In today’s day and age, technology has become an integral part of most people’s daily lives. With this technology comes social media and internet usage, and as people spend more time utilizing these online networks, a change in how individuals interact and behave with one another has taken place. Such as, reduced face to face interaction and increased anti social behaviors. With these changes brings psychological effects like loneliness and anxiety. Ironically the opportunity for constant connection via social networks has created an excuse for individuals to dramatically lessen the time they actually spend with one another in person. While these new technologies may seem like a convenience, in reality they breed laziness which then leads to loneliness. Several studies have been conducted to examine the relationship between social media and loneliness, such as those done by Mustafa Savci and Ferda Aysan, Stankovska, Gordana and others.
Social behavior change as a result of social media
Excessive time spent on social media in recent times has shown to be detrimental to real life social interactions. In her Ted Talk, Connected but Alone?, psychologist Sherry Turkle speaks about the way in which social media “ gives us the illusion of companionship without the demand of friendship, we turn to technology to help us feel connected in ways we can comfortably control”. In other words, the ease with which one can pick and choose when to access social media, as well as meticulously think out online posts, has created a preference for online rather than face to face social interactions. A result of this new convenience is that now when people are faced with real life social situations, it becomes difficult and even intimidating to carry on a full conversation, when they are not able to slowly think about and edit their every response.
Turkle proposes that connection equals isolation. As counterintuitive as this association may seem, the fact is that with so much connection, the capacity for solitude is lost, meaning that people lose the ability to be comfortable while also alone. The idea of being alone, instead of seeming natural, becomes a fear of isolation. Social media and the lack of self control One of the most important factors to keep in mind when using social media is self control. Of course not everyone lacks this self control, and may even be able to easily limit themselves from spending too much time online.
However, those who are more impulsive and lack the ability to limit themselves, may form an unhealthy attachment to social media. A result of this unhealthy attachment is then loneliness, as they isolate themselves in their virtual worlds. In their research paper, “Relationship between Impulsivity, Social Media Usage and Loneliness”, Mustafa Savci and Ferda Aysan reported, “ individuals with impulsive symptoms tend to use social media excessively”(Aysan, Savcı, 2016).
This unrestrained time spent online is the root cause of negative social behaviors; therefore, not only is it critical for people to engage in face to face interactions, but they must also have self control when it comes to how much time spent online. In some cases, this desire for virtual interactions is fueled by a preexisting loneliness. In their article, “Social Networks Use, Loneliness and Academic Performance among University Students”, Gordana Stankovska, Slagana Angelkovska and Svetlana Pandiloska Grncarovska write, “that an individual who is having way too insufficient social relations in terms of quality and quantity will be addicted to the internet. This finding implies that the students who are lonely would more likely become addicted to the internet and would also feel more lovely, happy and important while on the internet” (2016).
Consequently, individuals who use social media to escape their loneliness are only worsening their problem, and creating further unhealthy social habits. Humans conditioned to their devices Another factor that contributes to people spending too much time on their devices is the basic psychological result of a well-learned response. In the text book, Psych Smart on page 111, there is an excerpt from senator Thad Cochran in which he speaks about how distracted he constantly was by his cellphone. He even goes on to say “that during meetings on the hill almost everyone was always checking messages or typing, he says it just beeps or buzzes all the time and people get up and leave the room”. In this case the time people waste on social media is not even a matter of their own conscious making, but instead an unconscious psychological response to their environment. Just the simple sound of a notification may have them logging onto their phones to check, before they are even aware that they are doing it.
As this response continues on for a long period of time, the deeply rooted mentality of relying on social media for constant stimulation becomes problematic. conclusion In conclusion, people have to choose how to use technology, and especially social media in the right form that will not make them completely isolated from the real world, and instead leads them to just living in the fake world of media where anyone can cut and edit their life as they want. If people use social media in the ways they are suppose to, they will find out that social media has absolutely nothing to do with being lonely, but totally the opposite because right now humans are in the new century of technology and globalization so everyone needs to use social media to stay connected with the outside world, and actually people who do not use social media at all are the true lonely people.
Everything in our life should take the right time, but not the majority of our life focused only in one thing. That is the problem of social media; people just use it too much, to the point that they become addicted to it. It is all about proper time management in order to live a healthy, productive, and stable life.
References
- Mustafa Savci, & Ferda Aysan. (2016).
- Relationship between Impulsivity, Social Media Usage and Loneliness. Educational Process: International Journal, Vol 5, Iss 2, Pp 106-115 (2016), (2), 106. https://doi.org/10.12973/edupij.2016.52.2
- Psychsmart. (2011).
- New York: McGraw-Hill. Stankovska, G., Angelkovska, S., & Grncarovska, S. P. (2016).
- Social Networks Use, Loneliness and Academic Performance among University Students. Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, 14. Retrieved from http://proxy.sierracollege.edu/login?url=https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED568119&site=eds-live [Ted].(3 Apr 2012).
- Connected, but alone? | Sherry Turkle [Video File]. Retrieved from https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Xr3AsBEK4
