Technology is a tool that has been used throughout time. It is a tool that, in the past, has been used to better someone’s life in whatever way needed. Unlike technology that was used thousands of years ago, the technology that humans use today is far different. Today’s technology is so advanced that it fits in the palm of your hand and allows you to search things and communicate with those who are not with you. While the technology individuals use today have positive effects in the way in which we live, there are many downsides to this new technology. Individuals have power at their fingertips to do whatever they choose and with that, it has impacted the way our society functions and is becoming a problem. In fact, technology is a growing problem today that has affected everyone worldwide. It is becoming toxic for society and is negatively affecting us subconsciously. The use of social media can affect family interaction, is a factor with health issues and depression, affects self-esteem, affects overall communications skills, and personal relationships.
Nowadays, family interaction and communication occur less because children are so focused on what is happening on the screen rather than what is happening in the real-world. This creates a wedge in communication especially between families. Kids are relying on social media outlets to express themselves and in return are becoming less reliant on their family members. In Erica Moseley’s article, “Social Media and Its Affect On Adolescent Communication Skills Within Families”, she points out that “Many teenagers may not feel comfortable talking to their families openly because they may possibly be cyber bullied on their social media networking sites” (27). Additionally, she says “Adolescents spend large amounts of time using social media and this has a vast effect on the communication skills of teens within the family unit” (27). Because of this, parents are learning that the only way to be able to communicate with their kid is by having to learn how to use social media on their phones.
Social media is becoming a key factor in triggering depression among teenagers. This is because the feed on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. have become more of a competition of who looks the best and who gets the most likes on a photo than sharing one’s life with the world. The outcome of this can lead to depression. The National Institutes of Health says that “the more time young adults spent on social media the more likely they were to have problems sleeping and experience symptoms of depression” (2). Additionally, depression can be caused by cyberbullying among social media users, especially, young girls who deal with issues regarding self-confidence. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health say that “major depressive incidents have increased dramatically among teens, particularly among girls, and that cyberbullying may be playing a role” (2). This is an example of how social media is not just affecting the way that people talk with one another, but it affects the way that people are thinking and feeling about themselves.
Along with depression, electronic devices and social media are affecting the health of young adolescents. In the article “Social Media and Adolescent Communication”, they conducted a study and many adult parents were concerned with the amount of time teenagers were spending on social media. According to one parent, they said “With the amount of time my teenager spends texting and on Facebook, I worry about their health. My kid isn’t as active anymore and I’m finding that he isn’t getting as much sleep as he should” (25). Additionally, Psychology Today published an article on how the Kaiser Foundation conducted a study about the time spent on social media by teenagers and how it affects their health. They said, “teens spend 53 hours per week engaged in some type of electronic media and that mobile media was on the rise. These behaviors were found to interfere in their sleep, cause mood swings, and possible lead to obesity, high-blood pressure and depression” (25). This is an example of how technology today and social media is changing the way we use our time and our health.
In addition to depression and mental health, technology through social media platforms are creating negative effects on the way in which people view themselves. In Erin A. Vogel et al’s article, “Social Comparison, Social Media, and Self-Esteem”, they evaluate how social media affects a person’s esteem. They do this through two different studies. These studies focus on teenagers who are in college, and while there are male participants, most are females.
In the first study, they used 145 college students most of which were female. The study was conducted using a series of questions about use and time used on the app Facebook. The conductors of the study indicated that the independent variable of the study was the use of Facebook and the dependent variable was the personal esteem of the participants. Social comparisons were the main focus of the study. The comparisons consisted of “upward” or healthy manners and “downward” which define whether the person the participate was evaluating was better than them or not. Participants were asked “When comparing yourself to others on Facebook, to what extent do you focus on people who are better off than you?” (209). They also asked the same about social media users that were “worse off” (209). They calculated the results using the “Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale” from one to seven (209). Erin A. Vogel et al concluded that the use of Facebook did affect the users’ self-evaluations. Additionally, those who used Facebook looked at themselves more negatively.
