Blog Post #1: Social Media- A Disconnected Sense of Reality
“Annnd post”. A thought so many people, especially teenage girls, have as they publish photos of themselves online for the rest of the world to see. Meticulously planned out, pictures chosen so carefully, truly the perfect post. Yet, why does a sense of purpose come from the online approval of others, specifically the amount of support? Only 34 likes?! What did she do wrong? However, if 34 people came up to you in real life and told you they liked your outfit, the food you were eating, or the place you took the photo, that is an overwhelming amount of physical support.
So why does social media make us feel like 34 likes is minuscule? It truly dwindles the encouragement and love one feels they received by convincing us that 30 people complimenting us isn’t a lot, when in reality, that is simply not true. This creates a horribly negative self-image that is completely uncalled for, and is in no way accurate to the emotions it is triggering.
Is there a solution to this false representation of how ‘worthy’ you are online? Or is our collective sense of self only going to continue to decline as we progress in addiction to social media? Please let me know what you think in the comments below!
8 Responses
You are so right! If 34 people came up to me with compliments, I’d be overwhelmed with gratitude! Are there social media sites that don’t count or display the number of likes? Do you think that would be helpful?
I feel the same way! To my knowledge, the least comparable social media site would be Pinterest, though the like and comment counts are still accessible. With them being more hidden, I find the platform to be a less competitive site and more relaxing for me to personally spend more time on. I do believe that helps with the related negative self-image. Great insight!
Social media’s algorithms exploit our psychology, making 34 likes feel insignificant by pushing comparisons to viral content, warping our sense of validation and fostering negative self-image through dopamine-driven feedback loops. Solutions include limiting usage to under 30 minutes daily, curating positive feeds, taking digital detoxes, and focusing on offline connections and hobbies to rebuild internal self-worth—steps that can counteract addiction’s grip and prevent further decline in collective self-esteem if widely adopted.
I love this take! You are completely accurate on the algorithms exploiting their users, truly making huge real-life accomplishments seem lacking. Great ideas regarding a solution to the mental declines faced by social media users, reminding ourselves that the digital world is not reality. Taking detoxes has been shown to be a widely successful mental health booster, and a great way to bring people back into the simple, meaningful moments!
What an acute representation of the online world of comparison! I found your example of the 34 likes very insightful; I wonder why it matters so much as to whether those compliments were given in person or online. In addition, do you believe social media sites should take action to prevent the ways they promote obvious mental health concerns when it comes to comparison, such as removing the quantifying feature of a post’s likes? How would society respond if they woke up and the function that counts their likes had stopped working?
Hi Abigail, I loved seeing your perspective on in-person vs online compliments- it truly puts it into perspective! I believe social media has done the bare minimum when it comes to comparison in unhealthy ways, such as giving the option to remove the like counts on a post if the author decides to use it. I would highly enjoy seeing the reaction if they were removed on every post like you mentioned, surely very chaotic! I can only imagine there would be riots, especially as social media is a method of income for so many individuals, and like counts determine their salaries.
Truly insightful thoughts. How do I “like” your post?? But seriously, it seems many of us have lost the experience of physical presence, replacing it with social media. We were not created to be alone, to experience the myriad emotions this life brings, by expressing ourselves from a keyboard. How can we love our neighbors if we don’t knock on their doors every now and then? How can we truly feel liked without looking each other in the eyes? Great insight Emma!
Zack, I truly enjoyed reading your take on the disconnect epidemic social media has brought into the world! Your mention of the importance of human connection, not through technology but through face-to-face interaction, was an important reminder for me. Communication, not just through private text chains out of the public eye, but genuinely a private physical interaction, is seemingly not nearly prioritized enough in this day and age. I’m curious if mental health and morale would drastically increase if people went back to our ‘roots’ and primarily started interacting with each other tangibly. Thank you for your comment! It really brought me back to the foundations of human communication.