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How social media affects our mental health essay
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How social media affects our mental health essay
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Social Media’s Degrading Touch
In our rapid pace culture, it is easy to lose yourself in a vast coded ocean of technology. Some means of connecting have converted to artificial embodiments of a so called bond. The opportunities to socialize outside of our tribe has dwindled due to the pressing obsession of the smartphone. Whether chattering obnoxiously via cell or emotionlessly texting, folks trap themselves within a bubble of public ignorance. This concern is swept under the rug by countless beings, but is it a first world problem that is generating a less empathic society. Browsing about El Camino College, nearly every person is sucked into some sort of media, and I include myself. My reasoning behind the blaring set of headphones is simple,
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I wish to avoid conversation with strangers. Perhaps it is fear of the new that motivates folks to hide behind a digital tourniquet. Isolation has a respectable number of contributors, but social media is adding to this laundry list against a loving humanity. This very notion is apparent through Sherry Turkle’s essay, the penalties of media are cementing the fact people are “together alone”, they are hurling away wholehearted connection, and they are lax in grip of their metacognition. Phony virtual relationships formulate a false sense of interaction between people.
In Sherry Turkle’s essay, “Growing up Tethered” she tells a story of a young teen named Julia who lives her life through her phone. Julia “-mixes together “pulling up” a friend’s name on her phone and “pulling out” her phone, but she does not really correct herself so much as imply that the phone is her friend and that friends take on identities through her phone” (Turkle 433). This factual reality for this sixteen-year-old female is frightening, but sadly is becoming more common. Turkle also adds that Julia is a victim of anxieties and when she is unable to contact others, her state of mind is filled with fear. Connection assembled through the screen is not physical and is not mentally simulating to be the only means of speaking, if this is the case for someone it deforms into an unhealthy bond. According to ProCon.org, folks that rely on internet interactions doom themselves to social separation. Social media possibly “can exacerbate feelings of disconnect (especially for youth with disabilities), and put children at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders” (ProCon.org). If leaning on the internet can give way to disorders in a person, why is it worth the risk at all? The response is simple; people are unaware of what they are causing to themselves. If they do not see social media’s addiction as a draining issue, they cannot hope to advance themselves. When people …show more content…
retain a cheap substitute for relationships and interactions, they fail to sense the disease of disconnecting. When having a false taste of connection people are mired in using social media excessively and forget the real world.
According ProCon.org, “Social media causes people to spend less time interacting face-to-face” (ProCon.org). Back in 2012 the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg school did a study that showed from the year 2000 to 2011, people reported less face-to-face time by a 26 percent increase (ProCon.org). Following the current tread, this should not shock anyone that these numbers continue to develop. If anything at all, individuals should sense a pit of disgust within themselves. The ailment of disconnection surrounds our culture publicly. As recent as February of this year the lack of empathy is shown through a multitude of news stories and one of which that occurs on a beach in Argentina. Selfish people ended up murdering an endangered baby dolphin for sheer idiotic reasons. As stated by The Washington Post, “-the animal was plucked from the water and passed around by beachgoers for petting and photos” (The Washington Post). Once these people were done getting kicks from playing with the dolphin, they didn’t even bother to put it back into the ocean. This type of behavior stems from those who lack the capability to put themselves in other people’s shoes. Technology is not smoothing over these rough edges, but is actually sharpening them to harm all those who are touched by its
damage. Although social media can cause harm to the mental state of people, it can be used as a tool to spread news quickly. Stated by ProCon.org, “Over 50% of people learn about breaking news on social media” (ProCon.org). The positive outlook is that if someone requires their information to be transmitted quickly, it can be done very effortlessly. This is a wonderful mean to gaining support for a certain cause, or just to raise awareness in general. For example, say your grandfather goes missing for a couple of hours, and you post about it on your social media account; more people can look out for him. Although having the capability to spread word quickly is a helpful aid, it can backfire if the information is misleading. Online media not only dissipates fellowship but it also leeches at personal intelligence. Evidenced through a person named @ComfortablySmug on the media Twitter, he spread fake information about the after effects of Hurricane Sandy. He did this “by tweeting that the New York Stock Exchange was flooding and that the power company would cut off electricity to all of Manhattan; the bogus information was picked up by national news outlets including CNN and the Weather Channel” (ProCon.org). The fact that popular news channels believed in these false stories displays a lack of critical thinking on their part. This behavior is becoming generic in society, due to the lack of real life interactions and the ease of having Google at our fingertips. Pointed out by Richard Becker on his website he states, “[Studies] suggests that [media] connected people have an increased tendency to view others as less than human — and even treat them as such” (Dehumanizing People: How Social Connections Create Elitists). When folks are disconnected they end up lacking in respect due to the fact they failed to learn to see through the eyes of others. Maladaptation to social media pointed out in Sherry Turkle’s essay is but a few roots of pain. A dehumanized culture is being formulated by folks who are consumed in loneliness, cutting honest cords of connection, and who are inadequate to fight against sheep like mentality. Emotions can promote change, but for it to be geared for the better, the masses must be rich in education and retain a heart for selflessness. Being afraid and ignorant creates unsatisfying replacements for connection. With this idea floating about in all walks of the first world culture, it is difficult to view beyond this digital age. An emotionless society cannot fix itself without facing prickling issues, but this notion can only be achieved through functional effort, and turning off one’s cellphone when talking.
