The Essay

The increasing use of social media has revolutionized the way people communicate, behave and act with one another. It transcends the temporal and spatial dimensions of communication in a relationship and supposedly facilitates day-to-day interaction between acquaintances, colleagues, friends and family members. Internet has become a forced lifestyle option whereby those who do not engage in social media are considered "weird" and "out-dated". Gradually, social media has become a bragging platform where most post up their best angles and best shots to share with others, concealing flaws in their daily lives. While social network platforms bring people closer, it creates a dissonance within an individual's ideal self and actual self-image.

Supporting evidences:
1. HomeNet study conducted by Kraut (1998)

• Article published in American Psychologist
• Results: Increased use of internet results in lesser interactions with family members within the same household, smaller social circle, increased likelihood of depression and loneliness

[Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox - a social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53, 1017-1031.]

2. Social media forces us to participate in it

• It is a forced option
• Online job applications, portraying ourselves on social media i.e. Instagram and Facebook
• High rates of depression caused by an inconsistency seen between ideal cyber self and self-image

[Sunstrum, K. (2014). How social media affects our self-perception. Psychcentral. Retrieved from: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/03/14/how-social-media-affects-our-self-perception/]


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Questions to help you analyse the essay prompt:
1. What are the problems related to the use of social media?
2. Identify one problem you would like to discuss in your essay.
3. What existing measures have been adopted to counter the problem?
4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing solutions?
5. What are the other potential solutions to address this problem?