Write a post about the current state of social media and the technology we use to consume it. As usual, take your post anywhere you want, but try to create an analytical argument about new media and what it's doing to us. Does social media, like much pop culture, connect or isolate us? Does it enhance our lives or detract from them? Make us more efficient or more distracted? How do these platforms affect communication, social interactions, psychological well-being, body image, sexuality, race relations, politics, pop culture, etc.? You can certainly respond to the readings to help guide your post. This will be one of the last posts, so make sure you get it done!
I think that social media both connects and isolates us. It connects us because there are so many people that share the same views as you that you can talk to on social media. You can talk to people that you might not be able to talk to in real life. Also, when things happen in the world, the social media community can come together to offer support or their opinion. However, Social media can also isolate us. A lot of people are unable to connect and interact with people in real life, the way they do on social media. That being said, social media can have a negative impact on face to face communication and social interaction.
ReplyDeleteMany people believe that social media has a negative impact on body image, especially for women. This is because both women and men are often portrayed as thin, tall, perfect people. However, there are a lot of movements on social media that promote people loving themselves for who they are and trying to help other people accept people who don’t have perfect bodies. In a way, social media has a positive effect on the way we see body image. Social media sort of forces people to be okay with people being all different shapes and sizes. If you say negative things about bigger people or super skinny people, you are often met with a lot of criticism from the social media community. This forces people to be more accepting.
Very much agree with your opening sentence. We strive as people on the internet but struggle with real life communication.
DeleteStarting in the 90’s with instant messaging, social media has expanded to multiple platforms with the most popular, Facebook, having over one billion active members. It’s obvious that social media has become a significant part of pop culture in a relatively short amount of time. But what has this done to us as individuals and a society? Personally, I think social media has limited our physical interaction with each other and has thus made communication less intimate and meaningful while also isolating us from others. Social media allows us to contact our friends and family anywhere on the globe. On one hand this brings us closer together with these individuals as we get to communicate with them more. But, on the other hand this communication is not as meaningful and is not intimate at all. Reading “Happy Birthday,” typed on a screen is not as meaningful as meeting your friend and having them tell you in person. Also, this ability to talk to each other without physical interaction can lead to people hanging out together less; and when people do hangout, most spend the time looking at their phones browsing social media and not talking to each other. Although we are able to talk to our friends and family almost anytime we want, the lack of physical social interaction leaves us lonely and isolated, staring at a screen. Ultimately, this loneliness can drive individuals toward depression and have other negative impacts. It may be beneficial to take a step back from social media and enjoy hanging out with each other face to face again.
ReplyDeleteYes!Yes!Yes! I feel what you're saying about the typed Happy Birthday not being the same as someone saying it to you in person. It definitely makes you feel differently.
DeleteGiven that we live in a time that is so technologically advanced, social media and it's use is more rampant than it's ever been. So much so, that it has taken away so much from society. Don't get me wrong, it's great that we all have access to everything faster than we sometimes like because we can be kept abreast about world issues, but on the other hand we’re not on social media to see what's happening in Austria. The use of social media is less about connecting with others and more about seeking approval. Approval from people, some of whom you've never met and will probably never meet, and others who you barely even talk to. We all walk around on a daily basis, headphones in and heads down oblivious to anything happening around us. We are constantly comparing and trying to outdo each other, because hey, life is all about who has the most followers or the most likes on a picture. We've lost the ability to have meaningful conversation, and I don't know about anyone else, but if my phone dies and I'm in public I instantly have a mini panic attack. Because who really want to deal with unnecessary human interaction? Not me. But at the same time I'm one of those people who wishes that my friends would sometimes just put their phones down and interact with each other when we're out. I think the picture in the prompt perfectly sums up what has happened to us because if technology and social media.
ReplyDelete"Social media is less about connecting with others and more about seeking approval." You hit the nail on the head.
DeleteI completely agree. It's like we're in this weird era where we love our technology, but once we take the time to put it down and look around, we notice that we haven't truly just sat down and had real conversations with the people we love in such a long time. It's kinda sad.
