In todays society, Digital technology has made a major impact on our lives, and continues to alter our society in generations to come. Social media has become our societies major activity for entertainment, and Facebook has become one of the most utilized social media platforms of them all. With Facebook becoming one of the worlds major social media platforms, it comes with question as to: is Facebook making users lonely? or more connected? Due to people being so involved with their phones, our societies fear is, not being accepted by others on social media.
In Stephen Marche’s article, “is Facebook making us lonely?”, he explains that the media is making it more difficult for humans to connect with one another nowadays. His thoughts could be seen to be true, as our communication over text and social media databases has became more prevalent over time instead of having a person-to-person communication. It is also stated that being lonely leads to isolation, and when you are isolated, you are dissconected. Although, in the article, “Facebook isn’t making us lonely” written by Eric Keilenberg, he is pretty much going against Marche’s theory and referring back to his article as “not a lot of proof”. Keilenberg thinks that there is no evidence to see that social media has made people introverted, and that if anything is making us more connected as people. In the article “The Intimacy of Anonymity” by Tim Wu, he infers that posting on the internet leads to over-sharing, and at that point it feels like a reality TV show. As humans, our search for approval and likes on social media has made us vulnerable and formed a culture of over-sharing. Yet, on the other hand, I can see why this is becoming a trend, because it is common to be discovered over social media to land jobs, or opportunities from companies in need. This gives us humans, a need for exposure and a need to catch others attention.
I would argue that social media is making us more connected as a society, because it is easier to communicate with people you couldn’t have without the digital technology. In my life, I stay connected with everyone that i was acquainted with, due to my digital device and I am perfectly okay with it. Being a college student, I wouldn’t be able to keep in contact with all of my high school buddies without my cell phone and social media. I don’t think this has made me more introverted, yet I can still be close with the people i need to even though we lives many miles apart.