I wrote this essay for my class, and had to limit the words a bit, so its packed with meaning.
I thought I should post it since it's a topic I actually care about.
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Social Media
“The wise do not buy into other people’s perceptions of who they are and what they are capable of. Instead, they bypass a person’s public persona and see who they are in their highest expression. When you see actions taken with integrity, instead of words only, you will then know a soul’s worth.” - Shannon L. Alder
Social media is the phenomena of the century, providing many people with various questions about how do we, as social beings, truly find meaning. No one doubts that this new avenue for communication has various effects on the most recent generation. Many that consistently use this medium wouldn't hesitate to tell you how things like Facebook, and Instagram have helped bolster there social sphere and improve their relationships. On the other hand, many of these same people would admit to the detrimental effects of daily social media usage. From distracting them from priorities and causing occasional frustration due to a uncomfortable post, one does not need to dig deep past the surface conveniences to find the numerous faults in social media. Those faults, some not so easily defined, are influencing the realms of relationships we are so purposely trying to foster.
Social media is among, if not foremost in recent innovations for increasing the amount of communication is able to accomplish. This being said, we must now inspect communication and how communication quality may be affected in this electronic environment. The communication quality during the typical use of social media is more often than not, lacking in connection. Imagine two friends meet on a normal day, but one friend brings their adorable kitten into the fold and both parties exchange exclamations of how cute the little animal is. This real life interaction provides the friends the ability to share the experience with varying responses, all while perceptively gauging the enjoyment of the friend. And inversely, a friend can observe the deeper relays of dissatisfaction or sadness in the other friend. Compare this to an attempt to share the experience on a social medium, like Twitter or even YouTube. Though you may be able to increase the magnitude of responses, the sense of genuine understanding is far lost in the confounds of the consuming electronic experience.
Furthermore, an aspect that also should be taken into consideration when using is not just quality of your relationship experience but of your own self depiction. A social media user must be weary of how beholding an abnormally high amount of filtered life experiences will effect how one perceives their personal life success. While one can lackadaisically browse the uploads and posts of hundreds of people's amusing experiences, the brain will ultimately reason itself into a state of discontent catalyzing a need to provide a experience that would rival some of the posts just lay eyes on. This continual, and sometimes competitive posting of abnormal life portrayals is a prime motivator for the perpetual use of social media. The craving to exhilarate themselves in social networking's arena of attention is by use of entertaining posts, all necessitating a increase in interesting content to fuel a wheel of praise. Though some are outside this arena, most are inside, fighting, and those that aren't fighting, are inevitably part of the crowd cheering on this unceasing display for a reinforced self image.
These effects from social media aren't discriminatory. People are effected no matter who they are. Men and woman alike have been the recipients of dissatisfaction. Researchers from two different German universities have noticed a pervading attitude among certain social media users. The researchers bring out that both sexes feel pressure to make their online image in the “best light.” Men specifically are found to exclaim there self-promotion in there personal biographies, linking to a flaunting of words to attain success in display. Women, the authors of the study say, are much more apt to emphasize “physical attractiveness and sociability.” The stated characteristics of this parading of self-image are obviously not confined to one gender or the other. One needs but only a few moments on a social media site to see a male profile with a flurry of new “selfies” or to find narcissistic profile descriptions on a females account.
This being said, discounting all social media to be inherently evil or destructive would be a brash overstatement. The effects of social media on the most delicate areas of a individuals life are in quite varying degrees but none-the-less apparent. An article on the subject gives a accurate summerization “Online relationships are less valuable than offline ones. Indeed, their net benefit depends on whether they supplement or substitute for offline social relationships.” This paper is not a decree to ban social media, but to raise awareness on the effects. Though not exhaustive in its influences, hopefully this essay gave room for thought on what else social media may be the cause of in one who partakes in this contemporary communication.
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