How Social Media Affects Personal Behaviors - Research Paper Example

How social media affects personal behaviors Introduction If one takes a close look at the society, one can not help noticing that it should be regarded as an irreplaceable prerequisite for the development of the inner potential of a human being. Indeed, if it had not been for the presence of other people, a considerable number of abilities which are considered to be characteristic to our kind would not have developed. It is particularly important to make the following reservation: the positive influence of the society on the individuals who comprise it is facilitated through communication. Recently, the technological advancement, namely the development and wide spread of social media, had impacted the behavior of the people and the way they interact with each other. This paper will explore the changes that occurred in the social environment due to this kind of technology. Virtual representation One of the first and the most obvious ways in which social networks have influenced the behavior of people lies in the fact that they now pay attention to their virtual representation. Indeed, for many individuals it is equally important to look well in real life and online (McManus, 2010, p. 19). This means that people do their best make an impression on the people who look at their profile online. That is primarily done through posting beautiful pictures, deep thoughtful expressions and various images that are designed to shed light on the inner world of the user. As a result, people tend to create a somewhat wrong image of them since it is always easier to edit a photo or post a quotation that does not represent the true position of the author, but is approved by the society. In addition to that, due to this widely spread virtual representation some people tend to be exposed to the society in a ways that they would like to avoid or deliberately expose themselves. In other words, there is a thin or almost no line between what is and what is not acceptable online (Nahon & Hemsley, 2013, p. 56). This results in the fact that some people might post embarrassing pictures of a person for others to see and once there have been uploaded, there is almost no way to make sure that they are deleted since everyone is able to make a copy. A change in patterns of communication Another point that should be mentioned is the way social media has changed the way people perceive communication. That latter used to be focused on interaction in person and correspondence was not considered to be a true alternative to such communication. Contrary to that, at the present moment, people tend to maintain long distance relationships with their friends with the help of social networking sites (Kowald & Axhausen, 2015, p. 44). While this might seem as a positive outcome, the reality is quite the opposite: few people do their best to work on actual relationships, romantic or not; they are often satisfied with the having numerous “friends” online rather than several in the real life. In addition to that, due to the development of personal gadgets as well as Wi-Fi networks at the present moments it is possible to stay online all the time. This results in the situations when people socialize with their friends, make continuous pauses and they pick up the conversation right where it ended. In other words, there are no conventional greeting and farewell forms: people are accustomed that it is possible to find a person online at any given period of time. There is no doubt that this has a negative impact on the politeness of the people since some of them forget the conventional rules of interaction with others, projecting their behavior in the virtual environment onto real interactions. Increased aggression Speaking of the most negative impact of social networks on the behavior of the people, one might note the increased aggression that can be witnessed online (Forgas, 2011, p. 277). Indeed, people with short temper tend to be quite impulsive when they write comments or discuss something. Since there is little that can prevent them from writing what they will regret in the future, these people often appear to be quite aggressive, while in reality they may be quite moderate. In other words, since the social networking is primarily focused on typing and sending messages, people are not able to think about the consequences of their actions properly and sometimes end up in doing what they regret and what they would never have done in real life, such as offending other people. Nevertheless, there is an entire type of users, who are often referred to as Internet trolls who primary target is to start a scandal and offend other users. It is understandable that this reflects the fact that these people are disturbed inside the hearts and minds; that is why they find particular pleasure in insulting others just for the sake of aggression. It is always important to keep in mind that Internet troll do this deliberately and it is impossible to reason such a person. If a normal user starts arguing with an Internet troll, the latter will produce a considerable amount of anger and aggression, ruining the mood and peaceful harmony of the person. Merging of the worlds It is rather obvious that prior to the invention of the commuter and the high popularity of social networking sites, the virtual world did not really exist. However, nowadays it is an important part of reality. The attention towards it is manifested through constant updating of one’s profile, making the latter diverse and interesting and sometimes even accurately representing events in one’s life with high precision (Vermaat, 2013, p. 69). For example, on Twitter people are encouraged to share their thoughts as they come to their heads. This leads to the situation when a person lives some sort of a double life: all the actions that one performs in the real life are described in the virtual. What is worst is that people are not able to notice this addiction themselves. Finally, it may sound rather strange, but many people nowadays warn others in case they go off line for a long period of time. To put it differently, it is one’s own business whether to be online or go offline, but nowadays the latter is considered to be something strange and other should be warned about it. It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that it is not social networks that are used by people, but people that are used by social networks. Indeed, one’s account will not disappear incase one does not update it for a certain period of time or even log in. Nevertheless, people think that they live in the virtual world as well and wants to be active there as well. Conclusion Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come to an understanding that social networking did have an actual affect on the behavior of the people and that can be observed in various areas. First of all, our contemporaries often worry about their virtual representation as they want to have a good image for the people that they meet online. Secondly, social networking changed the patterns of our communication: long distance relationships are no longer a problems and continuous socializing has had a negative effect on politeness. Thirdly, the virtual world is full of aggression because of people with short temper as well as Internet trolls. Finally, for many people the actual and the virtual worlds merged. References Forgas, J. (2011). The psychology of social conflict and aggression. New York: Psychology Press. Kowald, M., & Axhausen, K. (2015). Social Networks and Travel Behaviour. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. McManus, S. (2010). Social networking for the older and wiser: Connect with family and friends, old and new. Chichester: Wiley. Nahon, K., & Hemsley, J. (2013). Going viral. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Vermaat, M. (2013). Discovering computers 2014, brief: Your interactive guide to the digital world. Mason, OH: South-Western. Read More