Colin Murphy Malcolm Campbell Honors English 1103 30 October 13 Personality or Sociality?

Social media has drastically affected the ways individuals throughout the world communicate; it has done so, however, in one particular way not many initially think of when pondering the effects. Social media has arguably hindered the millennial generations ability to socialize in public situations. According to Jess Moore of Hampton University, the millennial generation lives in the world of now and, as result o f heavy use of social media, demands information that is current, accessible, connecting, and personalized. As of October, 2011, approximately 1.2 billion worldwide individuals spent one of every five minutes immersed in communicating via multiple forms of online social media services (ComScore). With social networking used by one in four, or 1.73 billion individuals worldwide, as of 2013, its no surprise social media has impacted the lives of so many around the world (eMarketer). If trends in growth continue, as many as 2.55 billion will utilize social networks by the year 2017; this is incredibly significant. Leo Widrich of Buffer Blog, backed by the Pew Research Center, claims individuals aged 18-29 years, or those of the millennial generation, are 1.6 times more likely to use social media than those aged 50-64 years, and 2.6 times more likely to use social media than those aged over 65 years. Urbanity is another factor in determining who regularly uses social media; those living in urban areas are considerably more likely to use social media than those living in rural areas (Widrich). According to Elsevier Journal, introverted individuals use social media because it offers them the opportunity to communicate anonymously or without specific physical consequences. These individuals can ease up on their physical appearances and mannerisms while still experiencing an otherwise quality conversation with another. Though social media isnt viewed as particularly negative, in this perspective, the millennial g eneration has the tendency to resort to this form of communication even when unnecessary. Mac Collier, author of Think Like a Rock Star, has written of his personal experiences with social media as an introvert. Collier claims he experiences difficulty communicating with others he doesnt know on Twitter. Collier isnt alone, however, with millions of others admitting similar claims. Dr. Thomas Chamorro -Premuzic of Psychology Today believes the three main personality traits of those who, for example, st rive to friend as many individuals on Facebook, are leadership, emotional intelligence, and Machiavellianism. Leadership explains these individuals strong desire to be socially active and known, emotional intelligence explains these individuals abiliti es to control their social states and appearances, and Machiavellianism refers to these individuals abilities to scheme and advance their ranks. Some, in fact, genuinely believe social media is actually physically altering the way those of the millennial generation think and problem-solve. In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Centers Internet & American Life Project and Elon Universitys Imagining the Internet Center, fifty -five percent of participants marked that in the year 2020, the brains of... teens and young adults are wired differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields helpful results. Forty-two percent of the participants marked, oppositely, that in the year 2020, the brains of... teens and young adults are wired differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields baleful results. In another survey, some participants expressed genuine concern toward the millennial generations traits of genuine human interaction. One such participant claimed Human society has always required communication. Innovation and value... come from deeper interaction than... social media postings. Deeper engagement has allowed creative men... to solve problems. If Thomas Edison focused on short bursts of energy, I doubt he would have worked toward the creation of the light bulb (Anderson). As supported by Taresa Correa of Diego Portales University, Ingrid Bachmann of Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile, Amber Hinsley of St. Louis University, and Homero Gil de Ziga of the University of Texas at Austin, the BigFive-Factor Model, created by psychologists, can be applied to studying personalities. This framework categorizes personalities into bipolar forms of extraversion, emotional stability, openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. In one study, individuals with lower levels of extraversion and higher levels of neuroticism were found to be more likely to spend more time socializing via the Internet (Correa). In other words, those who experienced great difficulty physically communicating with others resorted to online social media services. In a more recent study, however, extroverts were found more attracted to communicating online than through actual public situations (Correa).

