Social And Social Causes And Consequences Of Social Media

In his article, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” Stephen Marche argues that Facebook is the vital cause for loneliness and is luring people away from social capital. According to Marche, social networking isolates individuals and creates distance, mostly amongst family members. For some, it is not only isolation but rather social loneliness. The author claims that health can also be effected by loneliness. Nowadays, due to very little verbal person to person communication, he writes that people have never been so separated from one another because of social media. Facebook users, Marche argues, have an addiction to profoundly visit their account constantly leading to the feeling of loneliness and in most cases depression. The author claims that social networking, instead of demolishing isolation, is unknowingly spreading it. Ultimately, However, Stephen’s argument fails to convince due to his abundant false assumptions and the articles confusing organization.

Social media, like Facebook and Twitter seems to be growing popular worldwide in the last few years. Have you found yourself or someone else in an awkward situation and instantly pull out your phone to scrawl through Facebook or Twitter just to keep from talking to someone in the elevator or doctor’s office? Is social media like Facebook and Twitter making us lonely human beings? One man, Stephen Marche, wrote “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely,” published in May of 2012 issue in The Atlantic thinks that social media might play a role in it alongside with other things.

Some people may wonder what effect social media has on people worldwide. Many people are using social media daily and because of that, they might not know the effects that can be lurking behind a screen and causing harm to their mental health. Social media has many negative effects on mental health. Some people could think that mental health and social media has no relation, when it does. It is a fast-growing issue with many “cause and effect” reasons behind it. Each cause needs to be recognized along with the effect it has on the people who use social media.

In Stephen Marche’s article, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” he discusses how Facebook has changed our world into a very self-reliant place. Facebook has changed drastically since it was first created. When it was first released people all over the world went crazy. Everyone posted everything they did and for a little while it was doing the purpose that had been intended. While Facebook is still doing what it was intended to do the way it is doing that has completely changed. In general social media has created a way for people to stay connected online but destroy a real connection with anyone in real life, because of this many people have become lonely without even realizing what has happened to them because they are so busy doing other things.

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.

Social networking sites (SNSs) have made up an important area of research for those interested in online communication technologies and their impact on individuals interactions (Steinfield, Ellison & Lampe, 2008). The use of these technologies are said to have mixed effects on loneliness and connectedness. While these sites create a more convenient avenue to stay in contact with people (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007) they also limit the depth of genuine relationships (Kraut et al., 1998). It is difficult to determine whether it is these SNSs that are making people lonely or whether these sites are reconfiguring our notions of loneliness, as these are not static concepts (LaRose, Connolly, Lee, Li & Hales, 2014). Research has also found that individuals who have high levels of conscientiousness are less like to engage with SNSs as they promote procrastination (Hughes, Rowe, Batey & Lee, 2011).

Stephen Marche’s “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” posted by The Atlantic has internet users questioning the meaning of why they use the internet and social media as well as weather or not it has a profound impact on their social lives. In 1995, only one percent of the world had access to the internet according to internetlivestats.com. Today, that number is approximately to 40%. With the expansion of the internet came social platforms such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and numerous similar sites. However, while these social media websites may be great ways to communicate with those who are far away or otherwise unable to speak in person, a detrimental effect comes with the power to do so. It can be time consuming and if one has an

Internet and social media have allowed people to stay connected more easily with others but unfortunately for some it has done the complete opposite and has made them lonely and isolated due to their virtual lives. Social isolation has become a problem in our society. Some people seem to lack the skills necessary to carry on a normal conversation with another person face to face due to them relying on social media. “I don’t know a more urgent problem than this,” Harris says. “It’s changing our democracy, and it’s changing our ability to have the conversations and relationships that we want with each other” (Lewis, 2017). When people find themselves in a social setting that is uncomfortable, people often turn to their smart phones for a way to escape from the situation. An example of this would be, texting someone in order to avoid the conversation that is going at that moment. Social media provides some people with the belief that they are socially connected, for example having lots of “friends” or “followers” may give someone the impression that they have the same type of friendship they have with their family and good friends. People need to remember the value of honesty and practice being honest with their selves and others. At times this can be hard especially for someone who is experiencing isolation issues, so it is important for those around them to show them the truth and help them get on the right path again. An example would be for someone to reach out to their friend or family member and show them that all their “friends” on social media are not truly their friends and could lead them down the wrong path and get them into trouble. Unfortunately isolation can cause depression especially when the person realizes they have been isolating themselves or come to the realization their social media friends are not truly their friends or have their best interest at heart.

