The Dangerous Side And Problems Of Social Media

Name: Course: Professor: Date: The dangerous side of Social media The millennial generation is one of the diverse population, they are young people who have grown up with technology and are comfortable within their social technology world. The millennial are constantly connected to the world and have embraced technology like no other generation. Millennial adapt faster to internet service because their lives revolve around such technologies. However, spending too much time on social media has increased narcissist behavior, hence affecting the human connection. The rise of narcissism among millennial is attributed to the increased usage of social networking platforms. Social media platforms are known for making narcissist dream whereby individual find admiration for oneself, more so their physical appearance. This type of self-love and self-absorption feeling is a way of trying to confirm their existence in an effort to seek social connection. Such connection cannot be achieved through social media, instead social media is known to create a dissonance between the desire for connection and loneliness, hence social media platforms cause negative psychological effects. Although many young people view social media as a way of life because of the narcissist dream including an outlet to express their emotions. Such outlets not only present an illusion but also dehumanize the general purpose human social life, which is to create the connection (Wickel 5). The main problem with social media is the different expectation it gives its users. Users expect social media to provide them with social connection and also offer a certain level of intimacy to satisfy their social grooming. Users of social media want to gratify specific psychological needs, which include the need to be seen, valued and to belong to the social network (Martos 433). If users fail to interact on social platforms, even for some hours, they develop the fear of being forgotten within the online social circle. Although many people often rely on social media for interaction and also find a connection; frequent use of social media platform is known to replace the interpersonal connection (Larose 66). Social grooming is the essence of social connection that occurs when people seek intimate geared towards expressing what they want other people to know about them, but social grooming cannot be achieved on social media because the internal emotional state is disconnected from the external events (LaRose 69). With many people into being aware of the dangerous side of spending too much time on social media, the paper presents the importance of raising awareness of the psychosocial effects of using social media. This paper illustrates how the problem has unconsciously consumed many social media users, presenting statistic and evidence from the research studies. The paper first discusses the social media problem and the needs for human connection and describes how social media can falsely replicate the need for human connection. The paper further review the purpose of social media and its many benefits also presents the dissonance between what users expect and what the platform can offer. The latter sections of the paper present effective ways to ensure that the current and future generation is not affected by this trend, offering solution that can be used to address this persistent social problem affecting many people. Human beings are social beings Human beings are known as social beings, their social tendencies like the ability to think, make inquiries, learn, play and work enhance human nature within the society. These are some of the human inherent characteristics that cannot be exercised in isolation, this explains why human seeks for social connection (LaRose 70). The need for connection has driven many people to social platforms ,with with the number increasing each day. The Pew center reveals that approximately seven in ten Americans use social media for social connection with others. The center has been tracking social media usages and reveals the social media option rose from just 5 percent in 2005 to 69 percent by 2011 the study further indicate that young adult between 18 to 29 years are most likely to use social media up to 90 percent (Greenwood, Perrin and Dugan 11). The narcissist dream makes social media platforms attractive to many people , numerous people sign up to experience this dream. Users enjoy being updated through such platforms, through social platforms, many people can keep in touch with friends and family and share their life events with significant others without being aware of the negative psychological effects of social platforms(Lanier 9). Although social media platforms offer numerous benefits, people are likely to spend too much time on the site. Spending more time on social media platform means having less time for interpersonal interaction as part of the daily routine(Lanier 9). These are some of the negative sides of social media that are overlooked .It is a fact that when technology is misused it can cause harm which most people tend to ignore or are not aware of more so the psychological effects of social media platforms. The need to be seen and valued drives many users to social platforms, the interactive feature of social platforms like Twitter, Instagram or Facebook provides are some of the desirable features and options that are known to offer instant gratification. When one posts or get likes from his post, he is able to feel valued and loved (Hossain and Korban 73). Social media is an interactive platform where people can share their feelings with others and get sympathy. Social media also give the feeling of intimacy when the user views a post read the feedback which alone which can stimulate private interaction (Hossain and Korban 109). Psychologists views humans as social beings who cannot live in isolation, Humans will always want to share their opinions and this forms the basis of human existence. Internal emotional interaction is more of a framework that holds people together, which also give people the purpose to live. Human connection is formed by specific elements of empathy, love, sympathy, and intimacy (Martos 433). Empathy and sympathy are feeling and attitude towards another, but sympathy comes from sharing the feeling with others. Intimacy is developed through interpersonal connection within meaningful relationships through friendship, parental experience and among couples (Martos 441). In a situation where empathy, love, sympathy, and intimacy are shared openly and expressed, humans are likely to be drawn to such platform. However, the way human interact and connect have evolved to a process known as social grooming, social grooming is a process where the emotional reaction releases hormones that make socialization a pleasurable activity (Wickel 3). Social grooming is used to develop bonds among members a group and it fulfills all the basic elements required to from social connection these include intimacy, sympathy, and empathy. The language shift from physical grooming to verbal grooming through speech is a major concern. Sharing information on social platforms among people with similar interest is what is currently described as intimacy. It is a fact that human connection cannot be possible without trust. Trust signifies importance and meaningfulness towards each other (LaRose 62). The meaning of grooming has been altered in a way in that it represents something different from its original meaning, the use of social media has invented new perspective of viewing human connection where verbal grooming equates human connection. Such modification comes along with exploitation that has been further advanced with modern technology (LaRose 51). The rise of social media has changed the translation of social grooming. The idea of social grooming through social media means sharing our thoughts send the message and express our feeling instantly and also receiving emotional support instantly. However, such form of connection or lack of it can be detrimental to humans because it defeats the true purpose of technology (LaRose 63). Studies reveal that loneliness increases as social media usage increase, social media is used as an escape from uncomfortable feelings to go into a community that understands them and help th...