Shameless Braggers

Social media tricks people to believe others are living a ravisher life than they really are. They post only the highlights of their lives, and never the negative. It makes others view them falsely and more presentable than they actually are, which makes those viewing their profiles feel less satisfied with themselves and their lives. There are even some people who drop all social media because of how terrible it makes them feel, but there are also others who thrive for the attention of social media and go through ridiculous tasks in order to take the perfect picture. There have been many disputes over how social media websites such as Instagram or Facebook affects ones self-esteem, it can knock them down.

A photograph, painting, canvas, or drawing today is not the same as it was a decade ago. Technology has evolved to the point where we can photoshop a person into a picture, enlarge a person’s butt, or even whiten people’s teeth. At what point do those technological advances cross a line? With social media ranging from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Tumblr, do these media sites promote egotistical behavior? In January of 2013, John Paul Titlow discusses some of the disadvantages and advantages that Instagram has in his essay: “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie” that was posted on a website called ReadWrite. Although Instagram was primarily created to simply share pictures, it has evolved to do much more than that. Some businesses use it to advertise, some people use it to share their art, but then there are some people use it to flaunt their own personal lives in the form of pictures. Titlow acknowledges that Instagram is a desirable way to share art and diverse imagery, but additionally acknowledges that it can be a place where one can promote their own self-popularity. He explains that Instagram has become remarkably important in people’s lives to the point that they cannot view life past those Instagram likes (Titlow). Ultimately, Titlow succeeds in emphasizing the issues that Instagram has created by reason of the way he expresses his text, while furthermore expressing who the audience of his essay is, and by making his overall purpose clear.

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) offers infinite connections and the ability to express oneself to the world. But are these connections and images of self-based upon fact or fiction? Through selective self-presentation, people often present the “ideal self” instead of the “actual self” in the online environment to achieve the feeling of positive self-esteem. In “The Way We Live Now: I Tweet, Therefore I Am”, Peggy Orenstein writes of how her Twitter posts reflected an idealized version of her life. Two studies support the hypothesis that such editing can have a positive effect on personal self-esteem. “Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem” by Amy Gonzales presents a study demonstrating

Moving forward, social media has been a major convenience and reward to virtually everyone. On an individual basis, social media allows friends and family both near and far to communicate with one another. Also, businesses are flourishing through the use of social media. Advertising has never been easier. Horn (2013) states, “Our profession, unlike any time before, is demanding we become social media (…) experts” (1). Horn (2013) also states, “More than half of reporters (55 percent) use Twitter and Facebook to source stories” (1). Social media has greatly benefited business life and personal life.

In her article “Social Media’s Impact on Self-Esteem” Clarissa Silva analyzes the effects of social media. She is able to show how disconnected people have gotten because of being online. Which is causing many to suffer from the paradox effect and vanity validation, that has also contributed to negative impacts in many relationships. Different sets of data are used as evidence, the percentage of peoples fear of missing out (FOMO) being a prime example. Social norms have shifted from face to face conversations to online discussions. Silva demonstrates how it plays a big role in self-esteem because of the decrease of social skills. She sheds light on the issue to decrease the irresponsible use of social media without knowing

Social media has become a world stage for many people to display and share their accomplishments, failures, and even their shenanigans. No one seems to care anymore if their boss, spouse, or conservative grandmother knows how wild that party they attended over the weekend was, or who their romantic fling was with that week. It’s a sad fact and even though most people do it, posting ones every day move can still affect their job and personal relationships.

Through the use of rhetorical questions, she makes the reader examine their own integrity. She is able to explain the concept of why people feel the need to gloat by expressing, “If something good happens to you and no one knows it, did it really happen? Moreover, if you don’t publicize your accomplishments and good fortune are you essentially saying you don’t care about them? Is bragging about yourself actually a form of appreciating- or even respecting- yourself?” (Lines 34-36). Through her rhetorical questioning, Daum guilt’s the reader into thinking, “Am I an offender of bragging on Facebook?” Not only does Daum make social media users question their own action, it makes others speculate the true purpose of

Most people are uptight about the likes and comments they receive on social media websites, Carr formally proclaims. All of the popular websites use this method to receive more people active on them. Doing this urges people to share personal details about their life. “...people share four times as much information about themselves when they converse through computers as when they talk in person” (Carr 3). It is not necessary for people to share an extreme amount of details about their lives, but they still do.

