instagram story or tweet. From the actions taken in a certain situation, to the décor in someone’s house; from the colour of someone’s hair, to the dynamics of a relationship, everything posted on social media is automatically scrutinised and debated. Ultimately, people today are too quick to pass judgement and comment over what that they see online. The age-old saying ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ seems to have gone out of the window in today’s social media landscape. When we pass judgements on individuals, we become polarised by our opinions and divided over matters that would never normally concern us in environments outside of social media.

This sense of polarisation extends beyond a personal level, affecting discussions surrounding social issues too. Of course, social media can be a tool to unite us against serious social issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and so on. For example, social media can be used as a space to raise awareness about injustices, and it is entirely thanks to social media that, now global movements, such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too, were able to grow their platforms. Although social media has somewhat maintained this ability to unite people against social injustice, there has unfortunately been a recent rise in hate and prejudice on social media platforms.

For example, in recent years, on TikTok and Twitter especially, there has been a sharp rise in toxic masculinity and what is known as an ‘alpha male mentality’. Figures such as Andrew Tate have created platforms through social media which are largely used to spread outrageous claims, provocative statements and hateful rhetoric against women and minorities. In a recent survey conducted by anti-fascism charity Hope Not Hate, it was reported that 8 in 10 boys, aged 1617 in the UK, had read, watched or listened to Tate’s content. This statistic is shocking considering the impressionable age of Tate’s audience. Perhaps even without realising it, Tate’s viewers will begin to internalise his views and perpetuate them independently, continuing the cycle of division that seems to be characterising our social media landscape today. Outside of the rise of toxic masculinity, we have unfortunately also seen a spike in all forms of hate-speech on social media too. From the blatant displays of transphobia that emerged online after the brutal murder of Brianna Ghey, to the relentless racist taunting of public figures such as Meghan Markle, social media feeds are dominated by divisive rhetoric all too often.

I do love social media and I believe that, when it is used correctly, it has a really strong place within our society. However, the constant perpetuation of hatred that has been dominating my feed recently is dangerous, upsetting and ultimately divisive. Steps need to be taken to stop this, and we need to remember that there are real people behind the headlines and behind the posts that we consume. Social media used to be a positive and light-hearted space intended to bring people together, no matter their backgrounds. I hope that, one day, it will return to being just that.