social media - (dis)connecting people

Social media was meant to connect people across the globe, allowing anyone to reach another person with just a few taps. You no longer needed to physically see someone face-to-face in order to feel close to them or stay in touch. It was revolutionary in that sense. But as time has gone on, it’s worth asking: has it actually helped?

I think enough time has passed for us to start clearly seeing both the good and the bad sides of social media. Over the years, we’ve seen many platforms rise and fall, but most of them have been built on the same basic concept: connection. That core idea still holds true today, even though a lot of features have been added and the way we use these platforms has definitely evolved.

Social media started out as a simple way to communicate, to message friends, share thoughts, and maybe reconnect with people from the past. Slowly, it began to shift into something else. It became a source of entertainment, and then more and more kept getting added on. Before we knew it, social media wasn’t really being used just to talk to people anymore. It turned into something you scroll through to escape real life ,a constant stream of content created by influencers, brands, and people curating their lives to look a certain way online.

With the rise of influencers came the rise of the "public image." People began to feel pressure to present themselves in a polished, filtered way, editing out the messy or less appealing parts of their lives to maintain a certain persona. Of course, not everyone does this, but it’s become so common that it almost feels like the norm now.

But the effects of social media haven’t stayed online. They’ve trickled into real life in ways that are easy to overlook. For example, the question starts to come up: why bother meeting someone in person when I can already see everything they’re up to through their posts and stories? Messaging is faster, more convenient, it feels like a great way to keep up with friends and loved ones. But in reality, this kind of connection has its limits.

A lot of people, especially younger generations, are basically glued to their screens. And despite having access to constant communication and connection, we’re seeing a new wave of depression, loneliness, and low self-worth. It's ironic. With more ways to stay in touch than ever before, many people feel more disconnected than they’ve ever been, both directly and indirectly because of how social media has shaped our lives.

A study i had found interesting while looking into this was this study that examined the links between social media and loneliness among participants from 4 countries, 2 years after the COVID-19 pandemic, which is fairly a recent study. The results essentially confirmed that prolonged time spent on social media has led to an increase in the feeling of loneliness in the study participants, which essentially feeds into what I have been talking about. [Source]

So, what can be done to help? I think encouraging users to spend less time on their screens would be good, being transparent about the struggles many have instead of hiding them behind an image and opting to meet friends and loved ones face to face instead of just interacting online (when and where possible). While there is no absolute solution for this, I think a shift in the business models of many companies, for example (e.g more physical events and such) could lead to a positive impact, and that would only be the start.