Social Media’s Overwhelming Hold on Society
In today’s age it is evident that people have become extremely reliant on technology and more specifically social media. It is estimated that 77% of the US population is the owner of at least one social media account (UMI). While social media has its advantages, it also has many negative effects on its users. People have become completely disconnected from society and social media can easily be blamed for this. These sites continue to become more and more relevant for people of all ages, which has a direct correlation with a rise in self-esteem issues and a disconnection between people and their peers.
Inarguably we are all guilty of jumping on the opportunity to post our favorite memories and happiest experiences as we aimlessly scroll through videos and pictures of other’s. We are obligated as to want to reveal the happiest parts of our lives as it sets up a positive image of ourselves that we have the power to create in our own hands. We can infer that this obsession often comes from comparing others social media personas to our own. The Child Mind Institute describes through the eyes of a teenager how looking at friends’ feeds can sometimes make you feel like everyone has it together but you (Social Media And Self Doubt; Rae Jacobson). However, this brings up the question of whether our social media accounts are truly an accurate representation of our day to day life. Ultimately, this new found power we possess can easily be seen as a positive characteristic of social media, when it actually carries many negative repercussions.
False Imagery:
When we are given the power to alter the way we view our lives from a realistic standpoint to an ideological one, it creates a sense of competition. With thousands of photo filters and hundreds of editing apps, we have the ability to erase our flaws almost instantly and create a better image of ourselves as which pertains to society’s standards. Scrolling through posts of highly edited Instagram models and celebrities can take a huge toll on a person’s self esteem and insecurities. The Child Mind Institute states, “Teens who have created idealized online personas may feel frustrated and depressed at the gap between who they pretend to be online and who they truly are” (Social Media and Self Doubt; Rae Jacobson). Whether we choose to ignore it or not, social media has managed to develop even more unrealistic beauty standards into the minds of its users.
Recently, many popular brands and celebrities have created campaigns to advocate for natural beauty with unedited and unfiltered photos. Although this is a strongly supported effort to diminish these standards, it does not take away from the main idea that people will always have the ability to alter their entire life as long as social media is relevant. The real problem with this ability is the idea that people are creating a false image of themselves they can live through online but not realistically.
Social Repercussions:
When you have the ability to completely disassociate yourself from your real life it is inevitable that you may develop some type of social issues. 65% of individuals already have admitted to feeling uncomfortable or uneasy without access to their social media profiles (UMI) which has proven to be a huge problem. In this age, in any public place you will ultimately find one thing in common with the whole crowd, that being the overwhelming obsession people have with their cell phones. This obsession with checking how many likes you got on your most recent post or how many favorites you received on your latest tweet has completely disconnected individuals from real life human interaction. Larissa May, a founder of the social media platform #halfthestory, which encourages people to exist outside of their social media website explains: “”Research has found that technology addiction is similar to any other type of addiction. The rush and excitement that you feel after posting a photo is a neurochemical known as dopamine”(Forbes: Eldor). Because social websites are now a large source of dopamine, social media usage technically has the ability to become an actual addiction in people’s lives thus creating a sense of belonging through likes, shares, and notifications. As a result of this addiction, we have developed the mindset of questioning why social interaction is important if we can have our own separate online life through the presence of social media.
While you can argue that through technology, conversation skills and social skills are less relevant and not as necessary, this mindset has created major setbacks for people worldwide. Social Anxiety Disorder or SAD has proven to be extremely significant in today’s society. SAD affects fifteen million adults or 6.8% of the US population (Anxiety and Depression Association of America), yet symptoms of this disorder typically begin at the young age of thirteen. While we cannot completely blame social media as the source of this issue, it is important that we recognize it can easily contribute to the rapid decline in social skills amongst the population. While we continue to post, snap, and tweet every moment, we are slowly isolating ourselves from every real life conversation and interaction. If we continue to ignore these facts we are allowing future generations to disassociate themselves from human interaction completely.
Confidence Issues:
Our addiction to social media has become unhealthy for our mental health; whether it’s increasing our insecurities or decreasing our social skills, which altogether is another problem in itself. It it easy to conclude that confidence is a trait many individuals in this society lack.
While confidence is not the easiest trait to obtain, the negative repercussions of social media sites make it much more challenging. When we spend hours a day comparing ourselves to the online profiles of our peers and ignoring our real life companions the ability to attain this trait diminishes while we stay distracted. Without confidence, teens and adults alike lack the skills needed for any professional face to face interview. No matter what path a person chooses to take in life, somewhere along the way it is inevitable you will have to present yourself in a social situation. Whether its a college interview, job interview, etc. without confidence you will never stand out against other candidates.
When we spend the majority of our day with our eyes glued to our social media accounts, we deny ourselves the opportunity to practice holding conversations and the skills needed to do so. For example, when we are young one of the first norms we learn about conversations is to maintain eye contact when you are speaking with someone. Because we are so used to checking our phones every second, in an actual conversation it is difficult for many to hold eye contact as they find themselves gazing down at their phone and fighting to avoid the urge to get distracted. While this is just one small aspect to communication skills, it is undeniable it has a huge effect on those directly involved in the conversation. Those who cannot maintain eye contact without getting distracted by their phones can give off the message that they are uninterested in the conversation which can be extremely negative in a professional situation. This all relates to the lack of confidence we suffer from with the assistance of social media, as we are denying ourselves the opportunity to be viewed in a professional manner.
How should we prevent this from damaging society even further?:
The easiest way to prevent yourself from falling under the category of those negatively affected by social media is to take social media breaks as frequently as possible. Deleting the apps, shutting off your phone, and putting it away is so simple yet so impactful for our mental health. Jacob Barkley, psychology professor at Kent State University, explains that “taking a break from technology could help some people mitigate their anxiety” (Self: Lanquist). Without the ability to instantly communicate with others we lower our stress levels and improve our overall mentality.
To sum it up, we live in a society where people prefer to send a text or post a picture to catch up with their friends rather than have an actual conversation and it is time to realize this is not okay. If we continue to let these habits develop and grow as generations pass on, we are going to see an even bigger impact than we already have. That being the loss of real life human connection completely. While social media does have its perks and can be an entertaining way to stay in contact with far away friends, we must take the time to enjoy the world and the people around us as real relationships should be valued much more than our followers and friends online.
Works Cited
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“4 Reasons Why You Should Take A Social Media Break, Like Ariana Grande.” Forbes.com. N. p., 2019. Web. 2 Apr. 2019.
Lanquist, Lindsey. “Does Deleting Social Media Actually Do Anything For Your Mental Health?.” SELF, 2019, https://www.self.com/story/does-going-on-a-social-media-cleanse-actually-do-anything-for-your-mental-health.
“Social Media And Self-Esteem | Impact Of Social Media On Youth | Child Mind Institute.” Child Mind Institute. N. p., 2019. Web. 2 Apr. 2019.
Williams, Brett. “There Are Now Over 3 Billion Social Media Users In The World — About 40 Percent Of The Global Population.” Mashable. N. p., 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2019.
