Author Archives: JAYKOB

For someone who has always believed that social media was a boon to society and the modern world, going against a resolution for it seemed difficult to actually convict to the topic. While researching for the introductory statement I was gonna give, I started to realize the way social media actually restricted sociopolitical change in so many ways from the government putting a tax on social media in Uganda to arresting and banning influential users from social media in Singapore. Like this, I came to know of so much information that made me realize that even though social media is “free” it isn’t. In return for using their platform, we give our information, our clicks, our likes, etc which they use for their gain by selling it to other firms or help in pushing personal agenda or even sway users towards or away from a political agenda. My perspective entirely changed as I was looking at the “image” of social media from a consumers’ gain POV, but looking at the whole picture made me realize how it actually is a bane in its own ways. As I was doing the introduction, I knew I had to set the basis and foundation of which we would argue against Castells’ resolution and this forced me to broaden my mind and look at social media from an entirely different perspective which in turn changed my personal viewpoint on social media.

Watching and listening to the other group’s debate gave me another viewpoint as I was merely looking at it from a political aspect whereas they introduced the social detail of it. Key incidents of successful revolutions like the Tiananmen square revolt which occurred without the help of social media as compared to failed revolutions like the uprising of Egypt in 2011 which had the help of social media drives home the point that social media is more of a bane in sociopolitical situations due to the mere fact that the government can so easily warp or shut it down, thus making it an undependable tool if the goal is sociopoltical change.

A dating industry senior analyst, Caitlin Moldvay says that “Societally, we are going to increasingly meet more of our romantic partners online as we establish more of an online presence in terms of social media“.

A survey of 19,000 individuals married in the years 2005 to 2012 revealed that relationships that began online are more happier and less likely to end in divorce or splitting up. The findings of this survey are that 35% of these relationships which ended in marriage began with the individuals meeting each other online and 45% relationships began with them meeting each other on dating sites or social media platforms. In this modern age, with social media at flourishing as it is, meeting people and dating can be done with just the swipe of your finger (literally Tinder). According to a study done by Pew Research Center in 2015, about 75% of college students use Tinder and 80% of Tinder users are millennials.

All of these surveys and researches reveal that social media and dating sites contribute to a significant portion of the current age’s relationship “searching” tool rather than actually meeting people in real life. Everything from text, audio and video is shared through social media which almost eradicates the need for people to search for a partner in real life. Simply put, it is much easier to meet potential partners over social media and dating sites compared to actual real world interaction as one could walk past a person who 99% compatible with them but would never know it – but through social media he/she could look at their interests, their music taste, the movies they like and a whole array of information about a person(should they choose to reveal it).

In lieu of this, it is evident that in this digital age, most people prefer the convenience of social media and technology in the pursuit of a relationship, thereby creating a new social dynamic – a social dynamic where people are more inclined to meeting people online through the help of social media or dating sites rather than actually meet-meeting them, not only because it is easier, sure the convenience is a major plus point as people are just a literal swipe away, but also because relationships which start off like these have a higher success rate.

First came the “Cinnamon Challenge”

Next came the “Condom Challenge”

And then… the “Tide Pod Challenge”

In December of 2017, teens were eating tide pods. Why? The short answer: The internet. The “Tide Pod Challenge” went viral in 2017, it involved“ a person eating a laundry  detergent pod in front of a wide internet audience. The outcome? A large number of teens being hospitalized due to voluntary ingestion of these toxic tide pods. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, the first 15 days of 2018 have handled about 39 reported cases of intentional ingestion of  Tide Pods from 13- to 19-year-olds. Any number more than zero of people willingly eating laundry detergent should qualify as shocking, and 39 certainly counts. Following the growth of the meme, social media websites like Facebook and YouTube started removing tide pod challenge related content so as to prevent spread of this potentially fatal “challenge”.

The Origin of the “Tide Pod Challenge”

It all started when twitter user @wastelandbaby tweeted out and tried to persuade Gushers to make a fruit candy that looked like a laundry pod. After tweeting this and posting a few screenshots of the twitter user and the company, it went viral, and the internet being the internet, legions of content creators and meme-makers flooded the internet with tide pod memes, referring to the pods as “The Forbidden Fruit”. This further lead to teens recording themselves at least 39 of them got sick and called a poison control center.  Maybe they did it for the attention, or maybe they just wanted to watch the world burn.

Official Public Health Hazard

The American Association of Poison Control Centers strongly warns against eating laundry detergent, and so does everyone else (including Tide’s official Twitter account). Last year alone, U.S. Poison control centers received reports of over 10,500 children younger than 5 who ingested the pods and 55 teens intentionally ingested it according to American Association of Poison Control Centers.