Anna Voskuil | Copy Editor
Featured image: Social media is an everyday part of our lives—but do we know how much it actually impacts us? | Courtesy of Pexels
It’s an undeniable fact that so much of what we do, say, and believe is highly impacted by social media. Since the debut of the World Wide Web in the 1990’s, the means by which we’ve been able to connect and reach others has been replicated on a massive scale, soaring from the point-to-point communication system of the telegraph to the many points-to many points of the Internet.
Thanks to this new (well, not so new anymore) communication system, we’ve observed how much the Internet and modern technology has paved the way for the formation of identity—which, in many ways, has had both positive and negative effects on the human mind and lifestyle.
This online, global world has become one of comparison, distraction, and individuality. It has added vast, new realms for us to explore and define our identity.
It would be inaccurate to say, however, that social media has full power and control over the functioning of society.
While it bleeds into our politics, news, relationships, and so forth, it would be a fallacy to make the claim that it will one day completely rise above the capabilities of human beings.
When discussing the impact of social media on today’s average student, there are a multitude of vantage points from which we can dissect and analyze this discussion: privacy, self-esteem, mental health, relationships, academics, and self-perception, among others. Simply put, it’s impossible to pinpoint how exactly social media affects our lives.
When looking at the effects of social media on such a broad scale like this, it is important to acknowledge not just the roles of these platforms themselves, but how information and communication technologies (ICTs) interplay with social media interaction. ICT is another term for information technology that allows for unified communication, through forms of telecommunications technologies such as televisions, computers, and telephones.
For instance, Dr. Vera Pavri, a professor in York’s Departments of Natural Science, and Science and Technology Studies under the Faculty of Science, recognizes the positive impact of social media use within the classroom, by also expanding to the role of ICTs in general.
“I have found platforms like Moodle to be extraordinarily valuable, as they allow me the opportunity to communicate with students far more frequently than I was able to in the past, and provide me with a tool to enhance students’ understanding of course material,” she says.
Social media use and influence is as diverse as the communities it affects, as “technological success or failure is very user-driven, and the impact of technology depends on many factors, including gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status,” she says.
By understanding social media as a “user-driven” source, then it would be difficult to refute facts—such as that 76 per cent of females and 66 per cent of males have a Facebook profile; or that Twitter has a more balanced distribution, with around 27 per cent of black internet users, 25 per cent of Latino internet users, and 21 per cent of white internet users having Twitter profiles—which note how various communities play a significant role in how a social media platform is displayed, understood, and used.
Beyond factors such as those listed previously, certain platforms also address social issues in their own unique ways. In the case of Twitter, some of the most notable hashtags have been: #BlackLivesMatter, #HeForShe, #Ferguson, and #JeSuisCharlie, which raised levels of social awareness and discussion of world events related to racial, gender, and other related inequalities.
Beyond these discussions of representation and social media lies another that especially comes to mind when acknowledging the negative consequences of social media use—how it affects mental health.
In recognizing this factor, research has shown that social media increases one’s feelings of jealousy, loneliness, depression, and anxiety.
In a survey of 1,500 young people, the most reported mental health consequences from usage of social media sites like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook are higher rates of depression, bullying, anxiety, and “FOMO,” otherwise known as the “fear of missing out.”
The onset of FOMO may make users feel as though they are missing out when they see their friends or idols having something, doing something, or going somewhere that they wish they could do or have themselves.
More often than not, it may result in the belief that they should participate in something out of the fear they’ll regret not participating.
A recent study from the U.K. determined Instagram was the worst social media platform for one’s mental health, followed closely by Snapchat and Facebook.
In the study, researchers asked participants to score how social media affected areas related to their well-being, such as quality of sleep, feelings of loneliness, their personal body image, real-world relationships, a sense of emotional support, self-expression, and self-identity.
YouTube was shown to be the most positive site for mental health, as it received high marks for increased user awareness on a diversity of health experiences, access to reliable health information, and for decreasing feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
A second U.K. study recording 1,500 Twitter and Facebook users found that 60 per cent reported feelings of envy, and 62 per cent feelings of inadequacy, when they compared themselves to others online.
Priya Saha, a second-year Communication Studies student, says: “My use of social media depends on my mood. If I’m happy, I refrain from using it, but if I am depressed, I tend to spend longer hours on social media sites.”
Unfortunately, Saha’s testimony rings true in the case of many Facebook users. A 2015 University of Missouri study on the effects of Facebook use on mental health found that regular use of the site could lead to symptoms of depression by triggering feelings of envy in the user.
It’s also important to note how different people are affected by social media based on their satisfaction from use.
“For instance, studies have shown that extroverts and introverts receive different levels of satisfaction in their use of social media sites, and that for some people, social media use can actually cause feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness in the user,” says Pavri.
Additionally, many studies find that with increased time spent in front of a screen comes a fixed dependency on ICTs.
“Research has shown that people often have a physical and/or emotional connection to their phones as opposed to other technologies,” says Pavri. She gives the example of a study in which participants felt higher levels of sadness after losing their phones, than they did following the loss of a significant other.
Often, one’s self-esteem and identity is dependant on who one surrounds oneself with, and the specific comments one receives regarding how they are perceived by the outside world. While the “likes,” “hearts,” or “reblogs” we receive from the online world may seem like superficial forms of praise or affirmations of one’s self-worth, it has significant emotional impacts on how we inherit a sense of belonging.
Farhnaz Fazli, a third-year Biology student, says: “I’d be silly not to admit that I like getting a ‘like’ here or there from others on my posts. It makes us feel understood, like we belong.”
“For those individuals that crave a sense of social connectivity, social media sites can thus amplify this desire by allowing us to potentially reach a much wider audience than our own circle of friends and family,” explains Pavri.
