Mobile Mental Health : Mobile Mental Health

As a child born into a world coloured by electronics and filled with Web 2.0 discourse, social media has painted my worldview. It is difficult to imagine my world without social media and constant “oversharing” as this has been a significant aspect of my life for as long as I can remember. Since receiving my first cell phone in the sixth grade, my mother has always been on my speed-dial and is one of the contacts with whom I am always in constant communication. After dramatically increasing the amount of information I sent to my mother through text messaging, I gained a greater understanding of the amount that oversharing has become naturalized in modern society. Through an emic analysis, I was able to understand the culture of oversharing by actively participating in this culture. An emic analysis is an effective method for studying the culture of oversharing, as being part of the culture highlights the impacts of the culture. In modern-day society, oversharing is taking place as a function of instant messaging through many different forms, such as texting, Facebook, and Snapchat. The participants in these practices have created a new culture of online communities and an entirely new lexicon, including emojis and acronyms. As well as the advantages brought by new technology, any new media will have inherent consequences. With texting, people have started oversharing through “sexting”, sending explicit messages or photographs. Social media platforms also have consequences of

Social media has become one of the most dominate things in the lives of today’s youth. Millennials use social media for many reasons, to stay connected and as a source of entertainment. Among all the social media sites, one that is particularly popular is Snap chat. Most college and high school students check this app before twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Instagram noticed this trend early and tried to buy out snapchat, but their attempt failed and now snapchat has not only influenced its opens to copy its stories idea but also almost copy the format exactly. In my paper I will discuss two different articles that both focus on the topic of snap chat usage. I will also contrast these two articles and reveal how they have similar findings but different approaches.

At one point not that long ago it was only possible to update a Facebook status from a phone if you subscribed to the text messaging service offered by the site that would allow you to text in an update. There was no such thing as scrolling through your newsfeed as you rode the subway to work or waited for class to start. In his essay “The IRL Fetish”, Nathan Jurgenson talks about the spread of technology saying: “Each moment is oversaturated with digital potential: Texts, status updates, photos, check-ins, tweets, and e-mails are just a few taps away or pushed directly to your buzzing and chirping pocket computer- anachronistically still called a ‘phone’” (Jurgenson). Here he brings up an interesting point about the role advancing technology

When someone brings up the term “artificial intelligence”, a variety of connotations tend to arise, connotations that often are unfair or unrepresentative of the true real-world applications of such a term. Due to the incidentally fear-mongering nature of the media, artificial intelligence can refer to something as basic as a robotic arm in a factory, as well as the implied extinction and/or enslavement of the human race as caused by robo-revolution. As of today, however, when applied in the world of modern technology, artificial intelligence is defined as any innovation that performs a task usually completed by humans. Of course, with this definition, artificial intelligence holds the potential for both societal harm and benefit, and its fate

Social media has become one of the greatest developments of human technology history. In today’s society, human are surrounding by the social media and wireless devices. In Shannon Matesky’s spoken word poem “MySpace”, the poet explains “physical contact is more important than our number of contacts” (Matesky). According to the poet, Shannon Matesky successfully redefines the word “Myspace” from a formal definition of “the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable” (Merriam-Webster), to an operational definition of the contact created on the social media. People now forget how to stay with face-to-face relationship, social media become the new way of communication. “We can’t deal with the face-to-face so we let technology replace the space that people are supposed to fill”(Matesky), said Matesky, we are losing the ability to connect each individual face to face, and socially connection has been taking over through social media by using technologic device. Shannon Matesky has successfully redefined the actual meaning of “Myspace” from the distance between two to the space one’s create on the social media. MySpace no longer refers to distance between two, but to

The article “I’m So Totally, Digitally, Close To You (Brave New World of Digital Intimacy)” (2002) is written by Clive Thompson, who is also a blogger and columnist. The author aims to explain the users’ attraction of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of “incessant online contact” through his text. Since social networking has become a nearly ubiquitous aspect of human contemporary life, Thomson has effectively illustrated the invasion of the social media into human daily lives, how people are commanded by it. He later goes on to explore the benefits of social networking sites and a few challenges of the usage assumptions.