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In one survey, the personality traits of participants were compared with their use of social media services. The results yielded a positive correlation of high activity online associated with extraverted personality types. Those who are more neurotic tend to utilize social media services more than those who are more emotionally stable. Another investigation led by the same psychologists sought to determine which forms of social media were most popular. The three main types investigated were instant messaging, social networking sites (such as Facebook and MySpace), and video chatting. The order of the results of popularity can be listed in the same order as descending, with instant messaging as the most popular form of social communication and video chatting a clear third (Correa). This is so particularly significant because the most personal form of social communication is ranked as the least popular, meaning individuals really dont prefer what one might logically predict the most popular. In other words, media-connected individuals would much rather communicate, impersonally, than experience a quality face-to-face conversation with another (be it through video or in person). The statistics of the same survey also claimed those individuals who are particularly emotionally stable will less frequently use social media than their counterparts. To summarize, those who are typically uneasy and apprehensive of themselves and their surroundings are more likely to rely on social media than those who are in touch with their emotions, feelings, and impacts. This data is summarized by a negative correlation between emotional stability and usage of social media. With greater numbers of individuals resorting to social media every day, trends show, likewise, that greater numbers of individuals are therefore gaining distance from their levels of emotional stability. If these trends continue, billions will be at greater risk for losing connection with their self-esteem and other significant emotions, thus making for an anxious world of Millennials afraid to communicate with each other away from their hyperconnected media networks. In a survey conducted by Cisco Systems, reports Val Skelton of Information Today, Europe, 826 business executives were questioned on the values of different forms of communication in real-world situations. An overwhelming majority of over three quarters of the respondents marked in -person communication as of the highest value. Interestingly enough, however, these same respondents also acknowledged most business communications took place in non-real-time, or electronic messaging. Social media and other digital communication technologies are making real-time and personal communications rarities and wrongfully obsolete (Skelton). In another survey conducted by NFI Research, according to Chuck Martin of CIO, one respondent marked I often find that when I look the other person in the eyes and ask them something I get far more than I ever would over email. Another respondent exclaimed personal discussion as the foundation of communications (Martin). Some important messages simply cant be easily conveyed through modern electronic forms of communication - including social media networks. This move from personal to digital communication can create for a more impersonal world with fewer personal connections, greater Internet presence, and more profound senses of urgency. Author Carl Rogers of On Becoming a Person writes real communication occurs when we listen with understanding -- to see the idea and attitude from the other persons point of view, to sense how it feels to achieve their frame of reference in regard to the thing they are talking about. With face -to-face interaction, nonverbal clues convey meaning otherwise excluded from more impersonal forms of communication. Subtle emotions, for example, are not easily conveyed through written forms of communication. In conclusion, social media has negatively affected the millennial generations abilities to socialize in public situations. These individuals, unlike those of previous generations, are reliant on online social media services to exchange information and communicate with others. If trends continue, billions will become more involved in social media and further the impact social media has on individuals per sonalities and abilities to communicate in public situations. This is particularly negative because those of the millennial generation are losing skills otherwise essential to real-world living and interaction.

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Works Cited Anderson, Janna, and Lee Rainie. "Millennials Will Benefit and Suffer due to Their Hyperconnected Lives." Pew Internet & American Life Project (2012): 2-36. PewResearchCenter. Web. 4 Nov 2013. Chamorro-Premuzic, Thomas. "The Psychology of Social Networking." Psychology Today. N.p., 26 Jan 2010. Web. 23 Oct 2013. Correa, Teresa, Ingrid Bachmann, Amber Hinsley, and Homero Gil de Ziga. "Personality and Social Media Use." (2013): 41-61. IGI Global. Web. 23 Oct 2013. "It's a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It's Headed." ComScore. N.p., 21 Dec 2011. Web. 24 Oct 2013. Martin, Chuck. "The Importance of Face-to-Face Communication at Work." CIO. N.p., 06 Mar 2007. Web. 4 Nov 2013. Rogers, Carl, and Peter Kramer. On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy. Mariner Books, 1995. Print. Skelton, Val. "The Power of In-Person Communication." Information Today Europe. N.p., 06 May 2012. Web. 4 Nov 2013. "Social Networking Reaches Nearly One in Four Around the World." eMarketer. N.p., 18 Jun 2013. Web. 23 Oct 2013. Widrich, Leo. "Social Media in 2013: User Demographics For Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest And Instagram." Buffer. N.p., 02 May 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Well written essay Colin. I'm impressed. A few notes: Who is your audience? The essay is very formal; and if you are writing to the millennial age, which it's unclear if you are or aren't, you may want to make it more personal. As you state in your paper, the millennials are one of the greatest users of social media and networking - both of which are not very formal... I see that you definitely did your homework in regards to research. It seems as if your paper is just as much of what others are saying about the topic as what you are saying. And it is mostly facts and surveys. Do you have any personal experience in this topic; has social media affected your life? If so, I'd like to read about it; again, making it more personal... Lastly, I want to draw attention to your first sentence. Though it is properly written and grammatically correct, I had to read it twice to make sense of it. Other readers may have to do the same thing and this may cause them to lose interest. You want your first sentence to pull the reader in, and if the reader has to re-read it just to understand it, it is unlikely that they have been hooked... Overall it is a very good essay. You had a clear, logical progression of thoughts that was easy to follow. The facts and research you included fell perfectly into place with the content of each paragraph. I did not find any spelling or grammatical errors. So in all, Job Well Done. -Sincerely, Craig Curren