Antisocial Media

Social media, by definition, should be one of the best ways for people to be sociable. Unfortunately, research has uncovered that it is having the opposite effect leaving people more isolated than ever. Ironically, the more social media sights that an individual signs up for the less likely they are to see their friends in person.

Just last week I met up with some old college friends that I hadn’t seen in months. We went out to a bar to have a few drinks and catch up and before I knew it half the table was staring into the blue light of their phones completely disengaged with the world around them. In the off chance that they stopped taking staged selfies with their beverage so that they could measure their worth against the virtual likes they received they talked about something they had seen on whatever platform had poached their attention at the time. “Did you see what Janet just posted?” “Can you believe that Gary would post this?“ “Jesus, Paul got fat!” It was a complete nightmare.

This is occurrence is becoming all too common in society today. While this problem doesn’t discriminate by age it seems to be most prevalent amongst millennials. According to a study done by Flashgap, 54% of social media users said that they feel compelled to check social media because of a fear of missing out even when out with friends. Furthermore, 76% of females admitted to checking their social accounts at least 10 times while hanging out with friends compared to 54% of males.

LooseEnds, an app designed to track, monitor, and return the “social” aspect to social media found that people with three or more social media apps see friends in a social atmosphere an average of only one time per month. Conversely, those with only one social app see friends an average of six times per month and rarely go more than three days without seeing friends. Unfortunately, almost a quarter of people in America use up to three social media sites.

LooseEnds creator, Daniel Lewis, stated: “I find it a bit depressing that something originally devised to bring people together is now instrumental in keeping us all apart, with just over 22% of people admitting to seeing their friends less frequently since they started using social media.”

Human beings are social animals- they have been since the dawn of time. As a result, friends are important for the health and happiness of our species. Despite this, research by evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar suggests most people can only maintain five intimate relationships at any given time. It’s a matter of how much time and energy one can invest in developing and maintaining them. Unfortunately, our average time on social media now makes up a large percentage of our day- time once spent developing these relationships.

According to recent research, people in the modern world will spend almost four years of their life staring into smartphone screens at their social media accounts. This cellphone addiction has not only hurt our ability to cultivate new friendships and preserve old ones, it has been shown to lead to depression and anxiety as well as hurt cognitive growth.

We, the social animals that have harnessed the resources of the world, built the pyramids, and landed on the moon through teamwork and collaboration have now reduce a great deal of our collective existence to “socializing” online from the comfort of our armchairs. At the moment, we have become completely attached to our smartphones and social media. These technologies, initially designed to serve mankind, have been abused to the point where they have become a serious issue in society. While social media is useful, it needs to be used within reason. Obsession with the medium is without question making people less social. In the age of technology and constant, unfettered connectivity with our peers, we are alone.

Some interesting social media statistics:

·       29% of people use Youtube ·       22.6% of people use Snapchat ·       21.7% of people use Twitter ·       18.2% of people use Instagram ·       Just a third of people engage with a friend's post every 24 hours ·       Women are more likely to 'like' posts than men