Social Media Has On The Psychosocial Development Of The Human Brain

In the “Empathy Gap” by Sherry Turkle the author claims that because human beings are obsessed with being digitally connected that the empathy gap has opened making people less empathetic towards each other. Turkle reports that humans do not appreciate the value of talk which is being undermined because many people fear a real conversation which does not allow them to control the situation including giving someone their undivided attention which allows a people to become vulnerable. Turkle does not disagree that our decreased capacity for empathy can be scary she argues impressively that by showing weakness and vulnerability will help us become more empathetic. The author supports the idea that our communication is at risk because people want

Humans are naturally social beings. Jeremy Rifkin states, “We are, it appears, the most social of animals and seek intimate participation and companionship with our fellows (115).” The article continues to explain how humans seem to connect through emotions and that inner, neurological need for human interaction. When one person feels pain, joy, or sadness, they want to share their feelings with another person. Hence, the needing fulfillment of social interaction. However, the use of social media does not mean humans have become less social. Even though social media has introduced a new way of interacting and communicating, studies have shown that people are becoming more

We seem to be living in the “generation me”, where the upcoming generation is showing less and less traits of empathy. Often times, empathy and sympathy may get confused, but sympathy is the feeling of caring about feeling sorry for someone’s trouble while on the other hand,empathy is being able to relate to another person issues or problems. Online social media networks may be to blame for the lack of empathy. Through online, we are able to ignore others and their emotional feelings. However the behavior of lack of empathy can also be played out in face-to-face situations.

To begin, the use of technology has been leaving the people vulnerable. Today conversations are being pushed aside and even in some cases avoided. In the article, Turkle says, “We’ve gotten used to being connected all the time, but we have found ways around conversation — at least from conversation that is open-ended and spontaneous, in which we play with ideas and allow ourselves to be fully present and vulnerable.” Turkle also implies that by losing this type of conversation, the amount of empathy shared between two people is lost. In one of the studies, “They found a 40 percent decline in empathy among college students, with most of the decline taking place after 2000.” (Turkle, 2015). She shares many stories of how students especially

People tend to deny that they have an addiction, even though they do. They do not want to believe something about themselves that deep down they know are true. The constant connection to social media, rewires the brain to become conform to constantly want to be connected to something. .

In 1971 the first email was sent. This was the beginning of social media. Social media is a form of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other contents. Social media sites are like fads where people eventually stop using them and move on to the next one. This essay will be about the effects of social media on the mental health of the main users of social media.

Social media is a relatively new concept. The effect of social media on social development is still being determined and is a highly debated topic. Some believe that social media has a positive effect on social development, and others believe that it may be degrading real life social interactions. Konnikova seems to be neutral on the topic. She gives evidence of it being a good trend and also evidence of it possibly causing harm to friendships.

In a growing world where technology has become an essential source of communication, special attention must be placed on the potential hazards of social media. The relationship between an individual’s social media habits and mental health is complex. In this report many concepts will be explored thoroughly such as, the effects of social media on mental health, how it is concerned with substance abuse, the advantages and disadvantages of social media and which social media site is cyberbullying occurred on the most.

Social media is described, by the Merriam-Webster dictionary (2015), as “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)”. As few as 10 years ago the term social media was yet to be coined, but within that decade the use of these blogs, websites and sharing platforms has increased exponentially with no plateau in sight. From creating Instagram accounts for household pets, to sharing Halloween themed baking ideas over Pinterest, people today have access to social media outlets for almost everything. Today about 74% of people ages 18-65 use some form of a social networking site (Pew, 2014). Facebook takes the lead in social media usage with about 71% of those adults. LinkedIn and Pinterest are tied for second at 28% of users, 26% use Instagram, and Twitter falls last in the top 5 most used social medias with 23% of users (Pew, 2014). In September of 2013 the Pew Research Center measured that 90% of adults ages 18-29 used these social media outlets on a daily basis, which is an astonishing increase from the 9% that was measured in February 2005 (Pew, 2014). Due to the fact that young adults are increasingly involving themselves in these online platforms, it is very important to understand the long term and psychological effects (such as depression, social anxiety,

Social media has drastically changed how people communicate. How many people remember how it feels to hear the phone ring in the house or receive a letter in the mail? Today’s youth know nothing other than text messages, tweets, and Facebook. Social media and the social entertaining websites of today have affected social behavior in many ways. While there are many advantages to this technological advancement, these advancements can also result in many changes in social behaviors. Some of the few prominent changes in social behavior, due to social media, are lack of communication skills, changes in self-esteem and cyber

The popularity of social media giants such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are on the rise and so is our nation's overall poor mental health status (The State of Mental Health in America). Studies have shown that there is a direct link between our social media obsession and our poor mental health (Walton). Social media can lead to feelings of comparison, jealousy and even delusional behavior. Another effect that social media has on our mental health is that it often leads to feelings of sadness and loneliness. Lastly, social media addiction is one of the many things that affects our mental health. Studies show that social media is often the cause of poor mental health, it can cause comparison, jealousy, loneliness and lastly addiction.

Most definitions of empathy are based on the same core idea - empathy is the ability to understand and identify someone else’s thoughts and feelings, as if they were one’s own (wordreference online dictionary, 2016). Although it’s been said “there are probably nearly as many definitions of empathy as people working on the topic.” (de Vignemont & Singer, 2006, p.435) suggesting that there is no singular way to even define empathy, let alone explain its impact on our behaviour. Due to the sheer depth and complexity of empathy it’s understandable that each discipline within psychology presents it’s own explanation for why we experience it, and how it can affect our interaction with the world around us. Psychologists have been exploring empathy for decades, in hope of gaining a complete grasp of what it means and how it can vary between each person, therefore its important we look at different psychological perspectives to try to understand it’s many dimensions.

Social media seems to be one of the many hot topics of discussion recently, and consequently many people have the false sense of security that they have a profound knowledge on how it affects the health of the teenage population. A sedentary lifestyle, decreased sleep, as well as other physical health conditions seem to come to mind when one links health and social media. However, there is a much bigger problem that can go unnoticed because it can be impossible to see: the impact it has on mental and emotional health. These branches of health are just as important, and even arguably more important than physical health is. Social media can be utilized to connect with distant friends and express oneself; however, teenagers should refrain from the overuse of social media due to its detrimental effects on their mental and emotional health.

The teen years can be a challenging time, and social networks can be places for teens to turn to for support and advice when going through challenging experiences (Nielsen, 2009). Adolescents who use Facebook have been shown to demonstrate more “virtual empathy” (Rosen, 2011). Social networking can be a positive and somewhat easier way for adolescents to get to know and become accepting of others from “diverse backgrounds” (Clark-Pearson, O’Keeffe, 2011). As well as providing social support, social media sites can also provide medical support. Adolescents can easily and anonymously seek medical advice (Clark-Pearson, O’Keeffe, 2011).

Our society has become heavily reliant on social media, and today’s younger generation cannot avoid using it in their everyday lives. As time has progressed, social media has advanced significantly, becoming easier to access with a touch of a button. These advancements provide both positive and negative consequences to youths’ relationships. Due to the rapid advancement of social media, youths’ real-life relationships with their peers have been affected both positively and negatively.