Ethical essay | COLLEGE

Sickness of a Generation: The Impact of Social Media

In a society where we are interconnected through multiple social media platforms, technology can be ultimately viewed as the new outlet for interaction in the 21st century. Our day-to-day routine is driven by a click of a button, becoming a fundamental activity controlling our lives; yet how far are we being clouded by these advances in technology on our psychological well-being and perceptions of society?

Communication is essential in expressing how we feel, whether this stems through verbal, face-to-face conversation, through social media platforms or the means of art. We live in a generation with the need to convey our opinions and emotions across a selection of media outlets. The power of media and its influence on our emotional responses, whether this be positive or negative, can drive us to live a superficial lifestyle. As a society, we have become reliant on social networking as a means of promotion, marketing and communication, but it is questionable the extent to what we see online is the ‘truth’ and what is ‘fake’. Artists use social media as a means of promoting work, however a selection have drawn upon the issues and flaws surrounding the subject to express the impacts it has on people within their work.

Art is all around us whether it is viewed through our eyes or a phone screen; we inevitably live in a world where creativity drives our communication. Yet in this modern society, are people visiting exhibitions and looking at street art for the candid- experience and ‘perfect’ post or to appreciate the art itself?

Street artists have the power to manipulate our communities, drawing on political, social and environmental issues within their art. Artists, like iHeart, have used the means of street art to demonstrate the influence of social media. ‘Nobody likes me’ (iHeart, 2019) draws upon our obsessions derived from media platforms and our want to be liked. Gaining likes on social media provides us with a psychological high due to the increase in dopamine, which is linked to the feeling of pleasure, essentially boosting our self-esteem (Robinson & Smith, 2020). This piece draws upon the negative emotional state which we feel from the lack of. It ultimately, in my opinion, draws upon the negative consequence of our online obsessions, emphasising the undeniable link between social media and mental health issues.

In addition to this, the young boy incorporated in this piece emphasises how vulnerable members of society are being influenced by the power of social networking. He depicts the negative emotional response to the consequences of posting online.

We are being absorbed into a digital world, being overpowered by the need to live materialistic, ‘perfect’ lifestyles, constantly making comparisons to unrealistic expectations, all to be desired from such a young age. Marketing and editorial design platforms who repeatedly use software like Photoshop to enhance and alter images, have a huge impact on self-perception in todays climate. We compare appearances to fake, idealistic figures and features which don’t always present that of the truth. Society has created a world where imperfections are no longer unique and now a weakness we long to change. However, there is no ‘delete’ button in reality. As a result. increasing the prevalence of low self-esteem and eating disorders; all these flaws having a detrimental impact on our psychological and social well-being.

Studies have demonstrated that teenagers and young adults who regularly spend time on multiple social media platforms have “higher odds of having increased levels of both depression and anxiety symptoms” (Anon., 2016) Our extensive use of social media had led to the increase of self-absorption and the need of imitating these irrational standards exhibited through social media, henceforth emphasising the striking issues which arise from our online activity. In my opinion, this piece successfully captures the consequence of our hunger to feel accepted and liked within our social media obsessed culture. The artist has skilfully used street art to demonstrate this idea which could emphasise the contradicting nature that people are “walking down streets barely glancing up from their devices” highlighting “Digitally we’re hyper-connected and yet so disconnected from each other” (iHeart, 2014) This reinforces how online communication is having a severe impact within the digital world we now live in.

Many other artists draw up on these issues within their work. Mike Campau has created a series of digital art pieces called ‘Antisocial’. The title itself alludes to the power of isolation, suggesting we are using social media opposed to conversations in our physical environment, questioning whether we are truly conversing are true feelings or hiding behind a screen. The images illustrate how isolated and alone we might be when posting online, yet by placing them in an environment where everyone and anyone has access to shows the extensive nature of the internet. By exploring concepts like such it creates awareness to the unknown within social media, thus ultimately being the stem of the negative effects in my opinion. We have very little control over what happens when something is posted online and how it is perceived by others. Not only demonstrating the invasion of privacy, individuals can take offense. This highlights as a key issue because posts can be taken out of context, which can therefore impact the well-being of others.

The ‘Tinder Project’ by Jiyeon Kim presents a “contemporary view of how we perceive ourselves on a daily basis” (Jiyeon Kim, 2017) She painted 100 portraits based on how she perceives the individuals as opposed to how they decided to portray themselves online. This creates an illusion between what is true and what is fake, thus highlighting how we can manipulate how others perceive us. This could be seen as a striking issue within social media platforms as people begin to create superficial personalities which don’t reflect reality and live a vicarious lifestyle of ‘role models’ and ‘influencers’ of what we see online. This in turn can lead to the disappointment of not achieving these model lifestyles in our daily routines, essentially leading to feeling like we have failed. This, therefore, presenting the impact social media has on our psychological well-being and overall perceptions in society.

Additionally, social media can be seen as one of the most harmful elements of society. Not only are there the extreme mental health issues generated through extensive use, it can also hamper with academic performance, be an invasion of privacy, mask as key distractor from work, and creates a platform for cyberbullying (Robinson & Smith, 2020); all of which have severe effects of people’s daily lives. What’s more is the addictive nature of these online sites. People can engage in excessive and compulsive use of these sources, characterising as a behavioural addiction, appearing not dissimilar of any other substance use disorder. It can be addictive both physically and psychologically. ‘According to a study by Harvard University, self-disclosure on social networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance’ (Hilliard, 2019) This signifies the extreme power it has over the human mind in controlling how we feel and live our lives. In my opinion, this highlights how feelings can ultimately be manipulated by social media websites and hence demonstrates how controlling technology can be. This serves as a striking issue in modern day society as networking sites are now predominant within workplace environments and essentially now a part of our day-to-day routines, whether this be through jobs, news sites or advertising. This leads me to question whether social media addiction can be avoided within modern life if it is now used as an essential media platform to gain information needed on a regular basis and how far we can control this? This, therefore, strikes how intrusive social media is on our personal lives, acting as an extreme invasion of privacy and determining how we live.

Social media has a pivotal role within society and is extremely relevant within our daily lives. I chose to explore this specific topic as it has a link to how everyone goes about their life, whether this being vicariously and wanting to live the ideal life we see of others or having a direct impact on ourselves, positively or negatively. It has a crucial role within creative industries in media communication and is an impressive development in technology, however, how far can we see this a benefit to society due to the impacts it is having on people.

Reference:

Acclaim [Online].

Available at: https://acclaimmag.com/art/six-contemporary-artists-making-a-statement-about-social-media/#1 (Accessed 14 November 2020).

Jena Hilliard, Theresa Parisi (2019) Addiction Center [online]

Available at: https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/social-media-addiction/ (Accessed 14 Nov. 20)

Jiyeon Kim (2017) [online]

Available at: http://jiyeonkim.de/albums/tinder-project-1/ (accessed 14 Nov 20)

Mike Campau (2018) Antisocial [online]

Available at: https://mikecampau.com/antisocial (Accessed 14 November 2020)

‘Nobody likes Me’, iHeart, 2019 [online]

Available at: http://www.iheartthestreetart.com/street-2/#lightbox[group-26484]/19/ (Accessed 14 November 2020)

Primack et al (2016) Science Direct [online]