Social Impacts: How Change Affects Individuals And Societies
Definition
Social Impacts
The effects that an event, decision, policy, or process has on people’s lives and on how society functions, including impacts on wellbeing, equality, culture, community, and social relationships.
- Social change (such as rapid urbanization, new technologies, or large infrastructure projects) rarely affects everyone in the same way.
- Social impacts describe how these changes influence people's lives, relationships, opportunities, identities, health, and wellbeing, both for individuals and for society as a whole.
- A useful way to think about social impacts is to ask two linked questions:
- Who benefits, and how?
- Who is harmed or excluded, and why?
Tip
- Social impacts are often connected to economic and environmental impacts.
- For example, a project that creates jobs (economic) might also displace families (social) and damage ecosystems (environmental).
How Can Social Impacts Be Positive, Negative, And Unequal?
- Social impacts are not automatically "good" or "bad". The same change can improve life for one group and worsen it for another.
- The same change can improve life for one group and worsen it for another.
Example
- Megacities can offer higher earnings and more services, but they can also create severe inequality and social stress.
- Likewise, social media can increase access to information and strengthen networks, but can also increase pressure, misinformation, and isolation.
Tip
- When evaluating social impacts, use categories to keep your thinking organized:
- Health, housing, education, employment, safety, community, identity and culture, and inequality.
Megacity Growth Creates New Opportunities And New Pressures
- Megacity growth is driven by multiple processes.
- In parts of Asia, relatively high birth rates combined with falling death rates (linked to rising health care standards) increase the urban population.
- However, the most important factor behind rapid megacity growth is often rural-to-urban migration, as people move in search of work and better access to services.
Megacities Can Improve Opportunity, Services, And Cultural Life
- For many individuals, cities provide employment opportunities and greater earning potential.
- Large urban areas also offer a wide variety of recreation and cultural activities.
- In addition, modern technology in cities can make life safer and more comfortable (for example through improved communication, transport systems, and access to services).
Example
- A family moving from a rural area to a megacity may gain access to more stable wage employment, secondary schools, hospitals, and a wider range of social and cultural experiences.
- These benefits can be strong "pull factors" encouraging migration.
Megacities Can Also Produce Alienation And Mental Health Challenges
- Even in highly developed megacities, people can experience alienation (feeling isolated or disconnected from others).
- Technology can intensify isolation when social interaction shifts into virtual spaces. An unusual response to loneliness has been the growth of services such as
- An unusual response to loneliness has been the growth of services such as "rent a friend", where people pay someone to accompany them to events or spend time with them.
Example
- One extreme form of social withdrawal discussed in Japan is hikikomori, defined by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare as people who refuse to leave their house and isolate themselves at home for more than six months.
- This pattern is most commonly reported among young men, who may withdraw into a room for months or years.
Rapid Urban Growth Can Create Informal Settlements And Health Risks
- In less developed megacities, rapid population increase can outpace a city's ability to provide housing, water, sanitation, and other infrastructure.
- This can lead to the expansion of slums (informal settlements), often on the edges of cities or within unused urban land.
Definition
Slum (Informal Settlement)
A densely populated urban area where housing is often built informally and residents typically have limited access to services such as clean water, sanitation, secure electricity, and legal land tenure.
Example
- Mumbai is often used as an example of a city where a weak infrastructure and limited resources struggle to support an overwhelming urban population.
- A very large share of residents live in slums, creating major public health, environmental, and land-use problems.
- Where sanitation and clean water are limited, people face higher risks of infectious disease, pollution exposure, and insecurity.
How Does Social Media Reshape Social Groups, Identity, And Power?
- As populations become more urban, large numbers of people live, work, and socialise in dense, connected environments.
- This creates ideal conditions for digital platforms to grow, since urban populations have better internet access, higher smartphone use, and stronger consumer markets
- So, just as wealth and jobs cluster in major cities, online influence and income cluster among a small elite.
- This mirrors wider urban patterns where opportunity is unevenly distributed, reinforcing social and economic divides rather than reducing them.
Social media can support participation and economic growth
- Supporters argue that social media can improve transparency and access to information, which may strengthen social organisation by allowing citizens to share evidence, organize campaigns, and hold powerful groups accountable.
- Social media can also create new opportunities for economic growth, including new types of jobs (content creation, digital marketing) and new ways for small businesses to reach customers.
Example
- During a local election, citizens may use social media to share information about candidates, report problems, or mobilize voters.
- At the same time, activists can draw attention to issues that might be ignored by traditional media.
Social media can also increase misinformation and pressure
- Critics argue that social media can contribute to fake news and echo chambers (online spaces where people mainly see views similar to their own).
- This can polarize communities and reduce constructive dialogue.
- On an individual level, social media can create intense pressure.
- People may experience a fear of missing out (FOMO), compare themselves to unrealistic images, or feel worse about their bodies and lives.
- Over time, this may reduce self-confidence and increase anxiety.
Definition
Echo Chamber
An information environment where a person mostly encounters opinions and information that reinforce what they already believe, making it harder to evaluate alternatives.
How Does Sustainability Link Social Impacts To Resource Use?
Definition
Sustainability (Sustainable Development)
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
- Social impacts are closely linked to how societies use resources.
- It took until around 1800 for the global population to reach 1 billion, but it has grown to more than 7 billion since then.
- This rapid growth increases pressure on food, water, energy, land, and housing.
- When population growth and consumption increase, societies face choices that can create social impacts.
- For instance, providing energy and water can improve quality of life, but the methods chosen (such as dams or fossil fuels) can create displacement, inequality, or environmental harms that then affect communities.
So What Are The Key Social Impacts To Know?
| Concept | Positive Social Impact | Negative Social Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Megacities | Better access to healthcare, education, and diverse cultural experiences. | Alienation, overcrowding, and the growth of informal settlements. |
| Social Media | Increased transparency, easier social organization, and new economic niches. | Spread of misinformation, FOMO, and body image anxiety. |
| Urbanization | Concentration of resources and labor leading to economic growth. | Increased pressure on sanitation and water, leading to health risks. |
Self review
- Name two drivers of megacity growth.
- Give one social benefit and one social challenge of living in a megacity.
- Explain one way social media may improve society and one way it may harm individuals.
