Loneliness
All of these articles talks similarly about the same thing: loneliness and why it is that people such as Marche may feel as though we’re becoming more lonely than we ever have in history due to social medias like Facebook. He goes to argue that Facebook is just a social platform in which we live false lives. We use them to disconnect from our real lives and live in a fantasy world where everyone is always happy and the constant comparison of others to yourself will make you more depressed, causing health issues in the long. We fool ourselves to thinking that Facebook is making us connect better when really we’re just looking for substitutes, when bonds and connection aren’t the same. Cacioppo says that evidence for media making us more lonely is mixed, meaning there’s really not a reliable source. Klinenberg also counters Marche’s argument about us not visiting often or going out more is because we always contact each other through social media to make plans first before visiting and that we’re been using cars to go see each other rather than to isolate ourselves. People are spending less time going over to each other’s houses and prefer to message over social media. Although it may seem like it, I feel as though social media is just over exaggerating who we are. Lonely people will be lonely when they go to social media, and social people will be social when they go to social media.
People are always displaying their good side on social media because it’s almost like a public display of who you are, and therefore it’s good to be aware that everyone’s seemingly perfect lives aren’t always that they seem to be. Hence the reason why many people like to go anonymous sometimes because it allows them to say something they normally would not have if people know who they were. It gives a person 100% freedom of speech without the pressure of society. Yes, it can lead to negative thoughts, but that’s just how people are. People also like using different stage names too for their social media platforms. Even though Facebook did not allow this at first, they’ve come to an understanding that this is important for some people. People with stage names have built some sort of reputation with that name and would like their audience to easily find them that way. I don’t necessarily think that’s you lying to yourself but more so just a side of you that you normally wouldn’t use in real life for the sake of appropriateness.
I know Marche is concerned oh how all we ever do is want to disconnect from our “real” lives and go to social media, only to dig deeper on our own loneliness by doing so. However, a person can either sulk about it or do something about it if it really matters to them. Honestly nothing is to blame. There’s always at least two ways on how you choose to feel about anything: negatively or positively. I feel like there’s all kinds of groups to be apart of and people to talk to, there’s opportunities for one to find their place and be able to cope with those who also like the same things you like, which is why I don’t think social media can be all that blamed. It’s a place where people can connect, and you can connect to groups that interest you and find people that way. It’s almost like a book, you find ones you like and ones you don’t like. Ones you like, though, usually aren’t outweighed by the ones you don’t like but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a book out there somewhere for you.