Utilitarianism: The Negative Impact Of Social Media

The Negative Impact of Social Media Today, social media is used in extreme amounts by millions of people. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are all sites that allow people to converse, exhibit their life, and speak their minds. There is a point where this freedom of communication should be controlled. Bullying exists on several of these sights and only does more harm than good. This harm should be limited and controlled. John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher who redesigned utilitarianism to fit a more sophisticated age. In his book, “Utilitarianism”, the moral system is defined as “[t]he creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend

Often times, people lack authenticity when they post pictures and claim statuses. They only exhibit the best part of their lives, not the full story. Some people even lie about their situation to gain attention. Faulty statuses only lead to more lies. Each person tries to “one-up” the other, creating a constant cycle of unhappiness. The author of the webpage Touchdown Theory, states “[Mill] emphasized the importance of individuality and believed this expression was a necessity for society’s effective functioning” (“Social Media by John Stuart Mill”, 2014). The webpage basically applies the theories of John Stuart Mill to social media and interprets what he would have thought. He would disapprove because of the conformity that exists on social media pages. Not only should individuality be expressed, but connections and relationships with other social media users should be

Humans were designed to have relationships with each other. Social media offers access to people who do not necessarily live close enough to have face-to-face communication. This can be a positive feature for those who wish to meet new people without traveling any amount of distance. This form of communication, however, can also limit one’s face-to-face contact with those who live close by. It is often more tempting to text or “like” someone’s post, rather than have a conversation on the telephone or in person. The communication offered by social media can be seen as more pleasurable than talking in person. Mill’s addition to utilitarianism is explained by Nina Rosenstand, “some pleasures are more valuable, “higher”, than others” (250). Humans are settling for an easy contentment when communication over the internet is chosen. Rosenstand argues that great pleasures require at least some amount of effort (250). Communication via social media is just about effortless, therefore, the greatest amount of pleasure could not be obtained. Connecting with others on social media should be acceptable, up to the point where the communication is misleading and causes harm to another