The study argues that over the last 30 years, Americans have become less socially isolated while using public spaces (an environment where most often people are criticized for being on their phones too much): “The increased tendency to spend time in groups while in public contrasts with evidence from other research that suggests a decline in American public life, and that mobile phones have increased social isolation in public spaces” (Hampton et al. 1489). While social media critics often paint modernity as a picture of people with their eyes glued to their phones, using social media while they are in the physical presence of people, this study proves that this is an over dramatization, and that connection between one another has actually steadily increased over the past 30 years, despite the creation and popularity of social media. While Turkle makes multiple valid points in Alone Together about the negative effects social media and constant connectivity has on us (especially on adolescents), it is beyond doubt that social media has made us more connected as individuals

“If we are constantly checking in with our virtual worlds, this leaves little time for our real-world relationships,” proclaims Larry Rosen, a journalist from The Wall Street journal. Often we can’t bring ourselves to disconnect from our computer-generated lives, and that causes us to ignore real social situations, and ruin our chances at creating compelling mutual bonds. Another way that social media addiction breeds isolation, is that many people use their phone to cope with uncomfortable social interactions, and find themselves compulsively using them when anxious. The problem with this is that the people around them don’t want to invite them to anything, because all they do is play on their phones, thus damaging their social life. Lastly, Social media is addictive because you can choose to only follow or talk to people who share your opinions. It is easy, and addictive to be able to pick and choose people who share your interests, and agree with your opinions, but it also puts you at a disadvantage. When we spend so long around people who never challenge our opinions and ideas, we never get to see things from other perspectives, or grow. As well as this, most work places, require you to get along with people you may not like, or share opinions with. By constantly using social media as opposed to interacting with real people, we lessen our experience, and tolerance for people different than

Social media can play a key factor in the eventual loneliness of users, as the pressure to constantly check it is sometimes unbearable, leading them to become attached and even addicted to social platforms. The main reason that social media is causing loneliness is because real social skills take a hit as a result of simply being able to talk behind a screen without conversing face-to-face (Siegle). When an individual becomes accustomed to being behind a screen and communicating online, they lose aspects of sociability. Being social online becomes second nature to many, and they lack physical interactive skills when it comes to social situations due to that reliance on technology. Nowadays, millions and millions of people have an account on at least one social media platform, and for some, this ends up being the only medium through which they

Social media causes isolation because it makes people not fully engage with others. Social media has made us become more interested in our phones and computers than the real world. Many people would be more interested to interact on social media rather than interacting with others in person. As Wency Leung points out in her essay Does Social Media Bring Us Closer- or Make Us Loners, “While we are connected, we are rarely fully engaged with those immediately around us” (687). As Leung points out, we are more engage to our devices than being fully engaged with the people around us. For example, we see this all over the place like in colleges, parks, and even in your own house. Most people would prefer to engage over the phone that to be engaged in a conversation with the person in front of them.

The face of this century is wrapped around social media. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are the three most commonly used of social media websites. Mainly to share personal information or perhaps even view what one person is doing by simply uploading a video. There have been many scenarios and debates on whether social media is consuming our daily lives in a negative or positive way. Although the three of these apps are very popular, Twitter has been in the lead with their users by sharing over 500 million tweets per day. Even though those statistics may sound cool, Twitter has also been known to be the main cause of cyberbullying, relationship problems, and teen depression. Is it really that bad?

In recent years, the world has changed by modern technological developments. People in these days are living real revolution and changes that affect in somehow their life. Social media has contributed to link parts of this wide world to each other, and paved the way for all people exchange views and ideas. In addition, social media sites are considered the most widespread on the Internet because of its characteristics that made it different from other websites. Because of social media, people has become living in small town. They do not need to travel in order to getting informations or news. Social media has created easier way to achieve communication between individuals and groups.Social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace , High Five, Tagged and YouTube have allowed people to exchange video clips, photos, share files and perform immediate talks and direct communication and interaction between the audience. Despite of advantages of social media that offer to its users, there are some disadvantages that may overcome those advantages. There are a lot of severe criticisms that social media faced because of its negative impact on individuals, families and society. Steal information, break the personal privacy, wasting a lot of time and isolation from people are some of problems that people have faced because of social media. People have divided into two group toward this issue. Some people think that social media has contributed to make their life better.

The term “social media” simply refers to the websites or applications that can either be created or used and a medium of social networking. It has become one of the basic need of today’s generation. It is supposed to be the most useful tool in life, but it has been a major distraction for students. It has become one of the biggest social issue today and a controversial topic. Some society consider it as a boon whereas there are many cultures which believe, it is the biggest curse to young generation.