Monday, November 2, 2015
Looking at social media.
I found what we talked about in class last time we met was very interesting. I have really mixed feelings about whether or not social media is harming our social relationships. I guess that i'm on both sides. I think it is harmful and can be very damaging to relationships and people in general, but it can also have its benefits. These benefits include being able to keep up with friends that don't live near you anymore, and keeping friends and family updated on what is going on in your life. It can also allow people to have access to your life that don't have the best intentions. Social media can hurt people's self worth and it can even be addicting. Our generation is on social media for hours a day. People could make the argument that this time could be spent doing more productive or healthy things, which is definitely true. Sometimes though it is just good to relax and not really think about anything important. The problem arises, I think, when people start to live their entire lives through their phones. I know people who go out and do things for the soul purpose of getting the perfect Instagram picture. These people are then devastated when their picture doesn't get enough likes. They'll either delete it completely, or try to post it again in an effort to get more attention from the picture. Couples will get into huge fights because another girl liked her boyfriend's picture and commented on it and he responded or something and vice versa. These fights are completely empty and about nothing at all really, but they cause damage to the relationship. It doesn't have to be a romantic relationship either. This happens between friends all the time. People will post pictures of being out without inviting one of their friends, and this will hurt the party that was left out, again causing damage to that relationship. Social media becomes a popularity contest basically, causing people to act in ways that they wouldn't normally when not behind the protection of a glass screen. It is even more of a problem when living through the phone creates a strong sense of isolation. In my opinion people who depend on likes on a picture for happiness end up feeling really alone. Even if they have upwards of 100 likes, I doubt that its actually very fulfilling after a while. All of those likes don't really mean anything. People who they probably haven't talked to in years or even never liked that picture and in the end they're just in their rooms by themselves. I think this relates to the Monkey Sphere theory. By trying to remain in contact with so many people, it ends up being harmful. Every one has their close group of friends and then the people they are friends with but not close to. No one person can keep up with so many people at once and still maintain a close relationship with all of them.
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I definitely agree with you on multiple of your stances- regarding how social media can be a positive and a negative influence on our lives. It was interesting that you noted "It can also allow people to have access to your life that don't have the best intentions". I thought this was interesting to bring up because it is absolutely true. We don't necessarily realize when we post exactly how much information about ourselves we are giving out to the world. I also agree that social media can definitely harm peoples' self image. Social media in essence, is a constant reminder of what other people are doing. It forces us to compare our lives with others. We are starting to hold ourselves to standards that we are seeing on social media, that are not in reality reachable. Lots of social media includes altered versions of people and their lives. We forget that half the time, we are not even looking at real people. While I understand social media can damage relationships, I think it is important to remember what is actually important: your relationship with the person. We need to put that first, before letting social media affect our lives and relationships.
ReplyDeleteLauren-
ReplyDeleteYou make several good points. I really like how you tie in the Monkey Sphere theory- by unavoidably seeing and coming in to contact with so many people on such a regular basis, we are presented with an impossibly high standard to hold ourselves to and a completely unrealistic representation of what our lives "should" look like. Trying to keep up with too many people definitely has the potential to be harmful. On any given night, 1 of our 1,000 Facebook friends may be having the best night of their lives- you can bet they're going to be posting pictures. Regardless of the fact that the rest of their week, the rest of their year even, may be absolutely terrible, if all we see from that person is how much fun they're having on that particular night, we naturally feel a sense of inferiority through the unavoidable comparisons we make to whatever it is we're currently doing. I think it's important to keep everything in perspective- one fun album on Facebook is certainly not representative of everything else that may be going on in their life.
I completely agree, social media can be great and damaging at the same time. I think that it's easy to be someone else online than who you really are and that over time this can lead to issues with self worth, and identity. While reading this blog I was thinking about the Instagram star who posted a video talking about how much she hated her life because she was living only through her online profile instead of enjoying her life. I think that that's something that a lot of people get caught up in. Overall, I think social media can be good for family and friends to see what you're up to but that it can also lead to problems if you let it take over your whole life. Great blog post!
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