Grief In The Age Of Facebook

Since the Bulletin Board System there has been hundreds, and counting, of social networks created: most notably Twitter, Facebook, Kik, Snapchat, and Instagram. Today there are just over 3 billion active Internet users (45% of the world’s internet users), 2.1 billion of those people have social media accounts (Jeffbullas.com). People use social media for many numerous reasons. Most use social media to stay close to relatives and maintain social ties. Some of people’s most essential daily needs are accounted for by social media: whether it be interacting with friends or coworkers, following politics, or following the latest fashion trend set by the Kardashian

Social media has guided us to believe that we need to be connected to others. “…the social media revolution has not made us feel more connected, less lonely, or replete with friends” (Barna Group). Social media has input certain beliefs into the minds of people while also taking away that time that could be spent with friends and family. Social media has allowed people to put on fronts and believe that these are the only means of communication.

Many people wish they knew their loved ones or friends better before they died. This was the same with Elizabeth Stone the author of the article Grief in the Age of Facebook. She discusses a student she advised, Casey Feldman, and states how, after Casey was tragically killed, little she actually knew about Casey. Stone knew that she was smart and all around a nice person but she did not know that she had an immense love for animals or that she was quite talented at acting. However, that was not the only thing that surprised her, the thing that surprised Stone the most is how she found out Casey had died. She received a voicemail from Casey’s roommate, Kelsey, asking Stone to call her back at Stone’s easiest convenience. Stone calls Kelsey

For years and years, the internet has progressed so much. So much that communication and our lifestyles have reached a whole new level. One of the many revolutionary inventions is called social networking sites or social media. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and many more, are where people gather on the internet, create a personalized profile about themselves, and interact with other people around the world. Social media can help contact friends, family, and other people long distance. However, our priorities have completely changed to “life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take, but by how many likes you get on Instagram.” With social media, people seem to lose touch from reality. This whole “me, me , me”

1. The titles that I picked are “Grief in the Age of Facebook” and “Is Facebook Making us Sad”. 2. The author of “Grief in the Age of Facebook” is written by Elizabeth Stone a professor at a university wrote a compelling article a personal outlook of one of her student which she taught. With the help of her deceased student roommate.

When a tragic event happens, we are unsure in how to respond. In Elizabeth Stone’s “Grief in the Age of Facebook” she talks about a personal experience that ties in with social media. A student of hers had died, and the article takes you through the time that she found out to the time it had been posted on Facebook. Once Stone is told the news she is also told that the late student’s roommate “didn’t want anyone to learn of Casey’s death through Facebook.” (Stone) The reason the roommate did so, might have been because the news of someone passing is so upsetting for it just to be a simple post. The news should be delivered by mouth. Once everyone has heard the news, then something was posted on Facebook. With that post came a lot of confusion. People did not know when was the right time to post pictures with the late Casey. Would it be disrespectful if they wrote about the fun times they shared with her? When should they stop mourning and start remembering? They asked questions that no one has the correct answer to because, grief is different for everyone. Since our methods of mournings are not the same, a user remembering Casey through funny old pictures could be seen as being

In today’s world, technology is at its peak. However, there was a time when things were getting evolved and websites were created to connect and socialize. For example, Facebook was created with the intent of connecting with people, but it rather forced people to compare each other’s live, which made some people sad. It became successful, but not completely successful. Libby Copeland’s essay, “Is Facebook Making us Sad,” addresses a key factor in how Facebook makes us sad, according to research and some expert testimony. One key factor that I would like to address in the essay, how humans compare their lives with others on Facebook, making themselves lonely and sad.

Social media has connected us in unimaginable ways, and introduced us to a world much larger than our humble backyards. Nowadays, nearly everyone has a Facebook, an Instagram, or a Twitter account. Grandparents, teenagers, children, and even some pets are a part of one social network or another. While websites like Facebook are great for sharing pictures, stories, and interests, but they are also capable of raising awareness about important issues that may have been overlooked. Recently, the overuse of Facebook was thought to promote negative psychology well-being, including depression and loneliness. It 's safe to say that the world has become hopelessly addicted to social media. Plenty of people can 't make it through the day or in extreme cases a few hours without popping on their computers or scrolling through their smart phones to check the newsfeed on Facebook. As Stephen Marche says in his article, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?”, Facebook makes us miserable and lonely. In fact, even though there is evidence showing that we 're more detached or lonely than ever because given Facebook is about social relationships; however, the site also offers an extraordinary number of ways to connect with others. This is just a taste of what Facebook can do, and with a huge number of people utilizing them, its possibilities are only growing. Facebook does not replace real human relationship or create loneliness, but it does not exterminate it either. It all depends on ones usage.

