Rational Agnostic
Well-Known Member
While I am not going to delete all of my social media accounts, I have decided to cut down on my usage of social media due to the following personal observations of the following negatives of social media usage.
1. It creates a false sense of accomplishment.
Getting likes and followers feels like an accomplishment, when in reality, it is meaningless and childish to be proud of something so petty.
2. It is an instantaneous way to receive artificial pleasure without actually working for anything.
Healthy sources of pleasure include the satisfaction of accomplishing a task after many hours of hard work, or the satisfaction of having a good face-to-face conversation with someone. Getting a "like" or a "follow back" trains the brain to expect instant gratification and become impatient.
3. It ruins real social skills.
People are meant to interact in real life and not behind a computer or phone screen. This is why starting a conversation with a stranger is so awkward in the 21st century. If you even say "hi" to a stranger walking by in real life, you are looked at as being weird and possibly even mentally ill. Yet it is perfectly acceptable to become online "friends" with a complete stranger. Building a real connection with someone using face-to-face conversations is becoming increasingly rare.
4. It rewards narcissists and people who put on a facade to mask their problems in life.
The people who get the most followers on social media are nearly always self-absorbed narcissists and/or insecure people who pretend that their life is better than it actually is. This leads others to believe that everyone is happy while they are not, and hence social media use can lead to depression, which may partially explain an increase in depression and suicide rates.
Also, since shallow narcissists are being rewarded, good, honest, intelligent people with important and helpful things to say are often being suppressed.
There are likely some advantages to social media use in moderation. However, the disadvantages are significant and often overlooked. I am not arguing that a small amount of social media usage is bad. However, excessive usage certainly is.
1. It creates a false sense of accomplishment.
Getting likes and followers feels like an accomplishment, when in reality, it is meaningless and childish to be proud of something so petty.
2. It is an instantaneous way to receive artificial pleasure without actually working for anything.
Healthy sources of pleasure include the satisfaction of accomplishing a task after many hours of hard work, or the satisfaction of having a good face-to-face conversation with someone. Getting a "like" or a "follow back" trains the brain to expect instant gratification and become impatient.
3. It ruins real social skills.
People are meant to interact in real life and not behind a computer or phone screen. This is why starting a conversation with a stranger is so awkward in the 21st century. If you even say "hi" to a stranger walking by in real life, you are looked at as being weird and possibly even mentally ill. Yet it is perfectly acceptable to become online "friends" with a complete stranger. Building a real connection with someone using face-to-face conversations is becoming increasingly rare.
4. It rewards narcissists and people who put on a facade to mask their problems in life.
The people who get the most followers on social media are nearly always self-absorbed narcissists and/or insecure people who pretend that their life is better than it actually is. This leads others to believe that everyone is happy while they are not, and hence social media use can lead to depression, which may partially explain an increase in depression and suicide rates.
Also, since shallow narcissists are being rewarded, good, honest, intelligent people with important and helpful things to say are often being suppressed.
There are likely some advantages to social media use in moderation. However, the disadvantages are significant and often overlooked. I am not arguing that a small amount of social media usage is bad. However, excessive usage certainly is.