“How many followers do you have?” and “How many likes did your last post receive?” spark common trivial conversations amongst children and adults alike. The world seems to be under the spell of a budding disease of epidemic proportions: social media. It seems that what started as a simple way to communicate with friends and family has morphed into a plethora of advertisements and updates on the lives of those we know only by a username. Most people are less concerned with problems in Iran and more concerned with what Kim Kardashian wore the previous night in New York. Larry King’s eighth divorce is a bigger issue than starving children in Yemen as a result of a seemingly forgotten war. Through social media, life is losing meaning, personal
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These individuals get so caught up in their self-branding, that they constantly obsess over their content. If something does not show them in a positive light, it is deemed corrosive to their self-image and is immediately eradicated from their profile. The idea is to create a perfect self-image so that others may become envious and long to replicate it. It is high school popularity to the power of ten. It is so sophomoric, so elementary, that it should be appalling to every single person. Classically, a person is defined by his or her good qualities, as well as their bad ones. In this classic, natural way of creating a self-image, an individual is able to derive a meaning to their life through hard work and transparency. In today’s electronic era, however, more people long to be defined by only their good qualities. This creates a hole in one’s personality and creates a lack of character because it disturbs the natural balance of human life. Technologically, we are taking one step forward, however, socially we are taking five leaps backwards. Jenna Wortham, a technology reporter for the New York Times, states that “...Facebook has begun creeping ever deeper into the texture of life…”(598). Facebook, as well as other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, are doing more than creeping into the texture of life; much like the pollution …show more content…
It allows us to disclose what we wish share and retain what we do not. Through the use of social media, we surrender our privacy in many ways. When creating an account on any social media platform, one must first accept a set of terms and conditions. Very few people actually spend time reading and reviewing what they are agreeing to, blindly clicking the big “Agree” button instead. In many of these documents, the user is agreeing to let the social media platform sell certain personal information to companies.This provides companies and the random people within these companies with access to information about the user legally, whether he or she likes it or not. Furthermore, doing a simple internet image search of someone’s name will unearth, at the very least, the profile picture from that person’s social media accounts, even if the account is private. This allows millions of people around the world with pictures of someone, without their knowledge, but with assumed consent. Yet another privacy issue of social media is stalking. Social media makes the act of stalking easier and more anonymous, which is quite terrifying to many. Stalkers can get email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and, in some cases, personal and professional addresses fairly easily from social media accounts. Some of this information can be immediately located in a user’s profile, while the rest can be found with little effort. Hacking is fairly easy too, a
These individuals get so caught up in their self-branding, that they constantly obsess over their content. If something does not show them in a positive light, it is deemed corrosive to their self-image and is immediately eradicated from their profile. The idea is to create a perfect self-image so that others may become envious and long to replicate it. It is high school popularity to the power of ten. It is so sophomoric, so elementary, that it should be appalling to every single person. Classically, a person is defined by his or her good qualities, as well as their bad ones. In this classic, natural way of creating a self-image, an individual is able to derive a meaning to their life through hard work and transparency. In today’s electronic era, however, more people long to be defined by only their good qualities. This creates a hole in one’s personality and creates a lack of character because it disturbs the natural balance of human life. Technologically, we are taking one step forward, however, socially we are taking five leaps backwards. Jenna Wortham, a technology reporter for the New York Times, states that “...Facebook has begun creeping ever deeper into the texture of life…”(598). Facebook, as well as other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, are doing more than creeping into the texture of life; much like the pollution …show more content…
It allows us to disclose what we wish share and retain what we do not. Through the use of social media, we surrender our privacy in many ways. When creating an account on any social media platform, one must first accept a set of terms and conditions. Very few people actually spend time reading and reviewing what they are agreeing to, blindly clicking the big “Agree” button instead. In many of these documents, the user is agreeing to let the social media platform sell certain personal information to companies.This provides companies and the random people within these companies with access to information about the user legally, whether he or she likes it or not. Furthermore, doing a simple internet image search of someone’s name will unearth, at the very least, the profile picture from that person’s social media accounts, even if the account is private. This allows millions of people around the world with pictures of someone, without their knowledge, but with assumed consent. Yet another privacy issue of social media is stalking. Social media makes the act of stalking easier and more anonymous, which is quite terrifying to many. Stalkers can get email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and, in some cases, personal and professional addresses fairly easily from social media accounts. Some of this information can be immediately located in a user’s profile, while the rest can be found with little effort. Hacking is fairly easy too, a