Inquiry Proposal
Peer Comments
Professor Comments
Final
Social Media and Its Affects On Frequent Users
Context:
Social media can lead to a host of drama and relationship problems between people. This is why I personally hate social media and have made it a priority to make sure I stay off of social media as much as possible. As a result, I have successfully eliminated I would say at least 90% of potential drama I could have in my life. It is so much easier for people to talk big when they are safe behind a computer screen. Twitter is probably my least favorite social networking site because it allows for people to make nasty tweets and comments about others, encouraging and instigating drama and confrontation. In my personal experience, a girl I knew was sub-tweeting me and trying to call me out. I honestly just do not have the time nor the tolerance to deal with immature girls who seek to bully people and start unnecessary drama; oftentimes, people bully others because they are not confident in or happy with themselves or their life. I truly feel sorry for the amount of teens, especially young girls, who get so consumed with social media in this way; in many cases, it has come to the point where they have become almost obsessive with social media and trying to build a sort of status for themselves. I just don’t see any real beneficial or productive outcomes from using social media so obsessively in comparison to how many negatives there are. It wastes a ridiculous amount of time that could be spent doing something productive if you don't know how to use it in moderation and can increase your chances of suffering from mental health issues, and can cause jealousy, obsession, or depression. Social media usage is not something to be taken lightly and I feel that more people need to be aware of this.
Inquiry:
How can social media cause mental issues? How does social media affect mental issues, especially in young teens? How does social media hinder or damage our communication and human interaction skills in real life situations? How do we deal with and/or create a solution to people becoming lazy due to social media? How would the lives of people change if they were to remove or greatly reduce usage of social media in their lives?
Next Steps:
I expect to find answers as to why people, especially young teens and college students, continue to use social media when it causes issues such as depression, laziness, and feelings of self-pity, inadequacy, and low self-worth. I specifically hope to find the severity of these mental issues found in avid social media users, as well as studies or statistics on changes in people’s overall mental wellness for those who have made the conscious decision to remove or greatly reduce their use of social media from their lives. Perhaps their outcome includes a much happier outlook on life and better mental health overall. Social media networking has become an unavoidable part of everyone’s lives all over the world. Even if you personally choose not to partake in social media, you are still being affected by it when others around you continue to actively use it. It is inescapable and inevitable, which is why I find it most terrifying. In my opinion, our greatest loss from being severely involved with social media is our ability to communicate and interact with other people normally in real life situations. I know of many people who can have conversations with ease with people online or through texting, but don’t know how to respond or interact with another human being when they try to communicate face to face; this is known as social phobias.
Another negative effect from social media networking is issues with mental health. It has been made unbelievably easy to connect with the world, share, and upload news within a matter of seconds. Therefore, one scroll down your Facebook homepage filled with good news of people’s graduations, promotions, marriages, and pictures of people more attractive than you can leave you feeling highly inadequate, as well as depressed. If you are actively using major networking sites, such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you can increase your chances of feeling inadequate from constantly comparing yourself to everything you see on social media. This is not to say that social media is to blame for everything as mental issues can certainly exist without any link to social media. However, social media can be a cause of mental illness in people who were perfectly happy and content prior to frequent use of social media. It can make it much more difficult to focus on yourself when you are continually being made aware, reminded, and notified of the successes and triumphs of others. This exacerbates unpleasant emotions such as unhappiness, self-pity, and low self-worth.
Along with causing mental issues like depression, social media can cause laziness in people. Many folks, including myself, are guilty of wasting valuable time and instead dedicating hours to social media networking sites when they have work to do. The consequence of falling into this trap is that work gets left undone. If it does get completed, it is more often than not done sloppily with a plethora of careless mistakes.
