Social media plays a very crucial role in our lives. As a military officer, social media impacts my job in areas such as security clearance. Social media affects specifically socialization, especially as a military officer. Socialization is limited through the inability to control every situation thrown on someone and the existence of competing norms in the military sector. Unprofessional social activity between military officers on social media even though posting online content can be considered fraternization. There is a need to remain professional at all times and avoid situations that can lead to unprofessional conduct. There was this one time a colleague commented on a post that was contained the image of a political leader that held abusive language towards the individual. The officer was given two weeks’ suspensions and reprimanded in other ways. Social media has instilled fear as I sometimes find it hard to share content that I find funny with my friends and family. This has affected how I socialized with people, even in real life. This paper discusses how social media has influenced socialization between people, specifically how I socialized with others.
Social media influences socialization among people because it does not offer security and freedom, especially for military officers. In matters such as the opinion poll that asked Americans their opinions on the First Amendment, where 49 percent of the people said that the Bill of Rights went too far in 2002, military officers should be careful with such polls on social media as they might indicate unprofessionalism. Freedom is heightened by security, and when human freedom and rights are violated, people are at risk of taking actions that might be considered criminal activities. “The public is willing to compromise in its embrace of the Bill of Rights when it feels the need to adapt to heightened risk” (Kristof, 2002). Content shared through social media platforms to friends and family can be used for investigation, and as a military officer, security clearance is essential. “Some senators want the NSA to retain its ability to collect her phone records — along with the records of millions of other Americans” (Haynes, 2015). Text messages and videos shared can be used to further investigations. This has affected socialization between people. As a military officer, one has to adhere to rules that impact online behavior as some things can be termed as unprofessional behavior, which is a punishable offense.
Reason social media influences socialization among people due to privacy issues. Gun regulations are a significant issue discussed severely on social media platforms. There have been installations of more surveillance, and other technological advances such as face recognition and tracking have been installed in areas such as school grounds due to an increase in mass shootings on school grounds. Other regulations have been put in place to ensure security provisions, such as “More armed police and guards at more and more civilian gatherings” to help curb insecurity (Stanley, 2018). Commenting on issues associated with firearm acquisition on social media as a military officer can implicate. This can be a complex topic to comment on, and since most issues discussed on social media are conflicting, this has changed how I socialize with people. Social media has impacted socialization due to restriction that comes with airing opinions out.
Finally, social media has helped connect with loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. As a military officer married to a naval officer working and quarantine has impacted our interaction, and being able to communicate with family and friends through social media has helped keep relationships ongoing. The coronavirus caused restrictions, especially with public gatherings; for instance, “Last Tuesday, Moscow banned gatherings with more than 5,000 attendees until April 10” to limit the spread of the virus (Funk and Linzer, 2020). Social media influenced socialization as it helped provide an excellent way for family and friends to keep in touch and for people to keep working online.
In addition to the influence that social media has on socialization, the core values of peace, honesty, family, and health play an important role in social media. Unresolved conflicts, disagreements, and other issues that affect people’s peace can affect how we socialize with each other and cause mental health problems. Social media offers a platform for people to share crucial content that helps retain peace and send messages to help people going through traumatic events. Family is a great core value, and social media has helped keep family members connected. Social media allows people to offer their honest opinion on important topics and retain integrity in every aspect of the platform. Social media has allowed in providing and sharing information critical to our health due to healthy discussions and guidelines on eating healthy foods to ensure health does not limit us from pursuing our goals.
Social media has influenced socialization between people as it is a powerful agent for people to share their opinions on different matters. Social media offers people the freedom to air their opinion on the issues that directly affect them; however military officers are restricted from commenting and sharing content that depicts unprofessional behavior. Social media impacts privacy and security clearance as text messages and videos shared through the internet can be used to investigate criminal-related activities. Social media has helped spread the news about many topics such as gun control issues and violations of human rights, among others. Social media has helped keep connections with friends and families, especially during the pandemic. Quarantine led to many restrictions, and social media assisted in supporting families in touch while retaining the core values of peace, honesty, family, and health.
References
Kristof, N. D. (2002, September 10). Security and freedom. New York Times. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A91792952/AONE?u=umd_umuc&sid=AONE&xid=c33c27b9
Haynes, D. D. (2015, May 14). Liberty vs. Security: An old debate renewed in the age of terror. Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. http://archive.jsonline.com/news/opinion/liberty-vs-security-an-old-debate-renewed-in-the-age-of-terror-b99500066z1-303775951.html/
Stanley, J. (2018, July 17). A pro-liberty case for gun restrictions. ACLU. https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/pro-liberty-case-gun-restrictions
Funk, A. & Linzer, I. (2020, March 16). How the coronavirus could trigger a backslide on freedom around the world. Washington Post. https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/docview/2377836585?accountid=14580
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