She points to Kentaro Toyama’s theory of amplification as described in his book Geek Heresy, which aims to act as a guide to understanding the popularity of modern-day social media.
According to Pavri, the theory discusses “how mainstream technologies are those that often ‘amplify’ existing human needs and desires.”
“For example, Toyama claims that the success of the Sony Walkman and subsequent Apple iPod can be explained by the fact that they allowed users to fulfill their desire for both music and the ability to choose what they wanted to listen to and where.
“In other words, these technologies did not create a love of music amongst users, the technologies simply ‘amplified’ a human force that was already there,” Pavri says.
Similarly, the variety of social media platforms and the unique ways in which they can be used to create new ways of forming social groups and connections amplifies the human experience.
However, in finding a sense of belonging and group formations on such a large scale, also comes the dangers of building an echo chamber around oneself, with the freedom to exclude certain opinions from specific discussions at will.
Pavri explains: “Our use of social media sites today as sources of news is one reason why we increasingly have to be concerned with people living in a ‘filter bubble,’ where they only connect to others who share their same point of view on the world and immerse themselves in information that can often be ‘fake news.’”
Receiving information solely from one chosen perspective may lead to taking any and all information aligning with said view as “fact” at face value.
“I think social media has really narrowed down the perspectives I see. Just because something popular is going around doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. We need to do more research, instead of just absorbing everything we see on popular platforms,” adds Jess Yeung, a fourth-year Fine Arts student.
Another consideration beyond filter bubbles and the amplification of human desire is anonymity.
Why are people not “themselves” online, often putting on a mask behind a username or profile picture?
“When I am online, I have a shield. I am not face-to-face with a live person, and I believe that I can create myself in any manner, and not have to deal with judgments literally to my face,” says Saha.
This “shield” may be best explained by the multiple studies showing that common reasons for users to only post their attractive, perfectly edited photos are to improve their impression upon others, as well as to idealize themselves. This may make users feel less judged for who they are, as they are presenting a more “digestible” image of themselves that is less likely to be criticized.
Similar to the idealized representations of ourselves online is how people may reflect themselves through their cell phones. “We are able to personalize cell phones through the covers, displays, and ringtones we use to help display our own individual identities,” says Pavri.
However, for many students, increased anonymity online can often result in a misjudgement of character, a lack of trust, and an overwhelming pressure to maintain a certain image.
“People have the ability to post whatever they want, making themselves appear however they want to others. It’s not always accurate, and a quick scroll through someone’s page can easily cause someone to misjudge,” says Yeung.
“It also depends how much people choose to share online. I tend to avoid adding people on social media until I feel I can trust them/are comfortable with them to a certain degree.”
Natasha Ali, a second-year Biology student, notes: “A negative aspect of social media is the pressure to portray oneself in a particular image that might sometimes be stressful. Being so easily exposed to negative influences is bound to take a toll on us as individuals.”
Undoubtedly, there is a significant generational gap when it comes to overall usage and understanding of social media within the general population. In a breakdown of active social media users, 89 per cent of those aged 18 to 29 are active users, whereas 60 per cent of those aged 50 to 64 and 43 per cent of those aged 65 and above are active on social media. One 2016 study estimated that millennials spend 53 hours per week on social media, compared to 45.4 by generation X, 37.2 by baby boomers, and 28 by seniors ages 71 and older.
“I see the positive in that it makes it easier for us to stay in touch with distant loved ones, which I see through my parents’ eyes especially,” says Ali.
Today, it’s estimated that the typical attention span of most young people is about eight seconds. With the seemingly endless stream of content social media and ICTs seem to provide us with the click of a mouse or a 10-second Snapchat video, less and less time is spent training the brain to absorb more time-consuming—yet critical—information.
Today, studies show that most millennials spend about eight hours per day online. When compared to other leisure activities, such as reading or exercise, which only take up about 17 to 19 minutes of our time, this number of screen-dedicated time is staggeringly high.
Additionally, if one factors in an hour for each meal, eight hours for sleep, as well as time dedicated to work, school, or other responsibilities—and that, on average, most millenials check their phones more than 150 times a day—a majority of the average youth’s day is, in fact, consumed by the light emitted from their phone or computer screens.
This especially can be seen in the case of a typical classroom, where a handful of students can usually be found online shopping or watching Netflix during a lecture, often missing key information essential to their application of the course’s material.
“I often warn students in my class that multitasking in the classroom can severely impact our ability to engage in higher level learning activities and helps perpetuate what I call a ‘culture of boredom’,” says Pavri.
“For instance, every time you answer a text in class or check your email, you are likely to miss out on a piece of information that is relevant to the topic you are examining. This is going to make it harder to understand the material, and your level of learning may end up being only superficial at best,” she adds.
“Applying knowledge outside the classroom is often one of the best indicators that you actually ‘know’ something.”
On describing a student’s “boredom” in class—one brought on by constant distraction—Pavri says: “The end result is that you start to blame your constant use of ICTs in class on the fact that you are ‘bored’ when in reality, you are ‘bored’ because you are engaging in activities that are hurting your ability to succeed in a course.”
Current research may show a strong backing for the prevalent “boredom” that Pavri speaks of. One 2016 study found that roughly 89 per cent of students reported that “they don’t pay attention,” in class, and thus miss vital pieces of information and instructions from their professor. The students’ main reasoning for distracting themselves is to “stay connected” and “fight boredom.”
Echoing this is Yeung, who comments: “My general impression is that people surf social media to look for entertainment, to be filled with information and media, to pass time.”
Much like how hours spent scrolling through Facebook heightens the disconnect from positive self-esteem, social media can also disconnect from education—simply put, the real world.
While social media may take us away from our own lives, it can be said that it is also a tool that adds to our lives—so as long as we use it wisely.
