As social media use is on the rise throughout the world, there are increasing numbers of scholars studying the ways that social media increases conflict and how the nature of the algorithm causes people to be consistently exposed to information that reinforces their own views of the world, known as the echo chamber effect. This echo chamber reinforces particular narratives about the world and leads to stereotyping. In fact, the online world has become one of the greatest breeding grounds for discord and toxic polarization. This discord is causing some to question whether social media forums serve any real positive benefit, influencing some to abandon these forums completely. However, aren’t there also positive benefits to social media, like the ability to gain large amounts of information about people and events in real time? These mediums also connect people all over the world, who previously would never have come into contact with each other. One might argue that the benefits must outweigh the detriments or millions of people would not flock to these places to socialize, learn, and dialogue several times a day. Perhaps this argument is subject to debate, however, clearly people are getting something that they need from these online interactions. Humans are inherently social beings and it is part of their nature to relate to one another and interact. In many ways, social media has become the new normal for how people socialize and relate to others. It has been said that with the internet and social media, the world is at your doorstep. Where people used to communicate with their mouths, they now increasingly communicate with their fingers and a keyboard. However, the question remains, if social media has become a breeding ground for conflict, can it also be used as a mechanism for peace?

随着社交媒体的使用在全世界范围内不断增加，越来越多的学者研究社交媒体增加冲突的方式以及算法的性质如何使人们不断地接触到强化他们自己的世界观的信息，称为回声室效应。这个回声室强化了关于世界的特定叙述，并导致刻板印象。事实上，网络世界已成为不和谐和有毒两极分化的最大温床之一。这种不和谐导致一些人质疑社交媒体论坛是否有任何真正的积极利益，影响一些人完全放弃这些论坛。然而，社交媒体不是也有积极的好处吗？喜欢实时获取有关人员和事件的大量信息的能力？这些媒介还将世界各地的人们联系起来，以前他们永远不会相互接触。有人可能会争辩说，好处必须大于坏处，否则数百万人不会涌向这些地方每天数次社交、学习和对话。也许这个论点是有争议的，然而，显然人们从这些在线互动中得到了他们需要的东西。人类本质上是社会生物，相互联系和互动是他们天性的一部分。在许多方面，社交媒体已成为人们社交和与他人交往的新常态。有人说，有了互联网和社交媒体，世界就在你家门口。人们过去用嘴巴交流，现在越来越多地用手指和键盘交流。然而，问题仍然存在，如果社交媒体已经成为冲突的温床，它是否也可以用作和平的机制？