Context:
Social media can lead to a host of drama and relationship problems between people. This is why I personally hate social media and have made it a priority to make sure I stay off of social media as much as possible. As a result, I have successfully eliminated I would say at least 90% of potential drama I could have in my life. It is so much easier for people to talk big when they are safe behind a computer screen. Twitter is probably my least favorite social networking site because it allows for people to make nasty tweets and comments about others, encouraging and instigating drama and confrontation. In my personal experience, a girl I knew was sub-tweeting me and trying to call me out. I honestly just do not have the time nor the tolerance to deal with immature girls who seek to bully people and start unnecessary drama; oftentimes, people bully others because they are not confident in or happy with themselves or their life. I truly feel sorry for the amount of teens, especially young girls, who get so consumed with social media in this way; in many cases, it has come to the point where they have become almost obsessive with social media and trying to build a sort of status for themselves. I just don’t see any real beneficial or productive outcomes from using social media so obsessively in comparison to how many negatives there are. It wastes a ridiculous amount of time that could be spent doing something productive if you don't know how to use it in moderation and can increase your chances of suffering from mental health issues, and can cause jealousy, obsession, or depression. Social media usage is not something to be taken lightly and I feel that more people need to be aware of this.
Inquiry:
How can social media cause mental issues? How does social media affect mental issues, especially in young teens? How does social media hinder or damage our communication and human interaction skills in real life situations? How do we deal with and/or create a solution to people becoming lazy due to social media? How would the lives of people change if they were to remove or greatly reduce usage of social media in their lives?
Next Steps:
I expect to find answers as to why people, especially young teens and college students, continue to use social media when it causes issues such as depression, laziness, and feelings of self-pity, inadequacy, and low self-worth. I specifically hope to find the severity of these mental issues found in avid social media users, as well as studies or statistics on changes in people’s overall mental wellness for those who have made the conscious decision to remove or greatly reduce their use of social media from their lives. Perhaps their outcome includes a much happier outlook on life and better mental health overall. Social media networking has become an unavoidable part of everyone’s lives all over the world. Even if you personally choose not to partake in social media, you are still being affected by it when others around you continue to actively use it. It is inescapable and inevitable, which is why I find it most terrifying. In my opinion, our greatest loss from being severely involved with social media is our ability to communicate and interact with other people normally in real life situations. I know of many people who can have conversations with ease with people online or through texting, but don’t know how to respond or interact with another human being when they try to communicate face to face; this is known as social phobias.
Another negative effect from social media networking is issues with mental health. It has been made unbelievably easy to connect with the world, share, and upload news within a matter of seconds. Therefore, one scroll down your Facebook homepage filled with good news of people’s graduations, promotions, marriages, and pictures of people more attractive than you can leave you feeling highly inadequate, as well as depressed. If you are actively using major networking sites, such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you can increase your chances of feeling inadequate from constantly comparing yourself to everything you see on social media. This is not to say that social media is to blame for everything as mental issues can certainly exist without any link to social media. However, social media can be a cause of mental illness in people who were perfectly happy and content prior to frequent use of social media. It can make it much more difficult to focus on yourself when you are continually being made aware, reminded, and notified of the successes and triumphs of others. This exacerbates unpleasant emotions such as unhappiness, self-pity, and low self-worth.
Along with causing mental issues like depression, social media can cause laziness in people. Many folks, including myself, are guilty of wasting valuable time and instead dedicating hours to social media networking sites when they have work to do. The consequence of falling into this trap is that work gets left undone. If it does get completed, it is more often than not done sloppily with a plethora of careless mistakes.
Reflection
For my inquiry proposal, I began by doing some initial research on several topics relating to social media that I felt might catch my interest and help me develop my inquiry question. After reading through and choosing a few intriguing and informational articles, I then wrote the context of my inquiry proposal; I mainly discuss my personal thoughts and opinions on social media and how I felt social media affected the mental health of users. I opinionatedly state that I feel social media affects users negatively and is the cause for mental issues such as depression, jealousy, and obsession. However, I assumed too much throughout this portion. Towards the end, I state what answers I hope to find regarding my inquiry question. In my inquiry proposal, I should have relied less on broad assumptions and needed to back up my statements with legitimate academic proof. Overall, I feel that I had a clear stance in my argument and presented some interesting ideas.