Being published in a newspaper column, Wortham writes in a less formal language to explain her thoughts on communication through smartphone applications. By including personal stories behind her usage of technology, she is able to reflect on those and validate her opinion of messaging apps. She is able to connect with their reader on a more personal level because the reader can relate to her experiences. Due an excessive amount of technology use from people of all ages, Wortham’s article can reach anyone that uses messaging applications including couples of all ages. She does not single out long distance couples because she also includes the benefits of having these applications with family, friends, and coworkers. In her essay, Wortham straightforwardly states her thoughts on apps such as Facebook messenger, Snapchat, and even Tinder, leaving no room for the reader to become confused. In addition to her own opinions and statistics from Pew Research Center, she uses Sherry Turkle, who disagrees with messaging applications, to acknowledge that both sides understand that there is not an application on our smartphone that can replace a face-to-face

Innovations such as FaceBook and MySpace combine images, text, and messaging to create new possibilities for social interaction. Websites such as YouTube combine broadcast media with the self-directed properties of the internet. SMS texting has revolutionised the social lives of many people. All these media allow people to sustain relationships across time and space in ways that have never before been possible. Some are concerned however, that over-reliance on such forms of communication reduces the importance of face-to-face social experience. Others argue that such media present new ways of defining our identities and establishing new kinds of social interaction (Castells, 2000).

Global brands, products or trends are seemingly beyond culture as exemplified by Natasha Singer’s article “Can’t Put Down Your Device? That’s by Design” in which she illustrated that the app for Instagram created by Greg Hochmuth contributed to a “network effect” (2015: 1). This very “network effect” involved the simple notion that greater interest in something would result in even more use for that very product (Singer 2015: 1). The app for Instagram, like the tamagotchi, emphasized convenience as the tamagotchi could easily accompany one due to its small size and the app could be accessed by anyone possesing a cell phone or access to an electronic device (Allison 2006: 164). Also, the app and tamagotchi continued to help eliminate cultural

It appears that most if not all of these accounts seem to evoke a negative feeling towards texting and social media because of the effects these tools of communication have on a person. The idea of Turkle’s that texting and social media has such an impact of negativity on a person and the people they involve themselves with holds much truth because of the way a person’s social skills and emotional state are being affected. Social media and texting are damaging and problematic communication tools. They lead to people losing the ability to communicate face-to-face, they lead to people using these communication tools maliciously to hurt others, and they lead towards people’s relationships with others becoming much less intimate and personal.

“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.

As social media becomes a ubiquitous presence in our lives it is commonplace to engage with this form of media on a daily basis. The attempt to deny one's self from all forms of media for 24 hours was undertaken and the artefact produced “Disconnect 24 Hours: A compilation of visuals and texts’’ a campaign portfolio. Social media is the specific type of media disconnected from with the aim to explore how and why people are reliant on social media (SM) increasingly. In particular, exploring the need to share on SM, how it can impact the person’s behavior, social and communication skills. Additionally, any other various implications on the person and society.

At this very moment, there are thousands of people worldwide who are retweeting posts on Twitter, liking pictures on Instagram or posting a status on Facebook. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are few of the many social media platforms that have become prevalent in our society. Because social media applications and websites allow users with easy access to communication with others around the world, individuals all across the globe are able to socially interact on a daily basis. Erving Goffman, Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead, three of many sociologists who viewed society through the interactionist perspective, would use these daily interactions to make generalizations about society as a whole. The paradigm of symbolic interactionism reaches conclusion about different groups in society, generally by observing everyday social interactions. Accordingly, interactionists would view social media as an aspect of society that consists of constant social interactions that continuously influences and affects individuals and the whole of society.

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.

More recently than in years past, digital technology and social media have grown to become a part of our everyday lives. The recent rise in those who own smartphones allows this everyday use of digital technology and social networking to be easier than ever before. At any time and any place, we have the ability to “socialize” with nearly anyone—even celebrities who have no idea most of us even exist. The continuous consumption of digital media has altered once personal face-to-face communication to just that, digital. More and more people seem to be living in what Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon call “The Cloud”. “The Cloud” is a seemingly alternate universe of which communication is altered from personal to digital. This universe has led to debates over whether or not these online communities are real or whether social media is actually social. Various digital media sources also encourage users to create individual identities, of which may or may not actually be real. It seems as though our reliance on digital technology and social media have allowed the determination of certain aspects of our lives. Although social media allows us to connect with nearly anyone at any time, Americans have taken advantage of its use, and their attention has been drawn away from real life interactions to digital ones. The ramifications of such influences reflect the hidden insecurities of Americans and, ironically, emphasize our inclination to boast about ourselves by allowing others to see the