It is difficult to escape the grasp that social media has on our society. These mythical meeting places have ingrained themselves into all aspects of our daily lives. Personal electronic devices have become digital assistants that reside in our pockets. We keep an entourage of "friends" as our brain trust, always on call, always ready to chime in with their entirely factual and biased based opinions. We confide in these sites and their associated user base with our secrets, and believe all the answers they provide us are true. As users become addicted to oversharing their lives, in the infinite quest for social reciprocity and belonging from their "friends" list. Our children are being raised as

“Social media allows people to connect with each other to create and share information. It is people-powered communication, an authentic dialogue motivated by a basic human desire to share information” (CIPD, Social Media and Employee Voice Report 2013). ‘Click’ and my message is on its way to my friend’s Facebook inbox hundred of miles away. The astonishing speed of how quick we can communicate in today’s societies, all thanks to social media. The invention of Facebook simplified everything we know about communication. We can connect to people whenever and wherever, sharing information has never been more convenient and exciting. In Shane Hipps’ Article, “ Is Facebook Killing Our Souls?,” he has no intention to impede technological advancements, instead he wants users to understand technologies with insights. According to my research, although Hipps ' points has some merits, I disagree with him because he overgeneralized the impacts that Facebook and other social media has on users’ behaviors and identities.

In today’s technologically-driven world, you would be hard-pressed to find an individual who was not apart of social media. Facebook bolsters 1.4 billion users, roughly one-fifth of the entire world’s population. Instagram has 500 million daily active users. And according to data collected from a security app, which monitors how many times users activate or unlock their smartphones, average users check their phones 110 times a day. This equates to once every six or seven seconds. It’s easy to say that social media has become an integral part of our everyday lives. And although it has brought about many benefits, allowing us to easily connect with friends and family across the globe, has let us mobilize for a cause, and really communicate in

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Instagram, and Flicker was invented to keep us in touch and keep us closer to our family and friends. But according to How Facebook ruins Friendships “we took our friendship online” (Bernstein). First we began communicating more by email than by phone and then switched to instant messaging or texting. By joining social Medias online

The world has never before been connected as much as it is today. One’s ability to communicate through various mediums is rapidly advancing, and this is much thanks to social media.

Most of us use social media to communicate with our family, friends and our loved once. Since almost all of my friends live 8000 mile away, I use Facebook, Instagram, and viber to keep in touch with them. Bur recently I started noticing it has become more than a means of communication. I start posting a picture and obsesses about how many likes I get, checking other peoples Facebook just to see if they have more friends than me, believing every post without questioning if it’s a fact and funny enough I start sending friend request for people I don’t even know. Christine Rosen, a senior editor of the New Atlantis and resident fellow at the Ethics and Public policy Center in Wessington, D.C. on “In the Beginning Was the World”, she wrote how technology is affecting the society’s critical reading ability. Peggy Orenstein, an author and a contributing writer for the New York Times, on “I Tweet, Therefore I Am” she talks about how social media is distracting as from fully live in the moment. Even though the development of technology have increased the quality of life, it also brought undeniable challenges to our society. The constant use of social media and internet has increase society attention-seeking, Distracted, and decries critical reading. The use of social media has increased dramatically throughout the years.

As technology progress, humans evolve to the advanced technology and enhance our lives via technology. We connect to our families, friends and others through social media such as Facebook. Social media takes up a huge part in our lives. Social media infest us with information that are relevant and irrelevant to us. Marry Marrow wrote, “It was Facebook that changed the face of e-communication; in fact, it was the first electronic social media” (para 1). She assumes that Facebook is playing a huge role in electronic communication. In the journalist Maria Konnikova, “How Facebook makes us unhappy?”, Konnikova divulges many aspects of people on social media through researching and experience, and finds how social makes us unhappy. I agree with Konnikova findings after reading her article. In addition, she concludes that if you are engaged, active, and creative you will not sorrowful on Social media, however if you are passively browsing and defuse to engage, you will be depressed.