Online Presence and its Effect

I use numerous different social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest. I would not say that I have a huge online footprint, I only post pictures or updates on Instagram and Snapchat, rarely on Facebook. I use Instagram the most out of all the different social media sites to post pictures of different places I have visited or fun events I have attended on campus. The idea of any anyone being able to see my posts bothers me, so I keep my account on private. That allows me to filter who follows my account and can see my images. A lot of social media platforms ask a new member for their phone numbers and emails. I try to avoid giving my phone number, but unfortunately, an email is necessary in most cases. 

I do think that social media can make people feel alone and depressed. I agree with the points made in the article from The Atlantic about social media making people feel lonely. The article commented that people “have never been more detached from another or lonelier” than they currently are with all the new social media platforms. One of the reasons people are so affected by social media is because they end up distancing themselves from real-time social settings. They feel a social connection but at a cost that sucks them into a world of isolation. With numerous "novel modes of socializing, we have less and less actual society” people think they are socializing through social media platforms, but in reality that does not satisfy their need for human interaction. They spend too many hours looking at social media in the digital world versus socializing face to face with the world around them and become disconnected.

Someone who spends so much time viewing others lives to a point where they neglect their own lives fuels their feeling of aloneness. Devoting a significant amount of time looking at others on social media and thinking that the other person has a fairy tale type life makes the user think others are happier and cooler than they are and thus they feel bad about themselves. Users see pictures of events or groups of friends for which they were not included making them feel excluded, sad and alone.

The more a person spends on social media, the more it becomes crucial to them and keeps them from engaging in person. Consequently, they are alienating themselves from much-needed human interaction. Generally, society has an interest in balance and spending so much time on social media instead of real interactions creates imbalance and isolation. When used appropriately, social media can be great for connecting with others, searching for work, promoting yourself, sharing ideas, seeing the news, finding old friends and making new ones. When misused, it can make a person feel sad, lonely, easily distracted or depressed.