Social Media by Sydney Dang

Social Media

A notification dings from within the room, eyes glued to screens, fingers scrolling and tapping. Looking around, you notice that nobody is living in the moment -- instead, everyone is focused on social media, which is “defined as the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other” (Krautzel 1). The addiction to social media is a serious epidemic because “social media use is linked to greater feelings of social isolation,” among other factors (Walton 1). It can even lead to a vicious cycle of unfulfillment, in turn causing a decline in mental health. Without addressing this issue, many teenagers and adults will fall victim to the detrimental effects of this addiction. Although the modern world is heavily dependent on technology and the internet, it is possible to combat the addiction of social media with a bit of willpower and changes in habit.

            Communication among individuals has been around since the beginning of mankind, but it was not until more advanced technologies were developed that allowed for more integrated, mass communication. Christopher McFadden writes in “A Chronicle of Social media” that “communication across great distances has been accomplished since antiquity through media like the written word. This changed very little until the advent of the telegraph in 1792” (McFadden 1). This technology would prove to be revolutionary as communication became more convenient over long distances compared to the traditional pen and paper method. In the 19th century, the telephone and radio made their own breakthroughs, altering the way society functioned; “With their ability to provide, more or less, instant communication, the world would never go back” (1). Despite these fundamental inventions allowing for more convenient communication, “the real history of social media starts in the 1970s with the emergence of the internet” (Keith 1). The introduction of the computer would pave the way for social media as scientists further developed the technology to be able to communicate with each other, leading up to the rise of the internet, as well as social media:

The website credited as being the “first social media” site is Six Degrees. It’s named after the “six degrees of separation” theory, which states that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else by no more than six degrees of separation. [...] The reason Six Degrees is considered to be the first social media site is because it allowed people to make individual profiles and add others to their personal network. (1)

A couple of years later, Friendster, another social media site, would arrive to compete with Six Degrees; “Like Six Degrees, it allowed users to make contacts and save them as part of a personal network. People could also share videos, photos, and messages with other users, and they were also able to leave comments on other people’s profiles, so long as they were part of each other’s personal network” (1). Of the original social media websites, MySpace could be considered the most influential as it garnered the attention of many users. It is still in use today, although it is not as popular as it once was. Moving into the early 2010s, many more social networking platforms would emerge from the web, including FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram which are the most popular platforms today. Despite the fluctuation in popularity of the networking platforms, social media in general remains an integral part of society, affecting the personal lives of people worldwide; “Overall, there are some 2.62 billion social media users around the world, and this number is expected to grow to over 3 billion by 2021” (1).

In the modern world, people interact with your peers through a screen more often than not, heavily relying on technology to feel connected. While this may be convenient for communication, imagine the effects that this could cause on mental health, especially with the ability to reach wide audiences right at your fingertips. Among the youth around the world, “experts worry that the social media and text messages that have become so integral to teenage life are promoting anxiety and lowering self-esteem” (Ehmke 1). The use of social media may lead to sadness because the idea that social media allows people to instantly connect can also attribute to the fact that this may cause a sense of social isolation in that happiness in the physical moment is eliminated. Physical, meaningful interaction becomes limited as users become more ingrained to using social media; “In fact, another study found that social media use is linked to greater feelings of social isolation” (1).

Within a small community, like a neighborhood, social media could cause the downfall of one’s mental health through the use of cyberbullying. The easy access to widespread communication would make it fairly easy for any person to start drama by spreading rumors or false information on social networking platforms, with the potential to reach wide audiences in little time. This is especially more detrimental in smaller communities. For the individual, social media could cause further isolation. Part of the reason for this is because people tend to upload the good parts of their lives to the internet, then compare themselves to the online versions of people that they know. This comparison factor could also lead to jealousy, which is also not good for mental health. People also tend to use social media as a form of quick relief from the real world, getting caught in the idea that it will make them happy although this can be disputed:

Part of the unhealthy cycle is that we keep coming back to social media, even though it doesn’t make us feel very good. This is probably because of what’s known as a forecasting error: Like a drug, we think getting a fix will help, but it actually makes us feel worse, which comes down to an error in our ability to predict our own response. (Walton 1)

Constant use of the networking platforms eventually leads to addiction, further impacting the lives of the people worldwide.

An example of the addiction to social media can be partly attributed to how quickly media can be spread. One person could start a small rumor that spreads like wildfire, keeping people involved and on their toes, eagerly scanning screens, desperately refreshing their feeds for more drama. In an interview with Rachel Simmons concerning the effects of social media on her teenagers, Simmons emphasizes that “Social media levels the playing field by allowing anybody to say anything and be heard. If teens share some dirt, they can be heard in a way that might not happen in real life” (Borison 1). This example highlights the stress that social media can cause on an individual, especially if harmful information is spread quickly and effectively.

