MANISTEE, MICH. - I hate social media. I also love social media. 

Chances are, you know what I mean: a recent Pew Research study finds that over half of all U.S. adults say they get their news through social media at least some of the time. Many people before me have made their case on the strengths and pitfalls of social media. As someone whose job includes marketing for the Manistee Area Chamber across several communications channels, like social media, I think it's perfectly normal to still recognize that your relationship with social media can be complicated.

In the year of 2025, the internet is a blessing and a curse, isn't it? On one hand, its potential is unfathomable. Someone in Manistee can travel to another country and remain in touch with their family and friends from their homeland. A person with no knowledge of William Shakespeare can learn of his impact on storytelling, including access to all of his works. If you crave entertainment that makes you laugh, cry, think, or just get your mind off of things in 'the real world', you can probably find something online that scratches that itch. Bottom line: social media is a prevalent communication channel, one which can connect you to just about anything.

On the other hand, social media creates—and escalates—its own issues, issues that 'the real world' are not immune to. For instance, many popular apps and webpages run on algorithms: programs that keep track of what content you engage with and react by feeding you content it thinks you will like. I won't argue whether this is inherently a bad or good thing for these pages to do. However, one problem is that the information you see online will not be exactly what everyone else sees. These algorithms can often put people in filter bubbles: situations where algorithms isolate someone from a certain type of information and conversely only presents another type of information.

"How could anyone see things differently from the way I do?" Only not everyone sees the same content you do. Not everyone comes to the same, easy conclusion. In the U.S., if you are a conservative that engages with right-leaning content on social media, your algorithm will likely continue to feature content that supports your conservative views. If you are a liberal that engages with left-leaning content on social media, your algorithm will likely continue to feature content that supports your liberal views. Social media does not discriminate in this regard: everyone online is susceptible to the content fed to them.

This is just one complication of social media. I'm not even delving into how institutions can use the 'quirks' of social media to their advantage: exaggerating a headline to garner more attention; adding false information to 'spice up' an otherwise boring news story; deliberately skewing content one way to tailor to a certain, niche audience. I'm not even talking about the psychological effects social media can have on us: the way it can impact our levels of anxiety and depression; the potential for someone to form a behavioral addiction around social media; the current trend where less than half of Americans using social media are even connecting with with their close friends on these platforms in the first place. 

And yet I know there is good in social media. So much good. I think about last month when Wyatt Chevrolet dealership's dog, Maple, went missing, but was found after the news spread on social media like wildfire. In my personal life, distant acquaintances have become my close friends because we had social media to connect. I've learned about local businesses and events thanks to social media. At the Chamber, I use social media to promote important dates and significant stories that are happening right here, right now, in Manistee County. 

So what's the middle ground? Is there a middle ground with something so good, so bad, so favorable, so divisive as social media? What do we DO about social media? I don't have the answer.

But here's what I will say: you are what you eat, and that includes the content you consume online. A person will only see negative content if that's all they engage with. If you don't want something on your feed, then don't engage with it. I will always support the promotion of digital media literacy skills to anyone that goes online and encourage you to underestimate how good you think you are at evaluating information online. Be intentional about your time online: set boundaries if you need to and remember you choose the content you engage with.

Finally, I remind myself—and you—that social media can be a means to an end. Maybe you don't need social media, and it's okay if you use it anyways. Just don't forget you can put down the phone. Who knows? Maybe you'll discover something offline that an algorithm could never capture.

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Blade Gates is the Marketing & Communications Specialist of the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit 501C(6) organization, whose mission is to build a dynamic and sustainable organization to serve the Business, Workforce, and Economic Development needs of all in Manistee County. You can contact Carmen Kott at 231-723-2575 or carmen@manisteechamber.com.