In the second study, they used 128 college students where 94 of them were female. This study limited the amount of time spent on social media and how it affected the participants. Instead of asking questions about how they used social media and how they felt about certain users, this study used what was called a “target person” (212). Through the “target person” they used “upward” and “downward” comparisons through profiles and interests. The “target person” was viewed on a social media profile that showed what the user was like in terms of their lifestyle and popularity. The study was conducted through computers in which each participant viewed the profile for three minutes. Through this, they evaluated the user based on looks, health, and number of likes on photos. The results of this study were used through the “Self-Esteem Scale” from one to five on how they felt about themselves (213). Their conclusion was that “Participants had lower state self-esteem after exposure to the target with the high activity social network than the low activity social network” (213).
Overall, the evaluations of social media profiles from both studies affected the participant and his or her self-evaluation. When a user was healthier looking and more popular, the participants saw themselves as an inferior. Though, when the user had a less active lifestyle, the participants saw themselves as equals. The authors initially concluded from both studies that “viewing social media profiles with positive content (e.g., upward comparison target on health and fitness, active social network) was associated with poorer state self-esteem and relative self-evaluations” (216).
As technology advances, it gradually changes the way in which a society functions and acts. It has particularly affected the way that personal relationships work between people. In the academic journal Faux Friendship by William Deresiewitcz, he explains how friendships has evolved over time as well as how communication through friendships have changed. He says, “We live in an age when friendship has become both all and nothing at all” (38). It is where personal connections between individuals in the past have “dissolved” (38). Social Media such as Twitter and Facebook, have redefined what the idea of friendship means. It is becoming a delusion and is trying to convince people that this is the way it should and where it has to go. The result of this has caused a loss of intimacy in every way. What was known as our private lives are coming into the light of the world and being seen by whoever, whenever on any type of social media platform. Deresiewitcz says in his journal that people want their private lives to be public and this is often done through messages sent on social media sites. Overall, the intimacy of friendship is deteriorating and therefore, communication is changing into something that does not affect just one person, but the whole world.
In relation to how social media affects friendships, it hugely impacts the way we communicate with one another. Today, our main source of communication is through the smartphones we have. Now while it seems easier to contact people through a device, it is destroying our verbal communication. In Rushkoff’s “In the real world”, he says that “94% of our communication occurs non-verbally” (Smith 29). People have turned their focus on a device rather than the people that are surrounding them. Even in our times of loneliness, the first thing that we think about is grabbing our phones, so that in some way we may be connected with the world. In Sherry Turkle’s “The flight from conversation”, Turkle says, “Here connection works like a symptom, not a cure, and our constant, reflexive impulse to connect shapes a new way of being” (10). Turkle then adds that, “We use technology to define ourselves by sharing our thoughts and feelings as we’re having them” (10). Essentially, it is a place where we have become comfortable. In conclusion, the way in which we communicate is so ironic because we live in a world where us as individuals are so connected with one another yet so disconnected at the same time. We’re able to connect with others around the world but have shut off the connection with reality and the world around us.
On the contrary, social media creates many benefits. Social media can benefit people by making them feel a sense of belonging through messaging. It additionally connects them with their peers and helps create new friend groups. In the article “Social Media Use and Social Connectedness in Adolescents: The Positives and the Potential Pitfalls” by Kelly Allen et al., he refers to Davis’ Friendship 2.0: Adolescents’ experiences of belonging and self-disclosure online, and he believes that Davis suggests “that social media might support a sense of belonging by allowing young people to seek validation from peers regarding their thoughts and experiences (22). However, the sense of belonging is not something that everyone experiences or feels. Others who use social media might feel left out and excluded. Allen et al. discusses the term cyberostracism, and says that it is to “describe the sense of exclusion that can sometimes occur in online social environments” (D’Amato et al., 2012). They add that “This concept is based on the belief that being excluded, rejected, or ignored in these environments can be just as hurtful as the equivalent in offline encounter” (22).
Despite that social media allows people to communicate with the world, it also disconnects them. Individuals are able to communicate and connect with one another like never before, but it is changing the behavior of our existence. People are becoming technologically absorbed and with that, they believe that it is important to be a part of it. This leads to the obsession of social media and self-satisfaction through peers which can lead people to have poor self-reflections. Though we have this connection, we are sacrificing reality to better exist in what seems like a virtual reality.