DeleteYes! Our dependence on technology to keep us occupied has ripped away our conversational abilities. When a stranger approaches us for directions or just small talk we hide behind our smartphones in hopes to deter them. It's an unfortunate thing because our social interactik and ability to speak on such a high level is unique to he human species, but we now take it for granted.
DeleteYeah, I don't know how many times i've seen families in a restaurant literally not even talking because they're all on their phones. And not to mention, the number of commercials on television that shows the whole family completely dependent on their internet. It's really kind of sad.
DeleteIn a way, new social media is corrupting. Its a lot of good things about it and bad things about it but for the average human being like I said its corrupting. It can give one a sense of false reality. Insecure people tend to pose as someone there not because they can hide behind a screen. Its easy for people to interact through social media but that leaves the "hard task" of interacting with people in real life. The advancement of technology has also contributed to that. People are more into their phone when they're out at events nowadays. I went to a concert and people were more concerned with video tapping than actually interacting with the artist to the point to where the artist stated "every one get off they muthafucking phones."
ReplyDeleteThat's bad side of social media and technology but there's a lot of good to it as well. Social media calls for people learning how to network. Networking is a very important skill for one to have because it can open up an incredible amount of opportunities. Social media also makes it easy for people to connect worldwide because anyone anywhere can have social media accounts. I've had conversations with Young Scooter and many other known artists through social media. Networking is the key to opening up opportunities so one can maximize their potential. Advanced technology also makes it easier to communicating. Due to iPhones and androids, there are varies ways to make a phone call. A regular call, facetime, and facetime audio. finally, advanced technology and the connection social media can provide to the world makes it easier for things to go viral.
I totally agree that social media has made it harder to interact in real life since it is so easy to do behind a screen.
DeleteI like that you used the term false reality. it is an excellent way of describing it and I agree that it makes it hard for some people to interact in person because of it.
DeleteThe advancement of social media has had positive and negative effects on our society. So many of us spend so much time on it and put so much effort into our profiles and internet personalities. Being Twitter and Instagram famous has become a life goal for some people and most of them hope that will lead them to popularity in the real world. Many people have become successful in gaining popularity from social media, such as DC Yung Fly who started as a funny person to watch on Vine or Instagram and now he is a part of the “Wild N’ Out” cast. The want of fame on social media makes people do stupid stuff or even degrade themselves. You’ll see plenty of girls on Instagram who have no problem posing in their underwear or provocative clothing. While pictures like those may get thousands of likes, a regular selfie of a normal girl smiling might get 50 likes, depending on her popularity of course. Social media has a different effect on everyone though, so not every girl is selling her body for likes and followers. Some normal people just see it as a way to share their thoughts and connect with people like them, which is what social media basically is. However, different trends on social media made this generation look at it differently and have used it for different purposes. I think my generation has definitely abused the power of social media, but without our devout interest in it, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, and even Facebook would not be prospering as they are.
ReplyDeleteSince the beginning of its rise, social media has been looked at indifferently. Some people have questioned the real value of virtual reality against human-to-human interaction. Others have found that social media and the technology we use isolates us from the real world, leaving us lonely and sometimes depressed. However, social media and the technology we use to consume it is connecting people rather than isolating us. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook connect friends, associates and strangers to each other. Some of these social media outlets allow people to share similar ideas and connects them with other like-minded individuals. Technology allows us to participate in these online-social interactions. These social platforms affect communication by allowing us to easily stay in contact with our friends, family, and associates no matter how far away. easily Social media and the technology we use to consume it enhances our lives by adding more possibilities to our lives. Technology and social media allows us to access news, the latest events and trends in society. While social interactions can happen in reality, social media and the technology we use allows interactions to happen virtually and positively shapes our interactions with others. They allow us to stay in constant contact with our local community and our global society. Other people would think that all these various technological avenues provides more distractions and removes modern interaction, social media and the technology we use to consume can develop personal relationships through new avenues of social interaction.
ReplyDeleteI believe that social media, like much pop culture, connects and isolate us. I believe that it connects us in a way because social media has everything. It has a varieties of ways to communicate to family and friends through what we call Facebook, Twitter, etc. It has ways to express yourself through pictures through the use of Instagram. Social Media is a great way to stay updated with the latest news within seconds. But it also have ways to isolate us we lose sight of taking advantage of what the real world has to offer to us because we are so focus on the latest gossip that are provided by our phones that it takes away our time with the people we love.
