Social media apps
With shows like “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and reality television in general, the need to mirror an image of perfection has spread to daily life. Social media has the potential to negatively affect the way society views authenticity, relationships, and personal growth.
False Perceptions from Social Media
1. Social media platforms like Facebook have created the perception of closeness in regard to the ability to connect people who have lost contact over the years. This encourages people to remain “friends” while not needing to put forth a sense of consistency or commitment to a relationship. To remain friends is but a click away, devaluing the real efforts required to keep a person in your life. This is also changing the principles of what an authentic relationship should look like. In these ways, this platform has encouraged the erosion of authenticity and genuine relationships.
Social Media Influence on Reality
“Hanging out”
2. Pressure to be on social media has increased significantly over the years, causing individuals to be in constant contact with their phones and the people they’re connecting with. Through this contact, there comes the potential for a decline in the perception of reality. When an individual’s entire reality is engrossed in their mobile device and the world that it provides, a gap in a person’s ability to distinguish real versus constructed priorities may form. Through this prioritization, individuals may experience difficulty challenging themselves to understand the broader questions that would encourage their personal growth. This puts society at risk for supporting shallow, individualistic morals.
Social Media and the Shrinking Attention Span
Kids and Social Media
3. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Vine are all excellent examples of social media platforms’ ability to cater to the shortened attention span. Tweets can be no longer than 140 to 280 characters, Instagram and Snapchat are entirely image-based, and Vine was an app for videos lasting no longer than six and a half seconds long. The popularity of these platforms showcases the evolution of the disintegration of the attention span – shown overwhelmingly in children, adolescents, and young adults. This shift may be viewed as troublesome for the future of education and the advancement of technology. It may be argued that attention span and perseverance are the basic ingredients for breakthroughs and achievement.
While social media’s presence continues to grow, there continue to be more positive and negative effects in our society. Things like a lack of depth in relationships, a false sense of reality, and deterioration of attention span have the potential to change the way younger generations see the world on a macro and micro scale. Be cautious of the time spent on social media platforms and encourage real-life interactions to create a positive change in the way that social media is used.