Is social media detrimental to our social circles?

[Triz]

https://i.ibb.co/NtTtX4g/social-media-updates.png

Do social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat & Instagram etc have a negative effect on our social lives?

A study shows that the average person spends 20 minutes per day on social media platforms such as Facebook. Do you think that as a result, we are having less face-to-face interactions with family and friends.

Before the days of social media, you were forced to go out and meet up with friends and family if you wanted to catch up with what's been going on in their lives, or at the very least; you'd have to pick up the phone. However now-a-days if you want to see what little Ol' Bobby is up to, you can just take a look at his profile and see he had a Nando's last night but he didn't eat it all, then he went to Thorpe Park with his 2 kids the morning after, and took 327 pictures, all of which look like they were taken with a potato, and boy oh boy, the traffic on the M1 was absolutely shocking on the way back from London, Bobby couldn't believe it.

What are your thoughts on this?

Do you think social media is ruining our social lives for the real-world, or do you think it's enriching it?

As we all know that the lives some people portray that they lead on social media are far different from the one that they actually live. Does your house always look that perfect Instagram girl, or is it just that one angle you keep clean and the rest of your house is a pig sty?



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[Sloths]

Forgot to say, this debate is now open!!

[Zak]

It depends.

I certainly think it can be detrimental but also enriching. I suppose what it comes down to is what you use it for and how much you use it. For example I use Facebook to record meaningful activities in my life, I use YouTube for entertainment & learning, I use Twitter to catch up with what's going on in the wrestling world and I use LinkedIn for professional purposes. I don't use Snapchat or Instagram.

I think the negative effects come when people start making comparisons and face peer pressure. I fear it's far more detrimental to the younger people in society that feel they must look a certain way because ImaginaryPersonNumber#1 posted an amazing photo in the gym or must travel because ImaginaryPersonNumber#2 posted a picture in an exotic location.

It's these comparisons that are dangerous. There's also the lack of social interaction, social media is almost an addiction for some. I know numerous times I've been trying to make conversation with my partner and she doesn't listen because she's scrolling through Instagram.

Luckily I'm not really tied to my phone or social media in general. I can easily go for a week without. :P

[Neversoft]

It's both negative and positive. The whole notion of 'social media' is something which enables interaction, but often it can foster isolation. People have killed themselves due to the negative influences of social media, and people have flourished due to the positives of social media. It certainly has a role to play in how people lead and mould their lives. People probably do have less face-to-face interactions with their families these days, but I would argue they have more interactions over all. I can pick up my phone right now and basically talk to anybody I know, and millions more I don't. There's no distance involved, no barriers; besides connectivity and time zones (even language can be circumvented to a degree). The issue is, many of these interactions are menial. It's easy to like a comment or a photo, or to send an emoji, but those responses are almost reactive. I feel that social media can numb our empathy a little, but what's the alternative? At least we can stay in contact with our friends and family at the press of a button.

Problems arise when people use social media as a substitute to all interaction. I do feel it's important to have physical relationships with people, but it's so easy to become lost in this ease of connectivity to a point where seeking some sort of chemistry outside seems fruitless. I am sure many have such affluent lives on social media, whereas their reality by contrast is much more passive. In this instance, is social media good because it enables them an outlet, or bad because it leads them on a path further from actuality? To me, it feels like people turn to social media a lot in bad times, and are able to find comfort there. In an ideal world, everybody would have somebody in their real-life that they can turn to in a time of need, but the world isn't often ideal. In my view, at least social media is there — always there — to enable some degree of solace.

I also think the world is a better (or, perhaps, rightfully more complex and rich) place due to the role social media plays in allowing us to talk on a global scale. The internet was still young when I was in school — it wasn't really ever used. I had to use textbooks and the library to do my homework, otherwise I would have to ring my auntie who would be able to Google some things for me using her dial-up connection. It could just be because I was a child, but the rest of the world seemed much more remote then. Now almost nowhere and no one seems so faraway. I got a new tattoo last year and posted a picture on Instagram. A couple of weeks after, I got a message from a girl in South Korea who had the same tattoo. We got talking about all sorts and now, almost out of nowhere, I have somebody I would consider a friend (or at the very least, an acquaintance) from South Korea. How bizarre. All I did was post a picture.

Also, there are some great films on this topic. Check out Ingrid Goes West (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP4vD1tWbPU), which explores social media addiction (particularly Instagram). It has Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen in. Disconnect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkoM0IbbLiY) is another good one that explores some of the negatives of social media and communication technologies. It's a little heavy-handed in parts, but it makes some good points.

[Zak]

To me, it feels like people turn to social media a lot in bad times, and are able to find comfort there.


I concur. Although I'm not sure much comfort is found in majority of cases. I did this once ten years ago when I was going through a rough patch, the whole experience was very negative and left me feeling as if no one cared.



The internet was still young when I was in school — it wasn't really ever used. I had to use textbooks and the library to do my homework, otherwise I would have to ring my auntie who would be able to Google some things for me using her dial-up connection. It could just be because I was a child, but the rest of the world seemed much more remote then.


I remember when my school built their first computer room but we weren't allowed to use the computers in case we broke them. Also, the noise you got when picking up the landline on dial-up. (love)