How to Create a Better Version of Social Media : An investigation into positive and negative aspects of Facebook

Abstract: Social media services are used by around 60% of the world's population and the use is growing. Studies have shown that social media have both positive and negative effects on users and as social media is used by such a large part of the population and is used within many aspects of society it can have a very high impact on society in general. That is why it is important to try to reduce the negative aspects of social media that individuals experience so that those negative aspects do not transfer from the service to society in general.  The aim of this study is to investigate both positive and negative aspects individuals experience when using Facebook and then take a deeper look at what is creating the negative experiences. The goal is to be able to find possible ways to change the aspects that create negative experiences to something less negative or positive instead.  To achieve the purpose and goal of this study a survey was sent out and follow up interviews were held with individuals to clarify what the positive and negative aspects were. In the interviews this study took a more detailed look at what is creating the negative experiences and how certain social media aspects might be changed to create less negative or more positive experiences.  The result concludes that the individuals that were interviewed indeed believe there are ways to change the aspects in social media that currently create negative experiences to something that creates more positive experiences. Some of those are using AI, giving users more control or transparency into the service they use and new ways to create trust between the users and the platform they are using. These results can be used by developers to create better platforms and services with less negative experiences for users.