The Effect of Social Media on One’s Sense of Self
We live in a time of rapid technological progress and while some aspects of it are incredible to behold, others are simply confusing. Most people would not like to live in a glass cage, however, I believe that this is exactly what it feels like for those who are actively using social platforms such as Facebook. Everything we do is collected, closely observed, and then relentlessly judged, mostly by those we do not even know, anonymous commenters. Ideally, no social platform should have any effect on one’s sense of self, nonetheless, every person should decide for themselves whether they get affected by social media or not.
I have made my choice to not be among those who take social media too seriously. I do get more insight into other people’s personal lives, yet this knowledge is of no real use. I decided not to share too much of my own personal information on Facebook due to my belief that only those who are close to me should be kept updated on my life. Nevertheless, I do not think that everyone can stay away from social media. It creates an illusion of emotional closeness and personal importance, it is a competition, a race that no one can win. There will always be someone who seems to be doing better than us, which might not even be true. Yet we perceive what is presented to us as real, therefore some try to chase ideals that simply do not exist. Moreover, people with larger social networks are “more concerned about their self-image and disclose more positive emotions” (Lin, Han et al. 6). Thus, I can only conclude that with deeper involvement in social media comes more pressure to act a certain way, show some sides of yourself and conceal others that might be viewed by others as unattractive. Eventually, dissatisfaction and frustration will take hold of anyone who is, in a way, forced to seem happier, more successful, more popular than they actually are.
Works Cited
Lin, Han et al. “Emotional Disclosure on Social Networking Sites: The Role of Network Structure and Psychological Needs.” Computers in Human Behavior, 1st ed., Singapore, Elsevier Ltd., 2014, p. 6,
http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/linqiu/publications/Emotional%20Disclosure%20on%2
