Social Networking: The Cause of a Corrosive Society

Tina Walizadah

100551989

7/23/2018

Word count: 929

 Social networking has changed the way everyone around the world communicates by

transforming the face-to-face interactions to communicating virtually where everyone feels

interconnected. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are recently

developed apps that transformed real, interactive communities to online-based communities.

As the amount of time we spend on these apps increases, we are further absorbed to this

superficial community that we have created for ourselves which consists of meaningless

connections, and our “perfect” online identity. This idea, supported by Sherry Turkle, suggests

that read face- to-face communication, is replaced with online connections (Lange, 2013). The

purpose of this paper is to discuss the negative impact that social media has on today’s society

and the consequences associated with it. It is to be argued that social networking sites are

corrosive to society as they have a bad impact on health, dating, and relationships.

Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms have many individuals mislead

into thinking that if they get many likes, views and followers , they will be popular and have a

higher status in the online community. Not only can these lead users to be addicted to the social

media websites, excessive social media use leads to physical and mental health illness. Since the

internet gives us the power to display ourselves how we want to others to see ourselves as, a lot

of the content posted online regarding peoples relationships, lifestyles and physical appearance

appear to be better than they actually are. Researchers have linked online social networking

with several psychiatric disorders, which include depression, anxiety and low self-esteem

(Pantic,2014).A similar study was also conducted by Kross et al., where it was found that there

was a positive correlation between time spent on Facebook, and an increase of depressive
symptoms. Social networking has also had an effect on the physical wellbeing of the individuals

that are using if used excessively. A Study has shown that Side effects of Facebook and other

social media networks cause physical discomfort include burning eyes, disturbed sleep, head

ache, neck pain and reduced appetite as found in a study of Facebook users in Nepal( Jha et al.

2016). Overall, social networking is associated with physical pain due to prolonged use and is

associated with depressive symptoms due to perceiving other peoples lives and making

incorrect conclusions regarding physical appearance, education, moral integrity, relationships,

and thinking their lives could be better and happier.

The use of social networking apps, such as Tinder, has revolutionized the way majority of

individuals with romantic interests connect. Tinder has made individuals connect easily as they

“swipe” on profiles who interest them based solely on physical appearance and profile.

Although the use of apps provides an easy way to connect virtually with people of interest, it

may lead to short-term relationships, and have a different direction of other intentions. This

suggests that many individuals on the app have another direction of motives planned such as

physical and sexual aspirations, rather than purely romance ( Kuss et al. 2017). Many

connections, which take place on these dating apps, are meaningless, and leads to sabotaging

the dating experience because the individuals whom are looking for their mates are only

selecting profiles based on physical attraction, and completely neglect getting to know people

based on their personality. The matches on Tinder has resulted in a rise of meaningless short

term sexual relationships based on physical attraction and have increased many sexual related

diseases. This idea is supported in research as it was found that HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and

syphilis has increased in the population as a result of sexual contact with partners met online,
and the influence of sexual behavior online ( Holloway et al. 2014). The increased use of social

networking also affects individual’s expectations when in a relationship. On Instagram, snapchat

and Facebook many people in a relationship post about “relationship goals” , which consist of

photos of couples treating each other with expensive gifts, travelling or looking a certain way

which can mislead individuals into thinking that their relationship is not great in comparison to

others.

Furthermore, this era of digital technology has increased our dependency on

smartphones. From email to text messages and everyday shopping, it is no surprise that social

media is addictive. Social media enables its users to display themselves, as they want to be

perceived as, which is a characteristic that real, face-to-face communication does not have. As

Sherry Turkle had suggested, communication is sacrificed for connection, which is noticeable

when we see groups of friends or families together, who don’t communicate with each other,

and are on their phone instead( (Lange, 2013). A study was conducted at the University of

Southern California, where they interviewed individuals who use social media networking sites,

and found that an increasing amount of people admitted to spending less time with their family

and friends due to excessive use of internet, and social networking sites ( Jha et al. 2016).

In conclusion, social networking is our most dominant form of communication, which

has led to many issues in today’s community. Meaningful face-face conversation has turned into

virtual, less serious conversations. Dating apps have led to an increase in sexually transmitted

diseases, and short-term relationships. The addictive online community has been harmful to our

physical health as well as our mental health, as we are surrounded by superficial identities have

led to undeniable cause in issues of mental health, relationships and romantic relations. We
have set unrealistic standards in our daily lives; by comparing our lives to how perfect, other

people’s lives seem to be.

Works Cited
Holloway, Ian W., et al. “Online Social Networking, Sexual Risk and Protective Behaviors:

Considerations for Clinicians and Researchers.” Advances in Pediatrics., U.S. National Library of

Medicine, Sept. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4309385/.

Jha, Rajesh Kumar, et al. “Facebook Use and Its Effects on the Life of Health Science Students in a

Private Medical College of Nepal.” Advances in Pediatrics., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2

Aug. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4970301/.

Kuss, Daria J., and Mark D. Griffiths. “Social Networking Sites and Addiction: Ten Lessons

Learned.” Advances in Pediatrics., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Mar. 2017,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5369147/.

Lange, Catherine de. “Sherry Turkle: 'We're Losing the Raw, Human Part of Being with Each

Other'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 May 2013,

www.theguardian.com/science/2013/may/05/rational-heroes-sherry-turkle-mit.

Pantic, Igor. “Online Social Networking and Mental Health.” Advances in Pediatrics., U.S. National

Library of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183915/.

Vassilev, Ivaylo, et al. “The Influence of Social Networks on Self-Management Support: a

Metasynthesis.” Advances in Pediatrics., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 July 2014,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223639/.