Journal Seven
Megan McInerney
Professor: Elizabeth Isenkul
Writing for College Success
October 13, 2017
Journal Seven
While negative posts on social media sources are shown to negatively influence a user’s mood, positive posts can also influence a user to feel happier. Sources vary with overall connotations; however, it is also up to the user what media source they use regularly. Facebook, one of the more positive social media sites, offers a wide range of social media services. Some of these can include pessimistic news sources or doomsday pages, but each user’s news feed is determined by the interests of the individual. If a user enjoys tattoos and rock music, and this makes her happy, she can choose to only follow tattoo and rock music fan pages. If someone has a friend who posts increasingly negatively, one can choose to stop seeing this by privately “unfollowing” their friend. Beyond the massive opportunities for individual censorship and catering to specific interests, social media also allows people to stay updated with their friends and family far and near. It updates users on nearby events as well as shows the posts that user’s friends choose to share publicly. This may have a very positive impact on an individual because it allows her to become more involved in local events she may be interested in and to also feel less alienated from her loved ones. Overall, social media can be used in a way that gratifies a user’s quality of life.