Social or Anti-Social Media?

I wasn’t sure how to start my first blog, so naturally the first thing I did was read a few other ‘first blog’ posts. One particular blog I read mentioned how they used google to find inspiration.

In a lecture I was in the other day, we were asked to write down all the media platforms we use and to circle the ones we used daily. It was only after this I realised how much I rely on the internet and social media.

Google is one of the main platforms I use, by searching mundane questions such as “co op opening times” and “things to do near me”. I even searched “how to write a blog post” before writing this.

I also found myself listing multiple social media platforms which I use daily, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Whatsapp. It occurred to me that all these platforms are forms of ‘social’ media, however when I spent some time trying to avoid using it I noticed how anti-social it actually makes people. I spent time with friends and noticed how a lot of the time people were on their phones on social media. Instead of actually socialising with the people they were with they were using the internet to communicate with others that weren’t even there, making for a very anti-social meet up.

Although one could argue that social media isn’t making us less sociable, simply changing the way we are communicating. People use social media to show others whats going on in their lives, though obviously when adding content to your socials, you’re only going to add the best bits. This gives a false impression to the audience, creating the assumption that people are happy all the time, when usually this is not the case.

Another thing we looked at in the lecture was different ways of breaking up with people. While most agreed that face to face was the only humane option. A few people claimed they’d rather do it on the phone. This way they could avoid the confrontation, and not be guilted into changing their minds. Social media has given people an ‘easy way out’ so they can avoid potential tears or arguments.

VS.

Language and New Media is a really interesting and eye-opening module so far, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the course.