IdealX; A world perceived from social media
We live in a generation bombarded by a lot of information. T'is an era where the digital world invades the perception of the younger generation. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, were a few example of major social networking sites commonly used by people all over the world.
statistics of major social networking site users
Lately, I was alarmed by the different news spreading around
major television networks and news portals online. Suicides, cyber-cullying, scams,
rape and murders whose causes rooted from a singular conduit, SOCIAL MEDIA. I
paused and wonder for a second, how can a simple click in front of a computer
create these types of major crimes? What triggered the user to do such thing?
What was going on through their mental processes?
According to research, young adults with a strong social media presence were more likely to exhibit narcissistic antisocial behavior.
In my opinion, people who were more likely to be involved in such crimes were those with low self esteem. They find refuge in the world of social media. In real life, they cannot associate themselves with other people so they create an ideal world online. In a nutshell, they evaluate their own experiences against what they believe experiences should be. But when comparing their own circumstances against that of Facebook, they become their own worst enemy – as the digital persona portrayed on this social network only highlights the ‘best bits’ from their short Facebook timeline, in stark contrast to their entire life’s work.
Here are a few examples of WHAT WAS PORTRAYED ONLINE vs. REALITY
- On FACEBOOK:
- WHAT WAS PORTRAYED ONLINE:
"I feel so lonely, i have no one to hold on to, (feeling *inserts emoticon* alone)"
- REALITY:
"I'm an insecure ugly person, i feel so sad though i really have no problem, what if i post something that would make them notice me? maybe in that way i can have a lot of attention from them!"
- On TWITTER:
- WHAT WAS PORTRAYED ONLINE:
"oh em! precipitation again. grrrrr excruciating feels when that happens"
- REALITY:
"i just have to say that it's gonna rain and i would worry if it does, but the hell, that's just too plain. What if i research for deeper vocabularies? OMG that would make me intelligent and sossy"
- On INSTAGRAM:
- WHAT WAS PORTRAYED ONLINE:
"*posts a photo of Starbucks frapuccino* Just another ordinary day for me"
- REALITY:
"God, i have no allowance left for tomorrow but i feel so worthless, i want to show people that i can afford. what if i buy a frapuccino and post it online? ahh! i'll put a lot of hashtags so I'll have a lot of likes"
These thought processes suggests that people who have no strength to express what they feel find a platform to publicly shout their longing for companionship (in a little exaggeration i suppose) to attract attention from his/her ideal friends, thus, the tendency is for him/her to add strangers and connect with them. Most people tend to be insecure with what they have, thus, they rely on social media as an avenue to portray their ideal self, they try to flaunt what was absent in reality to create a feeling of self-worth.
We have gone a long way as far as technology is concerned. A lot of more advanced things are yet to come. Different forms of media try to shape the way we think of ourselves and our perception of acceptance.
To those reading this right now, i just have one question to ask:
How do you quantify your worth, is it by the value given to you by God? or is it by the temporary worth dictated by Social Media?
