Society provides us with a certain kind of evil, actively prevalent in present day adolescence. Putting on the facade of reinforcing human relations by networking individuals, this evil only provides mankind with harm rather than utility. Referred to as social media; it is aptly named for its association with society, as it serves no other purpose than to perpetuate the miseries of society. As I have mentioned earlier “In becoming habituated to the ways of society and a slave, [man] becomes weak, fearful, and servile.” (Discourse on Inequality, 51). The news articles of recent days prove just that. Young people fear that they aren’t making the most out of life, comparing their experiences to exaggerated accounts of fortune in the lives of others. They grow weak, plagued by “stress and anxiety”(1). Attempting to outshine each other, they don’t realize that they work only to perpetually serve futility. If social media fabricates such misery, who then can tell me we are better off now than in the state of nature?
1: https://wtvr.com/2020/01/27/social-media-scripps-news-literacy/
Hi Erik, I agree that some of the advancements in society, like social media, may not always be beneficial for the wellbeing of mankind. As you mentioned, social media contributes to the inequality among men as it makes it easier to compare our lives to those of others, very often affecting our mental health as well. This one spreads the evil that there is in the world in a matter of seconds, making physical interaction no longer needed for words to affect our emotions. However, just as it is able to spread evil, it also spreads love. It allows us to create bonds and connect with people that speak different languages, have different cultures and live on the other side of the planet.
I have to agree with your point, Erik. Numerous studies have linked social media and mental health issues like depression symptoms, anxiety, and low-self esteem. While correlation does not equal causation, in 2016 there were 44.7 million adults in the U.S. with a mental illness. Because people choose what they post on social media, an individual makes their life far more perfect and happy than reality. This causes “Facebook depression”, a condition in which individuals who spend time on social media start to exhibit signs of depression.
While social media does allow for connections and bonds across the world, it should be used in moderation and with mindfulness of the theatrics and masks of social media.
Hi Rousseau,
It is true that in today’s society, social media may seem like a plague, and I am not denying that fact. I’d like to extend this concern of yours beyond just social media to the concept of sensationalist media in general. Media, in this case, is “the means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively.” Media is good when its intentions are for the good of others. An informed populace has many benefits, such as allowing the body politic to participate in the political scene in a rational manner. When the intention of media is not to inform the public, but rather to maximize views (leading to sensationalism) or to push a philosophical doctrine (leading to radical partisanism) the ability for the body politic to make an unbiased decision about any issues is compromised. That being said, how do you fix this?
I agree with your overall sentiment, yet disagree with the conclusion. Social media is a platform that largely results in negative mental health outcomes for children, teens, and young adults (such as ourselves), and for that reason, we ought be skeptical of it as merely an advancement. That being said, and at the very least, social media is a remarkable technological and communications advancement, one that has, literally, connected billions of people around the world. So, while social media (I agree) is overall negative for our minds, relationships, and identities, it also has been a major accomplishment with regards to the ability of people around the world to spread awareness about their various trials. Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that anyone could, in full honesty, claim that we are not better off now than we were even 50 years ago. Technology is cheap; the purchasing power of the dollar has radically increased, affording consumers more opportunity to buy; medical innovation and technological advancement is staggeringly high; worldwide poverty has been effectively cut in half; one could go one. Of course, there are still extremely troubling statistics (i.e. with regards to decreased religiosity, inflated rates of depression amongst young people, etc.), but it’s difficult to say we are without qualification “worse off.”
I definitely agree that social media enhances many of the personal failings that Rosseau describes as being a result of humans living by the ways of society, especially in the youth. It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the “popularity contest” that is one of the core factors of social media – the obsession with getting likes and comments on your posts is exactly what Rosseau is describing in his claims regarding social inequality. Only once people network do they begin to consider how they compare to those who they are in a network with; this idea is currently demonstrated and exaggerated by the widespread usage of social media today.