Is Social Networking Making Us Lonely? A few days ago, I was watching a soccer game on my computer with a friend. It was an important match between my favorite team and his, and the competition was actually very fierce. It ended up with my favorite team being lost. I disappointed for half an hour and my friend trying to console me, though unsuccessfully. I knew that in that kind of situation, most friends would have clapped me on the shoulder and given me a hug, and I do believe that my friend will do this for me, if my friend was not on the other side of the earth. Yes, the friend who watched the game with me was neither in my house nor live in the same state or country as me. We were watching the game on the same website and talking through …show more content…
This situation has changed recently due to the existence of the internet, a worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computers where people can get different kinds of information from it. Social networking service, as one of the main products of the internet, created a brand new platform for people to share their interests and interact with each other. Not only that, social networking gives people the opportunity to present a finely manicured facade, not the messy reality of their identities. It is such an attractive place, especially for those who pay more attention to their own external images- teenagers. Although most people believe social networks bring more benefits than harms, many have complained that social networking makes teenagers more concerned with the virtual world rather than the world in front of their face. Furthermore, they believe that social networking is keeping us apart- it creates …show more content…
Is social networking making us lonely? It is not strictly true. Loneliness is one of the puzzles which have been bothering the people for a long time. In addition, the word “loneliness” was created far before social network started to exist. In his book Oh, the Places You 'll Go, Dr. Seuss expressed: “All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you 'll be quite a lot” (7)! The book was published in 1990, the time when social networks haven 't yet been popularized. That is to say, there must be other factors that bring loneliness, and those have nothing to do with social networking. Nevertheless, could social networking be one of the causes of
In a day and age of a social media dominance, we have never been as densely connected and networked as we ever have. Through studies and researchers, it has been shown that we never have been as lonelier, or even narcissistic. As a result all this loneliness has not only made us mentally ill, but physically ill as well. Published in The Atlantic on April 2, 2012, Stephen Marche addresses this argument in his article entitled “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely”.
Even though Sherry Turkle and Stephen Marche share the same claim of technology causing loneliness, Marche uses statistics of the dropping number of confidants to explain his point in a superior manner compared to Turkle’s worrisome evidence of technology destroying conversation. Sherry Turkle, Director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, gave a speech in 2012 titled “Connected, but Alone?” She spoke about how social media is deterring people from having conversations face to face. With the absence of in person conversations, people are losing the intimacy of the interaction. Similarly, Stephen March wrote an article in 2012 titled “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” Along with shocking examples of social media’s influence on society,
In the article “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” by Stephen Marche, the author tries to show that Facebook impacts on society in the various ways. Moreover, the purpose of this article is to convince the readers that they should really connect to each other like face-to-face contact rather than spending time online the social media. Marche states that “Facebook doesn’t destroy friendships, but it doesn’t create them either” (Marche 608). The author’s audience would be middle-aged adults and middle class in May 2012 that buy and read about the social media because they might be up sad of their life. He also discusses that social network is making us lonely, or if lonely people are addicted to the Internet. However, he states social network is “merely a tool” (608), and we can choose how to use them. Marche sounds very cynical. He is an analyst, but his article is not clear enough. The author’s situation is so complicated because he uses too much examples and stories. Stephen Marche in “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” is not effective in using pathos, connotative languages, tone and emotions to convince the reader that they should really connect to each other face-to-face rather than spending time online.
Brooke Wellborn composed a paper that stated Social Media Actually Makes Us Less Social? This is a debatable topic and matter which can go in both directions. I agree with her viewpoint and stance on the Social media issue and impact on human in general. There are three reasons such as the lack of face to face communication, get distracted while accomplishing tasks, and the individuals’ different usage to dominate their life.
The day of an average teenager consists of getting up in the morning, checking how many notifications he or she got on Facebook, posting a “selfie” on Instagram that was somehow shot in Mathematics, then ending the day tweeting about one’s absolute hatred of school and why it is a waste of time. But how are social networking sites making one’s life any better? What are one’s constant updates about their lives proving to the world? Do they make people happier or supplement people’s lives for the better? The use of social networking is expanding the ever growing narcissistic, solitary, and lazy society that the world is soon to become.