A separate interview with journalist Brittney Moses’s husband, Jonnesse Moses, reveals that quitting social media may have been for the better:

I don’t have a dependency to check things every five minutes. I’m able to pay more attention to my child and engage more with him. I feel a lot of people feel its necessary to check their profiles in order to up-keep an identity that they’ve created online and to their friends and so they feel that its necessary to always be on to maintain this identity that they’ve posted online. (Moses 1)

Moses suggests that one reason for addiction to social media could be due to the unrelenting urge to maintain an online persona. Despite the negative effects of this epidemic, Moses sheds light on the idea that quitting the urge to use social media excessively is doable and rewarding.

            In combating addiction to social media, it is wise to first identify signs that indicate an addiction. Someone who is addicted to social media will always be on their phone, refreshing apps continuously and thoughtlessly; “Almost every social media addict will begin their daily routine by slowly and pointlessly scrolling through what we have missed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more during our eight hours of sleep” (Ramsden 1). For social addicts, finding a particular solution that works may be difficult since technology is always at our disposal, essentially calling out to us to be used, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

            The best way to combat addiction is to make social media harder to access. If it’s not right at our fingertips, we won’t be as inclined to check it so often. This can be done by setting devices to Do Not Disturb, so that incoming notifications are muted. On top of that, it would also be beneficial to delete the apps that a person would typically spend too much time on, just to make access a bit more difficult. At this point, many would have to rely on self discipline to keep notifications muted and the desire to redownload apps at bay, but if even that’s not enough, a technology cleanse would be good for the mind and soul as well. Turn the phone off, and lock it up somewhere or give it to someone trustworthy for an extended period of time.

            Other solutions include forming new habits to deviate from the use of social media.

Carey Bentley, from Forbes Magazine, makes a suggestion “to replace the negative routine of checking your social media with a new routine,” and that by responding to boredom or stress with something positive or productive will eventually train the brain and body to rely less on social media (Bentley 1). By forming better habits, the desire to constantly check social media will dwindle, and your attention will be diverted to something of more value. Instead, you could take a walk around the neighborhood, or work on a creative project. Bentley also encourages rewarding the new behavior until it becomes a fully formed habit (1).

            Albert Camus, in explaining the concept of absurdism, “argues that the Absurd is the product of a collision or confrontation between our human desire for order, meaning, and purpose in life and the blank, indifferent ‘silence of the universe’ ”  (Simpson 1). This ties in with the addiction to social media in that people try to find meaning and purpose in their lives while simultaneously comparing their personal lives to what they see on the internet. Camus would find this trend absurd because the idea that people are so absorbed into living a perfect life in the digital world is preposterous.

            The widespread addiction to social media is an important topic because it is quite prevalent in modern society, and it is taking valuable time away from the beauty of life. Relationships don’t hold the same value they used to, and communication, though more convenient, is less meaningful. However, with social media bringing communities together, all our combined efforts could go to facing this epidemic and rebuilding all the time and meaning lost to the detrimental effects of this addiction.

Works Cited

Bentley, Carey. “Five Steps To Break Your Social Media Addiction.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 May 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/05/02/five-steps-to-break-your-social-media-addiction/#3ae76f5738be.

Borison, Susan. “Interviewing Rachel Simmons: The Impact of Social Media On Teens.” Your Teen Magazine, 27 Dec. 2018, yourteenmag.com/social-life/teenagers-friends/teens-and-technology-expert-advice.

Ehmke, Rachel, and Child Mind Institute. “How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers.” Child Mind Institute, childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/.

Keith. “The History of Social Media: Social Networking Evolution!” History Cooperative, 14 Feb. 2019, historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/.

Krautzel, George. “It's True: Social Media Marketing Opportunities Are Viable Additions to Your Marketing Plans. But What Is Fact and What Is Fiction in This Complicated World?” Target Marketing, 1 May 2008, www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/social-media-marketing-myths-and-universal-truths/.

McFadden, Christopher. “A Chronological History of Social Media.” Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2018, interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media.

Moses, Brittney. An Interview with My Husband on the Effects of Social Media | A Generation After God, blogs.christianpost.com/a-generation-after-god/an-interview-with-my-husband-on-the-effects-of-social-media-23659/.

Ramsden, Sam. “10 Signs You're Addicted to Social Media.” Metro, Metro.co.uk, 19 May 2016, metro.co.uk/2016/05/19/10-signs-youre-addicted-to-social-media-5813226/.

Simpson, David. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/camus/#H5.

Walton, Alice G. “6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 3 Oct. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#49a240572e5a.