...helle Hackman, a sophomore in high school, realized that her friends, rather than engaging in a conversation, were “more inclined to text each other” (Huffington Post). Michelle also became aware that over forty percent of people were suffering from anxiety when they were separated from the phones. This clearly shows that we are connected to the technology that we use, but we are also suffering from the use of technology. We spend more than half of our entire day using some sort of technology, whether that is a computer, phone, television, or radio. Technology is becoming a prevalent part of our lives, and we cannot live without it. Technology has become our family, and part of us.
“Growing up Tethered”, by Sherry Turkle is an essay about how Mrs. Turkle identifies and examines the adolescents growing up tethered to the wide force of technology that has come to characterized society. Today’s generation has become solely dependent on technology to provide and function in everyday life. Growing up tethered can be defined as continuous connectivity. i really like ham and cheese sandwiches because they melt in your mouth. also i like being around people with good vibes because they bring positive in my
In Sherry Turkle’s Growing Up Tethered, Turkle speaks of a term titled the collaborative self. She defines this term by telling many different stories through the lives of high school students. These students focus on this type of compulsive desire to feel socially accepted or connected. The students speak specifically about the anxiety that results from the feedback they receive or do not receive through their phones. Through Turkle’s stories, they agree that they rely on technology in order to live their lives. She speaks about young people living in a state of waiting for connection and event taking risks to stay connected, such as texting while driving. Although technology is intended to help,
In “Connectivity and its Discontents,” Sherry Turkle discusses how often we are found on our technology. Turkle states in her thesis “Technology makes it easy to communicate when we wish and to disengage at will.” In the essay are interviews on several different people, of all ages to get their view on the 21st century. Teens are starting to rely on “robot friendships,” the most communication teens get are from their phones. Are we so busy trying to connect to the media that we are often forgetting what is happening around us?
In the world today, people are constantly surrounded by technology. At any given moment, we can connect to others around the world through our phones, computers, tablets, and even our watches. With so many connections to the outside world, one would think we have gained more insight into having better relationships with the people that matter the most. Despite these connections, people are more distant to one another than ever. In the article, “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk," author Sherry Turkle details her findings on how people have stopped having real conversations and argues the loss of empathy and solitude are due to today’s technology. Turkle details compelling discoveries on how technology has changed relationships in “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk,” and her credibility is apparent through years of research and the persuasive evidence that supports her claims.
Facebook, Instagram, Texting, Email, Twitter, and Snapchat they’ve brought a lot of good to us. We can now do work faster and more efficiently. We can communicate with old friends faster and cheaper than ever before. They allow us to have constant communication with one another, but they take as much as they give. Events and special occasions that use to be cherished and shared with friends and family only, face to face is now being put on display for all to see. When did we get so emotionless? When did a one sentence text message suddenly become the way to announce an engagement or a picture on Facebook be the way a family member discovers you’re sick? In the article titled “Alone together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from
“Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features.” (James Surowiecki) Whether or not is known, technology has become too heavily relied on. It is replacing important social factors such as, life skills and communication skills. While technology is created to be beneficial, there must be a point in time where we draw the line. Once face-to-face conversations begin to extinguish, this means that there is too much focus on the “screen culture”. In her writing, “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle talks
I have 822 friends yet I’m lonely I talk to some of them everyday yet none of them really know me. The problem i have sits in the spaces of looking into their eyes or a name on the screen. I step back and open my eyes only to realize that this media that we call “social” is anything but, when we open our computers and its our doors we shut. All this technology we have , is just an illusion, no community, companionship, sense of inclusion yet when you step away from this device of illusion, we awaken to see a world of confusion and anxiety. A world that we slave to the technology we mastered, where information is sold from unreliable sources, world of self-image, self interest, and self promotion. Worldwide 78% of teens own cell phones, and about half (47%) own smartphones. The shows that from 2011 (23% of teens having smartphones) to now (47%) teens are focusing more on the media rather than what’s really important.