ReplyDeleteIt enhances and detract our lives in a way that many people may have not recognized until it has been brought to there attention. I don't think people realize that social media can also be considered a wall through communication. What I mean by this is that social media can be a boost in some people self-esteem and it could decrease your self-esteem. Especially if it means that they don't have to go speak to the person in real life. I guess a good reference in this would be the TV series, Catfish, in this show there are some people, the catfisher, whom lie about who they are because they are mentally afraid of what the other person, catfishee will think about them. When the catfishee makes the catfisher feel accepted and wanted which can in terms boost your self esteem. A way that social media could decrease it would be cyberbullying which is one of the problems that we continue to face today. Cyberbulling tends to decrease people self-esteem dramatically.
Like anything else, social media has its positives and negatives. Through social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook, we are able to stay connected with people who live far away from us. Family members are able to remain a part of each other's daily lives and interact on a regular basis. Social media sites also help when it comes to networking. People are able to meet and exchange ideas that can lead to many interesting opportunities. As a business owner, social media also helps me to promote my business and reach out to clients from all over the country. However, as they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and it is hard for most of us to balance the fine line between beneficial and harmful when it comes to social media. Many people isolate themselves when it comes to focusing on their social media. Now more than ever we see families sitting together at the dinner table, but they are disconnected due to the presence of their phones. Social media can also lead to bullying. Many bullies feel that they can hide behind the screen which leads to an abundance of cyber bullying. Another prevalent problem with social media is that it distorts the way we see our news. The media already chooses what we see as the viewers, but now, with social media sites, people are able to write whatever they want and post it as "news". There are so many false articles and news stories that circulate the internet which affects people's view of what is going on in the world.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right it is really sad how we no longer fully enjoy each others company. I know my family is guilty of using phones while eating dinner instead of spending the time together talking!
DeleteI really agree with your idea bringing up being distracted at the dinner table. It's even gotten to the point where I can't enjoy TV/movies because everyone around me is too busy texting or browsing Tumblr.
DeleteSocial media has become the leading form of communication in our generation. With so many different apps and websites to choose from, there is no limit to the effect that it can have in our society. In general, I think that social media is a good platform for people to be able to connect and interact with each other, however, it can definitely be easily abused and turned into a place of shaming and hate. This debate is very controversial because the pros and cons are almost equivalent. Social media platforms like Instagram have communities that celebrate body image and by promoting models that defy the “norms” of beauty but on the other hand, there are also unfortunately many pages created by people that focus solely on the insecurities and flaws of others. One thing that I see a lot on Instagram is the constant shaming and exploitation of celebrities with pictures and screenshots of their mistakes or flaws. Pages like these are the reason why social media can be so harmful because they make us think that in order for us to feel better about not being as beautiful or talented as these celebrities, we have to shame them and attempt to make them look terrible. On the flip side, if we continue to promote the encouraging and uplifting pages and people on social media, it will spread a positive message and can be used as a way to better one another. To say it simply, social media is all fun and games until you realize that it exploits things for too long and goes so far as to write in a dead gorilla as President of the United States.
ReplyDeleteSocial media may connect us to our friends and family, but in my opinion I believe that it also disconnects us from everything around us as well. While we may have hundred upon hundreds of friends/followers, where are our friends? While you spent countless hours and days building up your social media cult, were your actual friends there with you? Most likely the answer is no, and it's simple as to why. Just ask yourself, "Does sitting with your friend while they spend hours and hours trying to amass random internet followers through their own self promotion sound like a fun activity?" Social media is ultimately self promotion and I believe that humans (especially teenagers) are innately self centered and therefore unlikely to help self promote others. Social media may connect us with plenty of people in an efficient manner, but what impact does it have on us as human beings?
