Anonymous: the New Barrier of the Century

Since the invention of social media and advancements in technology, people have found themselves forming new barriers and barricades. These social camouflages arise from the decline of face-to face-conversation. Once people sit behind a computer or a smartphone, they feel safer and forget to use mental brakes, meaning they could say something even if they wouldn’t in a normal conversation. Therefore, social media has created a dangerous place in our world where people open up more freely about their personal thoughts, even if they can hurt others.
Although the computer might act like a shield, it most certainly acts as a key to personal locks as well. When a closer examination is preformed of an individual’s public profile, it can be determined what kind of person he or she is. Furthermore, analyzing what this person has said and the way in which he or she communicates in online situations can reveal character and traits. Is this person kind, insulting, lacking intelligence, or just plain-old goofy?
What social media does is it tears down human firewalls. It gives the false sensation of becoming another and worst of all, in most situations, it never goes away. Once the “send,” the “post,” the “tweet,” or the “comment” button has been pressed, there is no turning back. Information will spread like a wildfire and even though one might delete the post afterwards, there is no guarantee that someone hasn't taken a screenshot and re-posted.
That is why today’s social media is a dangerous trap. Certain people can get pulled in so addictively, that they begin to check there multiple sites every few minutes. They lose track of time and waste hours of their weeks. However, the more important problem is that social media has found a way to create an even greater barrier: the anonymous user. Popular, new apps, like Yik Yak, are based on anonymous platforms and postings remain without a name attached.
To sum it all in one definition, social media is a complex system of exposing people, hiding people, hurting some, and empowering others. It is also a teenage vacuum, in which youth gets sucked into and forgets that what really matters is life beyond the digital screen.