Social Media Impact

Project Description

For this project, I took a deeper dive into social media; it's history, uses, and impact.

Social Media Addiction Survey

My results from the “AM I ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA?” QUIZ define my relationship with social media as healthy. Stating:

Psychologists estimate that as many as 5 to 10% of Americans meet the criteria for social media addiction today. But luckily, that's not you! Not checking social media every few minutes doesn't make you feel anxious, as you prefer to live 'in the moment' rather than through your apps. You use social media to your advantage, at work and to connect with friends and family, but you know when to put it away. Keep it up!

This is in part true. I do not believe I have zero dependency on social media. There are some people I ONLY interact with through social media, making it a crutch in our relationship. I tend to delete my >2 social media application on my phone when I am in my studies. Even the temptation weighs heavy on me. I have worked jobs that place me in situations with zero cell service, forcing me to "live 'in the moment'" which I truly appreciate.

Interesting Social Media Statistic

Understanding social media sites and their uses is necessary in conceptualizing this data. This data specifically analyzing teen social media usage. That reason being for why Facebook usage went significantly down over the years. Some social media sites where not of existence prior to acquiring this data. Tumblr has progressively become more censored and likely the reason for the downfall in usage. Something to additionally take into account would be the pandemic these individuals experienced in 2020 and beyond. From my personal experience, I believe social media being one of the only ways to receive human interaction positively contributed to it's usage.

Social Media's Impact on Society

Social media is driving our society. I see it through exposing isolated communities to new ideas, introducing different people to alternative hobbies, and through education. While much good can come from social media, it also has the potential to create unrealistic expectations and false hope. Individuals mostly have control about what they decide to display through their social media accounts, often times this does not tell the entire story. We cannot let online intimacy be the catalyst for lack of human to human interactions. We can use social media as a resource to obtain deeper relationships but those relationships have to be tended to off the screen.

Lessons Learned

I experienced an inability to upload a WEBP file onto Google portfolios. This forced me to download the file using the link below the image. This file then saved as a PNG file which I was able to upload.

Sources

Editorial Team. (January 25). “AM I ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA?” QUIZ. Time to Log off. https://www.itstimetologoff.com/wp_quiz/am-i-addicted-to-social-media-quiz/

Garofalo, E. (2022, January 20). A Brief History of Censorship on Tumblr. Make Use Of. https://www.makeuseof.com/tumblr-history-censorship-changes/

Vogels, E et al. (2022, August 10) Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022. Pew Research Center, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse