Social media has changed people’s lives significantly, as it has introduced a novel way of sharing information. Although people can share the smallest details of their lives with their friends and loved ones, the platforms also allow communication with strangers. Moreover, as people try to show their best selves on these websites, they curate what they put on the internet, creating a different version of themselves. These factors lead to many social problems on social media, where one’s personality can be manipulated, rebuilt, and misinterpreted.
In the first story, the term “Facebook envy” refers to people’s emotional reaction to the content they see on the platform. As people go through pictures, videos, and posts, they start thinking that their own lives are not interesting (Shea 382). According to research, Facebook envy leads to feelings of loneliness, frustration, and anger (Shea 382). Someone’s persona created on social media contrasts with an individual’s real life, leading to dissatisfaction. Malkin suggests that concealing some parts of life “forecloses intimacy” (Shea 384). Social media profiles do not represent people honestly and openly, as people try to show their best version. While it is similar to how individuals want to “poster” themselves as their best self, such complete control over one’s presentation is impossible in real life. In contrast, on the internet, one can create any persona to fit one’s ideal. Due to this ability, people start thinking about the parts of themselves they find undesirable, which is detrimental to one’s relationship with others and self.
The following article tells a story about Lindsey Stone, a caregiver of adults with learning disabilities. On a trip with the group, Stone visited the Arlington National Cemetery, where she took a rebellious photo near a sign reading “Silence and Respect” (Ronson 394). Later, her friend Jamie posted the picture on Facebook, thinking it was funny. As the settings on Jamie’s account were not set to private, the image quickly reached a broad audience and received many negative reactions. People interpreted Stone’s behavior in the photo as offensive, concluding that she hated the military and did not have any respect for those who died in a war.
After months of online harassment and losing her job, Stone’s personality drastically changed. She no longer took controversial photos or joked with her friends online. Instead, she became anxious over the fact that her new employers would find out about the incident. Moreover, she became scared of leaving the house, and her outspokenness turned into indecisiveness. The author connected Stone and the company Reputation, led by Michael Fertik. At Reputation, specialists help people restore their online presentation after similar events, building new social media accounts and covering up the damaging content with positive posts. The company did the same for Stone – they wrote posts and posted media on Tumblr, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and other sites to bring forward Stone’s positive qualities and reduce the coverage of her “Silence and Respect” incident.
The events in Stone’s story demonstrate how easy it is for one’s life to be transformed because of social media. In their article, Gewirtz and Kern argue that this problem is not individual, and it affects the generation born in the age of the internet (399). Younger people’s lives are captured in posts and photos from a very young age, and it is not easy to hide this content from others. As a result, one’s outdated opinions, mistakes, or shameful moments stay with them throughout their lives, endangering their reputation in adulthood. Gewirtz and Kern identify some paths for resolving this issue – sharing less information online or restraining their activity offline (400). The first one leads to the decline of the internet as it defeats its primary purpose. The second path is detrimental to people’s happiness and is impossible to achieve without taking away people’s creativity.
The authors propose a third option – to learn to forgive past mistakes and understand that people grow and change with time. They endorse an idea of a “cultural treaty” – an agreement between people to view older data as not reflective of one’s current personality (Gewirtz and Kern 400). Viewing this data outside of context allows an observer to fill in the blanks and imagine a completely different person separated from reality.
The conclusions made by Gewirtz and Kern align with the story of Stone. From seeing one photo, people assumed that Stone was a hateful and disrespectful person, and her whole identity was reduced to a piece of data. Although she did not take this picture during her teenage years, her situation is similar because other users misinterpreted her post. If people had tried to understand the context behind the photo, the incident could have been resolved much quicker and would not traumatize Stone as much.
To conclude, social media can negatively affect people’s relationships with others and with themselves. The availability of content to strangers results in snap judgments, exaggerations, and misinterpretations, which also leads to conflicts and harassment. The data posted online often stays on the internet, and users cannot distinguish between old and new opinions. To combat this issue, people must learn to protect their data and approach others with respect and compassion before making judgments.
Works Cited
Gewirtz, Julian B., and Adam B. Kern. “Escaping Digital Histories.” Intersections: A Thematic Reader for Writers, edited by Emily Isaacs, 2017, pp. 399-400.
Ronson, Jon. “Overnight, Everything I Loved Was Gone: The Internet Shaming of Lindsey Stone.” Intersections: A Thematic Reader for Writers, edited by Emily Isaacs, 2017, pp. 392-397.
Shea, Andrea. “Facebook Envy: How the Social Network Affects Our Self-Esteem.” Intersections: A Thematic Reader for Writers, edited by Emily Isaacs, MacMillan Higher Education, 2016, pp. 381-384.