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Jillian Mejia

Prof. Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

7 December 2017

Socially Antisocial

Social media smart phone applications such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and

Snapchat are gaining higher prevalence across the nation due to their better means of

communication. Each network encourages the idea of faster contact through the Internet as it

allows an individual to contact family, friends, and even strangers across the globe through a few

simple clicks on a digital screen. Though, are these easily accessible works of communication

really contributing to a more social society? Next time youre at a restaurant, observe your table

and the ones engulfing you. Recognize that though there are individuals speaking to each other,

most are staring down at their phones creating a face-to-phone conversation rather than a face-to-

face one. The modern generation claims that smart phones and social media contribute to a more

social society, though it is deeming that they are unintentionally creating a more anti-social

commonality. As media users believe they are forming more popular and social identities through

the virtual world, they do not recognize that they are becoming less interactive and skilled with

face-to-face conversational skills.

The introduction of smart phones results in the separation of individuals and the outer

community as they become incapable of maintaining in-person communication with one another.

Kelly Coffey, a personal trainer and writer, believes that because smart phones are so

convenient, it is very easy for people to get distracted, which does not help our social
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skills (Coffey). Coffey implies that through the usage of current-day technology, humans

becoming less socially active with one another. When a family is sitting at a table for dinner, it is

highly likely to see one member either scrolling through their Twitter feed, checking their e-

mails, or Snapchatting the food they have ordered. It is frequent that as a smartphone rings,

dings, or vibrates, an owners attention from their physical environment will divert as they will

begin to feel the need to know what is happening in the online world instead. Individuals are

increasingly becoming virtually inclined, but not physically aware of their surroundings because

the modern mindset insists that being socially present through the media creates more validity

than maintaining a real life existence. This results in individuals retaining a constant desire to

check their technological devices to be socially and mentally aware of the virtual community,

eventually leading them into adopting a dire instinct to always use their phones as a sense of

comfort. As the demand for the Internet increases, the sense of face-to-face conversation begins

to hit a downfall while the idea of face-to-screen association rises. Though individuals are

virtually connected, they become physically disconnected and unaware of their surroundings and

the genuine people that may be engulfing them. As excessive social media and phone usage

enhances the lack of real-life conversation, it grants shyer people to remain hidden behind a

screen as they are not encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and branch out to meet new

people. This eventually creates ghosts, where individuals float amongst the internet through

anonymous names and catfish personas because they are too afraid for society to meet their

genuine selves.

The demand of technology aids introverts in hiding behind virtualized masks without

encouraging them to converse with the physical society. This is a critical issue amongst this era
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because individuals are dehumanizing themselves and not interacting with the world like they

once did when items such as smart phones, tablets, and computers did not exist. In Mucan and

Nihans article Relationship Between Personality Traits and Social Media Use, the authors

reveal a study that showcases how adolescents communicate with more people via social media

than they do in their real life (Mucan and Nihan). Though, there is a vast amount of adolescents

who pretend to have large fan-bases and friends through purchasable bots on apps like Instagram

where an individual can attain more followers by paying about $19.95 for a subscription. It

comes to the idea that the young generation searches for validity through their popularity

whether it be a real or artificial one. Mucan and Nihan imply that the youthful generation highly

prioritizes smartphone apps as a means of communication, where each member of the online

community socializes through a screen instead of valuing constant in-person confrontation. In

the majority of all communities, media users are too caught up in their online presence and

reputation rather than their real life one. Factors that contribute to technological and social

dependence include age, location, time, convenience, and even personal matters like insecurity.

