Social Media Influence And Conformity

Over the past few decades, the Internet has changed the way individuals, society, and the world functions. As personalized technology makes its way into the hands of billions, disconnection from reality follows. Personalized technology includes objects such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and more. As more and more aspects of the world begin to inhabit online domain, humanity in terms of humaneness and benevolence declines. The people of the 21st century are unequivocally disconnected from reality. Disconnection from reality shows itself in situations when an individual is remotely disinterested with the situation that the individual uses technology to escape it, and inhabit a more visually stimulating, digital realm. People today are facing …show more content…
“We all know that what one sees on someone’s Facebook page is rarely a true representation of who they really are. We prune away the things we don’t want and emphasize the things we do” (Koen). People share things on social media to gain positive responses from other members, conforming the very essence of their existence for acceptance. Social influence and conformity are ever present in the digital age. People need to understand the pressures of conformity in order to resist it. Connected to everyone, social media makes conformity an increasing concern. Conformity on social media can have many consequences, such as loss of innovation and creativity within the individual.
“Today, social networking sites are the preferred platforms for all kinds of activities, both business and personal, and sociability has dramatically increased — but it is a different kind of sociability…... Most Facebook users visit the site daily, and they connect on multiple dimensions, but only on the dimensions they choose. The virtual life is becoming more social than the physical life, but it is less a virtual reality than a real virtuality, facilitating real-life work and urban living”