HON 480: Psychological Impacts of Social Media

If the internet ever stopped working completely, I think the world would be chaotic and the people in it would be lost. We have relied so heavily on the internet and technology in general that it has become part of our culture, our society, and our identity. We are so acustomed to having internet and always being connected that to lose it would be devastating. Personally, I think we would just be more bored. I watch movies, tv shows, play video games, check social media to stay entertained. That is what I like to do on my free time and if you take away the internet, that would mean I would have a lot more free time but to do what? That is the ultimate question. It isn't so much that we couldn't survive if there was no internet; I believe mankind is very adaptable. It has to do with what else is there to do without internet.  Over the most recent summer, I took a trip with my family to backpack throughout China. I usually go back to China every summer to my hometown (which is...

The in-class debate we had about the future of Facebook was very enlightening. It was very interesting to see both sides of the debate and some people brought up excellent points. For me personally, it is hard to imagine that Facebook is here to stay. Everything has an expiration date and Facebook is no exception. Something new and better will eventually come along. Although Facebook's popularity is still trending upwards and may do so for awhile, other social meida sites like Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are trending upwards as well. You brought up an excellent point when you said pencil and paper had been around for thousands of years but we see today, that while it is nowhere near on its way out, other methods of writing are emerging such as tablets or even computers. I know many people who take notes on their tables and it is more efficient than rather note-taking. One point that wasn't brought up in the debate that could have supported that Facebook is here to stay ...

I have always believed that social media has brought us,maybe not closer, but easily more connected as a society. This is mainly because of the umlimited capabilities that social media platforms offer, the control it enables you have, and one of the most important things is the speed and efficiency it allows you to communicate with others. Some of the arguments against using social media, I believe, are not very strongly supported. One of the arguments is that more social media usage is contributed to social isolation. Although there are some statistics that support this claim, correlation is not always causation. Also there could be many underlying factors that they did not take into account such as the user's previous level of social isolation or how their social life is outsite of social media. Personally, I love social media and the advantages it brings. It enables me to stay updated on my friends' lives with little effort and if it is important enough, I can contact th...