... It allows adolescent’s to speak freely and to reveal their desired personalities that may at all not be true. Some adolescents do not realize that what they say lacks privacy and that their online profiles create a particular perception of Them, they may rarely think of their consequence , these consequences do not necessarily have to be outside factors , these consequences can Have drastic influences on themselves. These social networking sites hinder adolescents identity development, due To the fact that they allow adolescents to exaggerate and when the adolscent does so, this creates the pressure for the adolescent to form a new identity And force them to find a balance between their true nature and desired personaltities, simply altering who they are to meet what they want To be , could have positive influences or negative influences on identity development.
In the article, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” by Stephen Marche the overall message is about questioning whether the usage of Facebook is making people feel lonely. In other words, whether or not Facebook, which is a social media tool, can manipulate a person to feel a certain way. The article explains that due to many people using Facebook, communication, like face-to-face contact, has decreased and therefore loneliness has taken over some people, as an illness. It also states that Facebook is a tool that many people use and it is how they use it that makes a difference. I believe that loneliness can only affect a person through his/her own actions; no one, not even a tool, can make that happen. The interpretation of a post, the Internet’s
Tufekci contends that the state of being lonely is not about the effect of social media but rather
In Austin McCann's Impact of Social Media on Teens articles he raises that "social networking is turning out to be more than a piece of their reality, its turning into their reality." Teens grumble about always being pushed with homework, however perhaps homework isn't the fundamental wellspring of the anxiety. Ordinary Health magazine expresses that, on insights, a young person who invests more energy open air is for the most part a more content and healthier child. Be that as it may, since 2000, the time adolescents spend outside has diminished altogether bringing on more despondency and heftiness. Not just does it influence wellbeing, social networking denies folks from having an intensive discussion with their youngsters without them checking their telephone. Despite the fact that the constructive outcome of having an online networking profile is to correspond with companions/family, they don't even have the respectability to lift their head and take part in a discussion. Appreciating the easily overlooked details around them turns into a troublesome errand to the normal adolescent when they're excessively caught up with tweeting about it. The repudiating impacts of it goes to demonstrate that social networking is not all it is talked up to
1.11 billion was the number of active users on Facebook in March 2013. That number represents a 23 percent growth from a year earlier. In The Atlantic Monthly article “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” (May, 2012), Stephen Marche says that nowadays both the number of Facebook users and the number of lonely people are growing. However, the author argues that Facebook doesn’t make people lonely, but rather that these lonely people are drawn to Facebook because they think it can help them find friendships. He also mentions that Facebook can help people decrease their loneliness if they use it properly. Although some people might say that Facebook leads people to loneliness, I strongly agree with Marche that Facebook does not cause loneliness because Facebook helps people keep in touch with their friends, supports people to make new friends, and assists people in sharing their precious experiences and information with friends and family.
Many articles have been published showing the effects of social media on our social behavior. Social media has been accused of making humans lonely due to the lack of face-to-face interactions. In
In the end, social networking is the act of expanding one’s social circle by connecting other individuals, specifically in relation with the use of the Internet. It is rather common to find individuals of all ages using social sites to stay in-contact with others. While many can argue that social networking is more beneficial for teens, studies prove that the use of such forms of communication can negatively affect the lives of teens anywhere through its ability to create interpersonal and intrapersonal trials.
The use of social networking sites is rising at great rates. According to a report conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2012, ninety-five percent of individuals aged 12-17 use the internet; and eighty-one percent of those use social network sites (Pew Interest). Although it is known that social media can have a useful impact on lives, often times people forget that with a positive comes a negative. The continual use of social network sites will impact teen lives more negatively than positively because they can cause huge distractions from valuable and critical pursuits like education; they can also cause mental health issues and a reduction in communication skills.
There has been controversy as to whether parents should limit the use of social media by teenagers. Teenagers feel that there is no need to limit the use of their social media networking, but on the other hand parents should feel the need to limit their use and also keep track of their teen’s social networking. Social media has allowed to be connected with their peers, teens who post positive status are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and to many teens putting up “selfies” is a self confidence boost; however, too much social media can affect students GPA in school, cyber bulling can affect social health. Social media networks can give out personal information.
In the twenty -first century, teenagers live in a life of social networking and life’s online. It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed over the decades, especially in technology. Technology helps people to contact relatives and friends from long distance more easily and conveniently. People can now talk to each other from everywhere in the world simply through chat and video calls. By time, internet connections have spread throughout households and social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram has increased gradually. However, the internet and several modern technologies have wasted many times and has hurt the society. Social media plays such a big role in people’s lives that some people couldn’t even imagine