ReplyDeletewith the technological advances that we have today, social media has become more prevalent. Many people believe that social media has a positive impact on communication between people, but I believe that it actually has a negative impact on it. although it allows people to communicate through messages, posts, and comments, people are deprived of the face to face communication that is important. instead, they simply chat online and never really get to know the person on a deeper level because anyone can simply say what people want to hear and not show their true colors. This allows people to put on a fake face and just feel like they have friends simply because they have a lot of friends on social media. also, morality is affected largely by social media. one thing is the portrayal of women because social media shows a very sexual and objectified view of women. on social media a lot of women are shown taking pictures with barely any clothing on and get tons of likes, so then they continue to do so for the likes. This sort of action shows other girls they can do the same in order to be popular on social media which creates this trend of sexual objectification. this also leads into the distraction that social media creates. we have created this trend recently of memes and many other things that people seem to really like. These memes have created a distraction for people because a lot of people simply believe everything they see on social media and never really take the time to find out what is really going on today. media choses what they want people to see and it honestly creates ignorance among those who chose to only believe this.
ReplyDeleteWe have become so dependent on technology, that natural human interaction has become one of the most uncomfortable things we encounter. Everywhere you look people have their heads down, so focused on their phone walking from one place to another, "hanging out with friends, even driving. I've seen couples out to dinner who say nothing because their enthralled with their smartphone. Technology has become our new social interaction. Having physical conversations with real people are a thing of the past. Sadly so, even I have sent a text or social link to a friend in the same room. Social media and technology in general has devoured our physical social interaction. The ability to think on our feet is dwindling. When we send a text we don't have to send the first thing that comes to mind as it would in a conversation, rather we have all the time in the world to edit our responses, edit ourselves, and edit reality. Technology allows people to alter themselves to such an extent that standards (personality, physique, and lifestyle) are so out of reach that self-esteem, too, is becoming a thing of the past. Though, technology and social media allow us to stay in touch with friends and family miles away it has become our crutch. A phone call is replaced with a “like” or comments on a Facebook post to validate that we still talk to or communicate with that person, but in reality a real conversation hasn’t been had with them in months or even years. Technology and social media provide us a great power to communicate, but our dependence on it is doing an injustice to this generation’s social interaction.
ReplyDeleteI also do not like it that the prevelance of social media has definately shorthanded our interactions with other people. It has become very impersonal not only due to the nature of just being text on a screen, but also because it has evolved to shorthand all aspects of networking, instead of talking about current events for hours with your friends in person, people can just "like" or "share" your status. Current social media has streamlined our communications with other people a little to effieciently and superficially. I do worry about the younger generations because unlike our older siblings and our generation, who grew up before and with the rise of advancing technology and subsequent phenamenoms such as the internet and everything on it, the younger and new generations have and will grow up only knowing technology.
DeleteSocial media is basically the new form for people to communicate with one another. Though the things that are different from social media and just talking on the phone with someone or even in person, it's rather a source to get information as well. For instance, when famous people die, you hear about it immediately on twitter or facebook. People who aren't online hear about it in some way or form and then they look on their facebook or twitter just to confirm what it is that actually happened is true. Social media though has also just turned into a way for people to fake their own identities. Catfishing people turned into a movie and then a tv series on MTV, so it's really put emphasis on the people that choose to be cowards and trolls on the internet just for their own benefit. Also, I feel like that since more people have some sort of social media, that it's easier to lookup information about anyone and possibly even hack into their own domain or profile and act like that one person. That's when people are really screwed because then you have people using your credit card all the way in California and you're left as a victim of identity thief. Sometimes, social media is used in a way to harm people as well, AKA cyberbullying. It's given people the idea that they have this kind of power behind a computer screen just because it's for everyone to see since everyone has some sort of social media. Or even websites that are geared towards hate like the new bullshit term "alt-right" which is basically the new coined phrase for white supremacists . And i'm gonna stop here before I go on a rant.
ReplyDeletei completely agree with you. since social media offers a since of anonymous disclosure, people with hateful or ridiculous ideas seem to feel freer about letting their ugly thoughts be known. In reality however, those same people fail to speak up those same ideas because they know in their hearts it is not ok. we live in the world of anonymous gangsters.
