Social Media

The “Antisocial” Social Media:

Over the last few decades it has become obvious that social media is here to stay for generations to come. Many say “it lets people stay connected”, yet in a literal sense these people could be kilometers away and have little physical and social interaction. People falsely believe that if they capture snippets of their lives and share it with the world they are in fact connected to people they may never meet. Social media changes people’s way of life in a negative way because it alters their perspective of what authentic relationships are. Social media leaves expression to mere interpretation; along with going against its apparent purpose of keeping people connected, and finally social media alters people’s ability to socialize by changing them into introverts.

The way in which people communicate in today’s world lacks expression because of how they use social media. The following image (left) illustrates a young man peering through a telescope looking off in the distance through a small window above a creaked open door. The telescope in this picture symbolizes the restrictions that social media places on communication. Even though the man attempts to experience what lies beyond the door he is not in close proximity with what he is looking at. Similarly, this same issue is occurring when 2 individuals are talking over social media. People are forced to assume the others tone or expression which can lead to miscommunication and it changes the fundamentals of socializing by removing tone in speech. Unlike in face to face contact where communication is much clearer because of the addition of body language, hand gestures, tone, and facial expression.  

Even though social media’s original purpose is to keep people connected; it works against its function by keeping people in solitude. The image (right) depicts a man using a computer on a social media website with a group of people standing in the doorway behind him. The caption below the image explains that the man is attempting to add more friends on his social media site, but he is oblivious to the large crowd of people that are standing just behind him. In relation, many people go on their electronics and use social media instead of interacting with people around them. This usually results in people with their heads down on a mobile device avoiding social opportunities around them. By doing this, people negatively impact their in-person social lives because they form a bad habit of neglecting their communication and socializing skills, yet become fluent in their ability to socialize online. This is especially impressionable in young children because they grow up thinking that in order to socialize normally they need to use social media.

Young children growing up in today’s world are deprived of a good social example because society becomes introverted the more they use social media. The young children (left) are depicted using cell phones in close proximity and face down not interacting with each other. This scene is all too familiar with each new generation getting caught up into social media. Just like the children in the photo, people are glued to their mobile devices updating and managing their online social lives. This means that not only are the people using social media today changing their socializing abilities, but are also affecting people younger by setting a poor example. Furthermore, The following image (right) shows a similar group of individuals like the children in the previous photo (left). The image (right) demonstrates in relation to the previous photo that not only does social media affect adults, it affects people of all ages. Moreover social culture is destroyed repeatedly in a circle of copying what the previous generation does. This robs  children of 
the challenges that ensue when socializing strictly verbally like trying to speak  with clarity, 
and how observing a person's expression 
can alter the meaning of their statement.

Overall, social media has impacted society negatively. It has left its mark in the way people speak to each other; the way people interact with strangers, and generally how youth view their social lives as being judged by the photos they capture or the things they write online. An online social life leaves emotion and expression to interpretation, it leads people on thinking they are being social when they are neglecting people around them, and it slowly causes people to behave introvertial. Social media changes people’s lives for worse because it alters their idea of what relationships are.

Works Cited

“Facebookfriends.” Feminsting. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://feministing.com/2010/07/15/how-to-win-black-friends-and-influence-people-on-the-internet/>.

“Kids on Phones.” Odyssey. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://theodysseyonline.com/cwru/millennials-really-phone-obsessed-zombies/133860>.

“Telescope Facebook.” Pintrest. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/538883911636617651/>.

“Young kids on phones.” K5 Learning Bloghttp://www.k5learning.com/blog/how-addicted-are-children-screentime. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://www.k5learning.com/blog/how-addicted-are-children-screentime>.