Technology makes it capable for individuals to showcase themselves through pictures,

characters, and videos through the best images possible, though their physical looks and

personalities may not match up to their virtual, social identities if a person were to meet another

face-to-face. Access to technology enhances the possibilities of communicating with a catfish, a

person who adopts a fictional reputation for themselves. The Internet along with their new photo

editing applications that allow individuals to alter their faces and bodies contribute to people

developing false identities where they are portrayed as more perfect, slim, and visually appealing

to other individuals because the public will never see what they authentically look like. They will
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only be exposed to the online version. In this generation, all that matters is the amount of likes

and follows a person has, but not a sense of actual connection. Social media more so creates

ghosts and not genuine beings who socialize with each other outside a screen. This degrades

proper human characteristics and results in undeveloped conversational skills and the lack of

physical confrontation because it is viewed as too difficult. Each person of society wants to prove

their relevancy, though some take it to the extreme and find it necessary to have popularity in

order to showcase their importance. The media intensifies an individuals lack of social skill,

though the general public is still attracted to it because of its benefits.

An individuals online presence is important because it brings a sense of validation,

comfort, and enhances easily accessible communication with family, friends, and strangers,

though it still negatively affects an individuals social skills. Smart phone applications such as

Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are highly valued for convenient conversational purposes,

though what is not recognized is that users are virtually connected, but not physically. With a

smart phone in hand, it is nearly impossible for a modern human to remain focused and not

check their phone for about 15 minutes whether it be to check a phone call, text message, or even

simply the time. An anonymous author addresses another cultural piece: that [individuals] are

more and more connected but not necessarily more invested in each other's lives, claiming that

the online community is visually invested without being emotionally compassionate for one

another. Instagram users may view self portraits, videos, and messages from users who are both

local and distant. Though, both the viewers scrolling through the posts and the actual posters do

not benefit from this activity because the majority of them do not know more of each other

beyond a picture. Though a snapshot can showcase where a person has been, what theyre eating,
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or what they did last weekend, an individual cannot see more beyond it and understand the

importance of the actual memory without conversing over it. Individuals are progressively

downgrading and only recognizing the surfaces of each other instead of moving in deeper and

viewing the more meaningful aspects and the importance of conversation. It is prevalent that the

use of technology and social media is advantageous because it helps society connect by being

able to know news and see what others are doing without physically being around them, but it is

disadvantageous because most individuals do not make further advances into venturing beyond a

screen and communicating with users they follow or friend online. This exemplifies how social

media is increasing the rates of anti-social behaviors amongst individuals, and how humans are

digressing and losing their abilities to communicate effectively with others because they adopt

the idea that virtual interaction is enough to satisfy a relationship. Modern day communities do

not invest physical time into each other, but instead consider a double tap on a screen as the best

means and efforts of communication.

Though social media has a positive impact on society because it helps individuals with

their self confidence and is a convenient passage of communication with others who are

thousands of miles away, it is majorly negative because it is degrading important human qualities

such as conversational skills and optimism. The introduction of smartphones into the

industrialized community has only resulted in the lesser socialism of our once social society. As

individuals are constantly glaring at the glass screens in their palms, they forget the importance

of looking up at the people in front of them. The current generation is forgetting the

characteristics of compassion, self-worth, and happiness as individuals begin to believe cellular

devices, tablets, and laptops encapsulate their ideas of pure bliss. Though, what is not recognized
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is that technology enlightens a form of temporary bliss, not a forever one. Social media users in-

person confrontational capabilities are declining as they consider online interaction more

valuable that developing real life identities and relationships with the people around them. If the

industrialized society takes a moment to moderate their phone usage and spend time with one

another beyond a screen, they will notice that the benefits of face-to-face contact outweigh any

face-to-screen interactions made. Predominantly communicating through the Internet does not

benefit a person because it heightens their online identity, but causes there physical one to

deteriorate and be nearly nonexistent. Technology can touch the eyes, but conversation can touch

the heart. Social media is the escape for the anti-social, and the escape from it should begin now.
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Works Cited

Coffey, Kelly. Social Media? More Like Anti-Social Media for This Generation. University

Wire, 2014. Global Newsstream. Accessed 25 September 2017.

Mucan, Burcu and Nihan zgven. The Relationship Between Personality Traits and Social

Media Use. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, vol. 41, no. 3,

2013, pp. 517-528. ResearchGate, doi:10.2224/sbp.2013.4.3.517. Accessed 25 September

2017.

"The Antisocial Side of Social Media. Toronto Star, 2011. Global Newsstream. Accessed 25

September 2017.