June 15th: Social Media Friendships
I found the article "Social Media Friendships" to be the most interesting out of all the articles I have read thus far. Online relationships and social media friendships are far different than friendships and relationships we have with people in person. Someone could have over one thousand "friends" on Facebook yet they could be the loneliest person in the world. The "friends" we make across social media gives us a false representation of who we're really close with. People obsess over the amount of followers or friends they have, and it even gets to the point where it impacts people mentally if they don't have as many followers or get as many "likes" as other people. I personally really do love social media, but do not like this component to it that it has to power to get in people's heads. I wish it could stay a harmless platform used for fun and not self promotion.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI like your closing comment about wishing social media could stay fun and not be for self-promotion. To me it is sad to think the word “friend” has become so loosely used. By making the word so common it demeans the true meaning of what a friend is. Adam Hyde had stated, “while friendship feels more comfortable, its overuse is costing us richness of our social life.” To be my friend, it would take a lot more than hitting a button on a social site and beginning to communicate with me especially when you may have never met me personally or we may have crossed paths once at an event.
We had a lot of similar thoughts when reading this article. I mentioned in my post how I think its crazy how the world has involved into this obsession with followers and likes. I have also noticed that the people with the biggest following on social media are the most insecure and loneliest people you will ever meet. It's really scary how it can become an addiction to some people in altering their pictures or actual bodies in order to please the following on social media that they have. And I can definitely say that I do love social media and I'm not perfect. I do sometimes worry about the amount of likes I get on a photo but I blame society for that. Im with you on the harmless platform aspect, it was like that when the app first came out but now it can be a very dark place. I wish it could go back to just posting a picture because it was a form of expression not a form of self promotion.
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