Social Media and Society

Social media is addicting. With countless platforms out there, it’s almost impossible to get away from all of them. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter (let’s just list these for now) all have something in common: they bring people together. However, although they help to connect people this doesn’t mean that each of the relationships we make are empathetic and meaningful- and a lot of the times, these apps are used for entertainment purposes. In the article, The Truth About Facebook’s Fake Quest to Connect the World written by Noam Cohen, he makes the point that Mark Zuckerberg knows “‘Humans have the capacity to maintain empathetic relationships with about 150 people…'” and Zuckerberg claims that “Facebook extends that”.  I don’t believe that’s true. I think social media lessens the quality we have with people because we aren’t making an effort to see many of them in person and build “in-person” relationships with them- everything’s on a screen. Instead of even calling, we’re texting more or sending memes or doing whatever it is that people do instead of talking out loud and having a meaningful conversation. I have many friends, but I don’t have the capacity to have meaningful relationships with all- just a few. The claim that Facebook can extend the belief of having more than 150 empathetic friends is bogus. What does empathetic and meaningful even mean to everyone? Everyone has a different understanding of these words when it comes to describing friendships they have built with people. Social media, at least to me, is more for just connecting with people and entertainment- but as for getting the same quality relationship with someone from a bright lit screen? I don’t think so.

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