According to Andrew Lam, “if communication technology was created to enhance our daily lives, something has dramatically shifted: More and more, we are changing our lives to cater to the digital world.” Clifford Nass, a communications professor at Stanford, told the New York Times that empathy is essential to the human condition. However, given the virtualization of the real world, and tendency for many to multitask, “we are at an inflection point,” he said. “A significant fraction of people’s experiences are now fragmented.” Andrew Lam says that generations have been raised on video games, spent the bulk of their lives in chatrooms and on Youtube, on cell phones and iPods.
Various electronics are frequently used to go on pointless websites, such as Twitter and Facebook, which ruin society’s social abilities. More and more people use social media on the internet as a communication source. This does not apply merely to kids and teens, but adults as well. Using these sorts of websites as a way of communicating causes many individuals’ social skills to decrease. A plethora of children and teens would rather stay inside and interact with their friends through the internet than go hang out with them. Before technology people were not afraid to go up to a random person and talk to them. Now many friendships form through the internet and these friendships are not genuine. When these “friends” meet in person, they find nothing to talk about. For example, I remember after watching Perks of being a Wallflower, a movie taking place in the early nineties, my friends and I discussed how all the characters communicated in person and during hanging out they played games and talked. Now...
Social networking has increasingly had a huge impact on society. Technology has opened the door to a vast amount of information and to the ability to relay that information to practically anybody at anytime and anywhere. People are constantly checking their email, updating their status on Facebook, sending tweets on Twitter, instant messaging, and texting. The debate of whether the use of social networking is a negative or positive aspect is a continuous one. In the case of Steven Pinker, his essay “Mind over Mass Media” argues that media technologies have a positive effect on mental development. In contrast, Sherry Turkle’s essay “Connectivity and Its Discontents” asserts that technology has a negative effect on interpersonal relationships. Although Pinker makes many excellent points on how technology is improving intelligence and Turkle provides exceptional ideas of how technology is damaging to relationships, neither Pinker nor Turkle provides the best answer to this question due to their lack of credibility and inclusion of logical fallacies. Instead, we should, while aware of the risks and dangers of social networking, use the Internet to its full potential.
It is not an overstatement to say that modern portable communication devices are becoming an inseparable part of today's society. In "Hell is Other iPods," Caspar Melville accused that modern communication gadgets have caused social isolation among people as well as limiting the choices of people. He further pointed the irony of these so called communication devices, stating "it suggests connection-always the implicit promise of the digital age-while enforcing separation..." Melville mainly points out the impact of modern, portable communication devices on social relations. She criticized that these devices limits music experiences and filter out information. She also rejects the idea that these devices can be used to enhance social interactions. The above arguments Melville made match the ideas I have about these devices. In fact, I strongly agree with his argument that these devices are potential social hazards for the society.
Rather than doing physically reliant activities, youth spend most of their time looking at a screen. “A 2010 Kaiser Foundation study showed that elementary aged children use on average 7.5 hours per day on entertainment technology…” (Rowan). This not only causes children to lack the physical activity they need, but the social activity as well. Technology can cause social isolation in children. Although social media keeps individuals updated, it keeps them more “distant” and “lonely” in their phoneless lives (Price).
The research done by Hiniker and et al. relates to several topics learned in lecture. Children’s inability to disconnect at certain times relates back to today’s moral panic, which consists of pervasive connection and loss of connection strikes the fear of missing out on an event in some people. In an interview with Sarah Childress, Danah Boyd states that she believes despite the potential dangers of overexposure to technology, children will be alright because they know how to respond back to the schemes of brands and advertisers. In discussion of the positive impacts of technology, Hiniker and et al. mentions the correlation between social media and
Technology addiction is almost similar to drug addiction. Technology is useful in many ways. Using computer, internet, cellphone, television etc. make peoples’ life easier and comfortable. Young people are the most user of it. They cannot think of a single day without use technical device. Tara Parker-Pope is an author of books on health topics and a columnist for the New York Times. In her article , she expressed that, “The International Center for Media and the Public Agenda at the University of Maryland asked 200 students to refrain from using electronic media for a day. The reports from students after the study suggest that giving up technology cold turkey not only makes life logistically difficult, but also changes our ability to connect with others.” ( Parker-Pope, “An Ugly Toll of Technology: Inpatients”). Her point is that, for the young generation it is quite impossible to give up from becoming addict...