DeleteThe current state of social media has definitely deviated from the simple use of social networking and a more efficient way of keeping in touch with contacts, to something more indulgent and catering to the youth of today. The top social media websites will always be ephemeral due to the not only the nature of what's popular to use, but also because of the nature of who uses them. Facebook overtook myspace and myspace rebranded to be music oriented, while after several years Facebook grew to be more intrusive to their users information and people started to use it less and less. What’s odd is the same people who use it less and less have deviated their time from only Facebook and other social networking sites to other programs and websites that currently make up our top social media such as twitter, youtube, periscope, twitch, and snapchat. The invasiveness and overabundance of social media simply pervades all aspects of our life, it is almost impossible to open up any person's computer or phone and not see that they are auto-logged into facebook or have a social media app installed on their phone. One problem with this is that because almost everyone has a smartphone now, we are constantly checking for updates and reception for instant gratification of our posts or ideas to our peers. Not only this, most of the modern youth are even more impatient and inattentive and crave for instant gratification to alleviate what ever uncomfortable situation they are in. Social media definitely has started to isolate us while also connecting us, both in very different ways. Our online persona’s are almost always different from our real life personas, and social media is clearly an escape to show our projected self from our real self. Social media has definitely hampered today's youth in terms of communications and social interactions by being online far too often and usually not being experienced in real life experiences such as one on one dating, hanging out with friends, and work environments. Usually all of these occasions will have at least one person go to their phone to check their social media and divert their attention because either they apparently aren’t entertained enough or they are addicted to their social media cravings. Although I myself constantly use social media and online platforms to alleviate my boredom while waiting for lines, commuting to and from school and work, and to fill my free time, I like to make a point to not be glued to my phone while hanging out with my friends in person unless I’m bringing up relevant things on my phone to show to my friends.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, social media is a terrible illness that is extremely contagious and it will suck the life out of its victims. I have always been a firm believer that the dirivitive of almost every conflict and negativity in our world is ego and Social media is currently one of the most used mediums for "ego-expression". This is something I've actually been thinking about a lot lately. Choosing the right filter so you look pretty, showing off a coo pic of something you did, or showing off one of your accomploshments; these are just some of the endless amonts of egotistical things people use social media for. Their "likes" feed their addiction and boost their ego and their desire to be better than others. On a more personal example, I used to use my Facebook/Instagram to post pictures of gigs and post about upcoming shows. After a lot of thought I realized my intent behind my social media usage was not honest. Under the surface, I guess I desired to instill an awe or impress my social media peers. I realized how wrong that is... Especially as an artist it is an extremely extremely unhealthy outlet. Granted, if I have an exciting event that I truly want to share and tell people about because I feel that it will bring them joy, I will totally post i because that is honest and with good intentionS. However,(just as an example) a musician saying "playing at blue whale in LA tonight" when no friends on Facebook live in LA... That's just ego. That person is basically saying "ooh look at me and this awesome thing I'm doing."
ReplyDeleteAlso, social media trains people to think a certain way. Another example I see very often is the Instagram of students in greek life. They all take the same picture with the same pose and then they're all expected to make some goofy witty post to go along with it so all their friends can comment "ugh goals" "you're so gorgeous😍😍"
Not trying to offend anyone, but I think that's all just ego and un-honest. Delete your Facebook. Go learn art, or sports, or do something with your life rather than posting about the life you're pretending to live.
Social media was created to bring people together which it does. It makes distance irrelevant, and language barriers almost obsolete. Present day we have the greatest ability to communicate than ever before. Within a matter of seconds, a person in Thailand can read a post that I make right here in Atlanta. In a matter of seconds my family in Texas can see a picture I share from Georgia state. Right now I have the ability to watch Obama give his first speech since the election from the white house even though I am laying in my bed. The scope of social media is amazing which makes it a great resource for big businesses who want to get mass advertisement through social media websites that have a lot of users. This gives it a mutually beneficial aspect. The corporations get to advertise their products, the social media websites get to make profit from those advertisements, and the users get free access to the websites as well stay connected to the world. it perfect for small businesses, without the financial capabilities, to pay for advertisements. Since the fees for using the social media websites are covered by large corporations, small business get to create social pages that attract customers to for free. The only down side is they have to work much harder to get their brands recognized and seen since they do not get the automatic exposure that large companies pay for. And since the annual small business Saturday (November 26 this year and the immediate Saturday following thanksgiving other year) is happening this month, we can expect a large influx of advertisements promoting small business when we log into our social media in the following weeks.
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