Joy Grim

ENGL 1213
Mr. Benson
14 March 2016
How Social Media Negatively Affects Our Culture
How often have you spent, head tilted down, forearms bent at a slight 90-degree angle,
and eyes busily scanning the tiny object held between your fingers? How much time do we allow
this object that holds our valuable reality govern our lives? Granted, social media can be used as
a tool to connect, even empower its users, but with it constantly at our fingertips, it can become a
dangerous weapon that can be more destructive than a bullet. The excessive use of texting and
managing our virtual persona has not only harmed our ability to physically speak, but it has also
become a distraction while operating vehicles causing numerous deaths among the younger
generation. Communicating via the web has seemed to become the most comfortable option
giving that actually physically seeing the person is taken out of the equation. This has quickly led
to an epidemic of unproductivity and the deterioration of verbal communication skills. With
social media gradually reshaping the present culture, the psychological consequences and our
ability to physically communicate are redefining both how we express and view ourselves, as
well as others.
Our world is already bustling with distractions that breed stress and anxiety, and then to
top it all off, social media swoops in to further lure us away from our priorities. The need to
constantly upkeep our virtual persona is put near the top of our list instead of at the bottom and
as a result, our self-esteem, memory and mental health suffer. According to Medical News Today,
social media is used as a means for personal gain and boosting our own self-esteem. According

to an alarming survey, 53% of users claim that social media had altered their behavior
(Whiteman 1). With social media, the power to choose how people perceive us is literally in our
hands. This tool can become one that is very deceptive, causing many to be fooled into
comparing themselves to others lives. This act of comparison further generates feelings of
inadequacy within us when the accomplishments of another are seen.
With the struggle for our self-image to desperately reflect anothers, our ability to retain
memory is slowly deteriorating. A study conducted by Comscore, revealed that searches today
are conducted more on smart devices, rather than desktops (Government Technology 1). With
the recent advancement in technology now available, information is just a click or search away.
Simply say Hey, Siri and knowledge is instantaneously at our fingertips. It is no longer
necessary to remember chunks of information, but instead it is replaced by searching for it via
the gargantuan search engines teeming with intelligence. Science Magazine states that The
Internet has become a primary form of external memory, where information is stored
collectively outside us (Science Magazine 1). This ability to store information is nothing new,
but instead dates back to the Anglo Saxon scops that passed down information through the art of
story telling. This process of oral tradition has been translated today into the Internet producing
any information we have forgotten or can barely remember.
With practically anything being found or searched for, the Internet is an endless gapping
black hole of unlimited, unprotected access. We can easily find ourselves lost or even confused
as to how we found ourselves at certain places. One moment we are searching for a video on
YouTube about animal conservation and then next we are mindlessly staring at a screen with
talking cats. Afterwards, the feeling of dissatisfaction and unproductivity sweeps over us once
the realization that nothing was done in our favor by sitting in front of a computer for multiple,

mindless hours hits. Around friends, our behavior is constantly changing whether or not someone
is Snapchatting the moment. Society has become disengaged from the world, with eyes viewing
it through a small screen rather than looking up to find that its actually tangibly around them.
Our mental cognition hasnt been the only thing slowly degrading beneath the rust of
social media. Human interactions, the way we communicate person-to-person, speak, and our
subtle body language is also affected. Hanging out today directly translates into driving over to
a friends home just to sit on their couch and repetitively shuffle through the same three apps
while the television fills the background noise. In a TED talk We Are All Cyborgs Now,
Amber Case discusses the concept of ambient intimacy and how the opportunity to digitally
connect is constantly made available. With this total access to those around us, if we physically
printed out those contacts in our phone or our followers on Instagram, the room would be
outrageously crowded (Case 1). The reality is if they were indeed physically tangible, we would
most likely be flustered, even nervous. Our ability to express our thoughts immediately has
slowly deteriorated due to texting, where words can carefully be constructed at our own leisure.
This method of communication using carefully constructed words can become difficult and
confusing when we are physically able to be with that person and their phone is more captivating
than ourselves.
Body language is critical in solidifying relationships. With texting becoming a norm, this
element is removed from the equation and replaced with illustrated emoticons, but it doesnt
quite solve every problem of effective communication. Many have received the nonverbal text
Im fine and immediately has thought, No, theyre not fine, but refused to dig deeper out of
fear of being intrusive. According to April Sanders of Live Strong, body language is a vital
building block in forming relationships with facial expressions paying an important key in

physical conversation. The subtle nod of understanding from a friend or the squint of eyes in
suspicion (Sanders 1). Every unspoken word is translated through the involuntary movements
our bodies make and the fact that this aspect is being removed due to the onslaught of the
invisible realm of social media and digitalized conversation can negatively affect our future
relationships.
When these relationships are affected, it can cause feelings of inadequacy. Our selfesteem is placed on the line as we systematically scroll through our Instagram feed, seeing how
those with upwards of 50 thousand followers live their lives. We now have a false sense of
standards as so many are being slapped in our faces every time we swipe open our mobile
devices. With Instagram specifically being a photo and video oriented media platform, we tend
to self-assess whatever fits into that square, which is often bleeding with filters and taken on a
pricey camera or the latest IPhone. We use these highly optimized versions of life to gauge our
own, causing our eyes to burn with envy (Mariella 1). Not only has social media become matter
of distraction while being physically with a person, it has also aided in distracting us from our
own dreams, admissions, and what we originally intended to accomplish before we saw how that
other person did it.
As social media advances, updating itself periodically to further entertain us, the further
we are driven from our ability to communicate and express ourselves. Without our favorite emoji
to represent our current emotion, many text messages are interpreted with confusion. Social
media has become the modern version of marketing with businesses of all sizes advertising
themselves on all platforms which in turn places the constant need to purchase literally in our
hands. With the futuristic ability to converse visually with a person halfway across the world
made available with media, the negatives still far out weigh the positive. We have become too

comfortable with conversing digitally that it has harmed our body language and ability to
eloquently speak. With the physiological consequences multiplying and our physical ability to
communicate deteriorating, it is drastically shifting our cultures view on themselves and those
around them.

Works Cited
"How Smartphones Revolutionized Society in Less than a Decade." How Smartphones
Revolutionized Society in Less than a Decade. Casey Phillips, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
Whiteman, Honor. "The Negative Impacts of Social Media." Medical News Today. MediLexicon
International, 10 June 2015. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Sparrow, Betsy, Jenny Lui, and Daniel Wegner. "Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive
Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips."Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive
Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips. Science Magazine, 5 Aug. 2011. Web.
04 Apr. 2016.

"How Does Nonverbal Communication Affect Relationships?"LIVESTRONG.COM.

LIVESTRONG.COM, 25 May 2015. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Mariella, Adriana. "How Instagram Is Affecting The Way We Perceive Ourselves And The World
Around Us." Elite Daily How Instagram Is Affecting The Way We Perceive Ourselves And The
World Around Us Comments. Elite Daily, 24 June 2014. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.