Can the excessive use of social media, specifically Facebook, be seen as a form of narcissism? Editors Edwin E. Gantt and Brent Slife of Brigham Young University present two opposing opinions to explore this topic in their presentation, “Is Excessive Use of Social Media a Form of Narcissism?”. Could the oversharing, “duck face”, and look at me virtual world be a way to reach out to each other or just a shallow attempt at self-validation? Each article expresses the author’s views, and research on the subject.

With so many people posting to social media what makes one individual stand out against the rest? There is always the chance that one doesn’t get the job they are looking for. All that time and effort that individual put into creating their image online reaped no reward, no money, and no health insurance. Regardless if one gets the desired job or not they have to look at everything it asks of them. Posting about everything and anything one does in a day takes a toll on one’s personal life. Sharing intimate details with sometimes millions of followers comes with risks. There starts to be a lack of privacy once one posts about every meal they make and every time they have a family get together. Still many are lured into this vicious cycle with the promise that someday they will have all the fame and fortune one could want.

This is where the freedom of speech the internet allows comes into full practise, the abundant unregulated content of the internet as no limit. The internet has evolved to give people this sense of freedom, which inevitably results in abuse.. This is perfectly explained by David Gauntlett’s Web 2.0 theory. Web 2.0 has enabled all kinds of people to be creative, to share the things they've made, and to collaborate with others. Gauntlett argued that Web 2.0 as allowed us to become our own producers and create our own identities and even influence other people just as celebrities do. A great example of this is the story of Justin Beiber, a now worldwide superstar followed by many, started by using the web 2.0 to the fullest by regularly posting creative videos of himself on YouTube, another powerful mass media median. The freedom allowed by web 2.0 allowed him to reach an audience without strong support from television and radio. This lifted him to superstar status. Take for example the twitter accounts of such a celebrity like Justin Beiber, who is effortlessly portraying a persona of a super loved mega star on twitter by having over 37 million followers, however new research claims out of his 37.3 million followers, only 17.8 million are linked to real accounts. The website Socialbakers found 47% of the singer's followers on Twitter were genuine fans.

Social media has gained immense popularity, following increased access to the internet and technology devices including smart phones. Social media is used to denote platforms in which people build and share social connections; thus enhancing information sharing and interaction. Major examples include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. Through social media, people can connect, interact and exchange information such as pictures, videos and other digital media by registering as users in these platforms and updating information affecting their lives on their profiles. When social media applications came into existence, these were mostly used for interacting and sharing with friends, relations and new friends acquired through these platforms. Social media has however been constantly abused, as people turn it into a ground to vent, lie, insult, bully or threaten others. The social networks no longer serve their intended purpose in the society and users have taken advantage of the free space to say whatever they want with no regard to how it affects others. People have used such domains to brandish their selfish acts and gains.

Recent research has documented how technology, and social networking sites (SNS; e.g., Facebook, Instagram) in particular, have given rise to a growing obsession with impression management and self-presentation online. Whether it’s searching for the perfect Instagram photo filter or carefully crafting a humblebrag Facebook status about a recent publication, users frequently engage in selective self-presentation strategies to portray an ‘ideal self’ through social media (Chou & Edge, 2012; Manago, Graham, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). In turn, we seek out social approval and positive feedback in the form of comments and likes.

Social media can be defined as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or participate in social networking. As a phenomenon of only the past couple of decades, it has certainly changed the way we live our everyday lives. Whether socially or professionally, it opens the door to incredible amounts of information; most of which is freely shared.

One of the trending effect of social media is attention-seeking. Most people don’t even know that they are seeking for other people attention or opinion. I am one