The readings for this week all mostly touched upon how social media usage and how much is posted correlates with how we feel as a person.
For the articles that touched on Facebook, one made the case that the social media site makes us increasingly lonely and as a result physically and mentally ill. It states that even though we are more connected than ever, those connections are mostly digital and are not the same as being physically connected and with people. However, in a different article, it was argued that Facebook doesn’t make us lonely because of all the connections it can create and the fact that we can reach out to almost anyone at the tap of a button. I personally believe that Facebook can cause a little of both. I do agree that it makes us less lonely in the sense that we can connect to so many, but I feel as if it can’t cure loneliness if one already feels that way.
One of the readings also talked about how social media posts that are anonymous have now become more intimate and lead to more truth. I personally felt that this article was very true, but I began to really think about if I tend to “overshare” online. We’ve become so used to seeing what other people do online, that when they post something after not being online for a while we are wondering where they went. In addition, we got so used to seeing their names pop up on our news feeds, we instantly become worried if we don’t see them. Sometimes we’ll even forget about them entirely.