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There's something big out there, and it's taking over. It's where ever you look; it's everything you see. Sometimes, it's exactly where you expect it, but sometimes it starts to change you and when you're not even aware of it. It hides by mirroring your surroundings, making you believe it's the truth. It infests the minds of children, teenagers, adults...no one can escape it. Even those who try to avoid it are affected by it.

Of course, I refer to: the social media. *dun dun dun*
Oh, it's a monster!
Right?

Some people tend to think mass media is bad. I mean, it has to be: something so influential and widespread is bound to realize its capabilities at one point and abuse its power...
But that's not all true.

I think that mass media reflects a society's values, and exaggerates them. And if people aren't careful, they will start to believe the exaggerated versions and those exaggerated values will become reality.

What's portrayed in the media as reality isn't always accurate, because it wouldn't be as entertaining. The media puts things out there that people want to see. In return, the portrayals are more extreme. For example the portrayal that, for teens, everything is about sex and partying: Skins can be an example of this (or any show you may watch, I don't watch very much American TV). Teens may be like this to some extent, but the media portrays it as a norm, and thus it becomes more of a norm.

Another example is models, and what is considered to be the "ideal" look. Sure, people have already forumlated their opinions, but some people devote all their time to fitting that stereotype and exaggerate it. And then it's expected that people start looking that way. Hey, if that Victoria's Secret girl can look like that, why can't my girlfriend? If that guy on the Hollister bag looks like that, why should I settle for a guy with fewer abs than that? And for some people, it gets to their heads; alters their self-images. That can lead to health problems. And it's all because of the media.

Or how some shows (again Skins can be an example, or for those people out there who watch Glee, another example) are brining gay characters in to show their struggles but also the process of accepting them. This is the use of media to show different values and using it for good to give people more understanding and the potential for a more accepting nature. And it seems that there are more people who are openly gay, perhaps by the influence of media.

And of course I have to bring up Doctor Who. Anyone who watches SciFi nerdy stuff like I do will understand that the media is also used to bring up realistic potentials in the world. Or maybe not-so-realistic potentials. But they are always interesting, and it opens up questions to scientists about real life possiblities. Could something like this be done, ever? But they also play with your own beliefs about the world. Do aliens exists, are we alone? Are there parallel universes? Can time and space be bent? Are the laws of physics really "laws"?

The media is also important for information. REAL information. Facts. Such as newscasts or maybe updates about sports teams. It's important for people to keep in touch with reality: what's going on globally or locally, what the financial status of businesses are, what the economy of their country is, what wars are taking place, what natural disasters are predicted or have occured...all of these things matter. All of these things are brough to us through the media.

So yeah, the social media is there for a whole hullabaloo of reasons, and has triple the amount of effects on society. We can uplift and praise it, we can disregard it, we can follow its lead, we can protest against it...
But who are we to criticize it, anyway? We're the ones who created it.