AshleyKnaff

NotSoSocialMedia

A.Introduction
TheInternethascomealongwaysincethefirstemailwassentin1971
(Campbell).Atthedawningoftheonlineage,manybelievedthattheInternetwouldbe
justapassingfad.Now,in2012,itissafetosaythatInternetisapermanentstaplein
modernlifeandmostdefinitelyheretostay.Asthewebofcyberspaceexpanded,the
worldwasintroducedtoaconcept,whichwenowknowas,SocialMedia.
WhileSocialMediahasmadeitincreasinglyeasiertoconnectwithpeers,
employersandourfavoritecelebritiesithasalsomadethewayinwhichwelivealot
morecomplicated.Oftentimes,whoweareandthewaythatwepresentourselvesto
otherscanbehardtodifferentiateasthelinebetweenthetwothins.Ihaveseen,
firsthand,thebenefitsandultimatelytheextremelynegativeconsequencesresultingin
themassgrowthofSocialMedia,andjudgingbytheheadlinesIseeeveryday,Iamnot
alone.
B.Ethnography
SocialMediasitessuchasTwitterandFacebookhaveanenormouslybroaddemographic
thatiseverchanging.WhenTwitterbegan,itconsistedmainlyofolderpeople,ages25to
54(Lester).However,in2009,Twitterbeganattractingayoungercrowd,as18to24
yearoldsmakeupTwittersfastestdemographicsegment(Lester).Facebooks
demographicseemstohaveshowntheoppositepattern,beginninglargelyasasitefor
peopleintheirlateteens,early20s(Lester).Alternately,in2010,Facebooksfastest

growingsegmentappearedtobe55to65yearolds(Lester).InTheEverythingGuideto
SocialMedia,Lesternotesarecentblogsurveythatfoundoutofthe2millionactive
blogs,halfappearedtobeinEnglish.PartofthereasonwhySocialMediayieldssucha
broaddemographicisbecauseitissouserfriendly.TheInternetisnotonlyforthosewho
aretechnologicallyadvancedandfinanciallywelloff.Relativelyanyonewithinternet
accessandsomethingtosaycanmaketheirpresenceknownonsocialmedia.
C.Text
ManyareresponsiblefortheexpansionoftheSocialMediaempire.Mark
Zuckerberg,theyoungcreatorofFacebook,hasreceivedbothcriticismandpraiseforhis
revolutionarysocialmediaproject.Themovie,TheSocialNetwork,portrayed
Zuckerbergasanawkwardandcoldentrepreneur,someonewhowouldneverhavea
Facebookifhehadnotinventedit.Anaspectthatisoftenoverlookedisthelargegroup
thatZuckerbergemployed,whoalsocontributedagreatdealtothesite.Personally,I
haveseenpeopleslivesalteredthroughfindingsonFacebook.Onamuchlargerscale,
thenationhasfeltitseffectsaswell.TheWashingtonPostintroducedmetoawoman
namedKatherineLosse,MarkZuckerbergspersonalghostwriter.Thistitlewouldbea
hugeaccomplishmenttomany,however,Lossesteppeddownfromherpositionafter
witnessingtheaftermathofHurricaneFacebook,astormshefeltpartlyresponsiblefor.
TheWashingtonPostwrites,Theexplosionofsocialmedia,shebelieved,lefthundreds
ofmillionsofuserswithconnectionsthatweremoreplentifulbutalsonarrowerandless
satisfying,withintimacylosingouttoefficiency.Itwastime,Lossethought,forpeople
torenegotiatetheirrelationshipswithtechnology.Thiscameasashocktome,sucha

boldmoveforawomanwhohadbeenattheforefrontofthesocialmediaempire.Forher
tostepdownfromherextremelylucrativepositionisnotsomethingIcouldignore.
TheideathatFacebookandothersocialmediasiteshavetransformedoursociety
intoashallowbeing,onethatthrivesonselfreassurance,isthoughtprovoking.I
InterviewedAliKasper,afashionbloggerandsocialmediaqueen,toseeifshefoundany
truthinLosseswords.AliKasperwritesforanextremelypopularblog,College
Fashionista.Herjobentailsmuchwork,notonlywritingfortheblogbutalso
correspondingwithfellowbloggersandfansviasocialmedia.Whenaskedaboutthe
depthofSocialMedia,Kasperhadsomevaluableinsight.Justtheotherday,Iwasdoing
apieceonayoungwomansfallwardrobe,afterwefinishedshootingheroutfit,she
askedmetotakeapictureforherInstagram.Jokingly,thegirlquippedThanks!You
know,ifyoudontInstagramit,itneverhappened.Whatasadstatement,mostlysad
becauseofthetruthbehindit.Thisconceptthatifyouhaventmadeyourfollowers
andfriendsawareofyourdailyactivities,theyarentmeaningful,isaprevalenttheme
throughoutsociety.
D.Exegesis
InMarkZuckerbergsIPOLetter,hestated:Facebookwasnotoriginallycreated
tobeacompany.Itwasbuilttoaccomplishasocialmissiontomaketheworldmore
openandconnected.(Ard).Maketheworldmoreopenandconnectedhedid.Itrulydo
notfeelthatZuckerbergintendedallofthenegativerepercussionsthathaveresultedfrom
theinventionofFacebook.Moreso,IdonotholdZuckerbergaccountablefortheevents
thathaveunfoldedpostsocialmediasociety.Theprivacyguidelinesareclearlystated

andInternetsafetytipsarenothardtocomeby,yetpeopleareaddictedtodivulging
everydetailoftheirprivatelivesontheInternet.
AfewextremecasesofTheInternetplayingalargerollinteensuicidehas
emergedintheageofsocialmedia.Mostrecently,thecaseofAmandaTodd.Amanda
ToddisagirlfromtheUKwhowasmercilesslybulliedviasocialmediatothepoint
whereshesawnowayoutbuttotakeherownlife.Whydontthesegirlswhoarebeing
victimizedbysocialmediajustlogoff?Oursocietyisaddicted,sometimesatthecostof
humanlives.TheGuardianconcluded,Theoutcome?Thisdangerousproliferationof
teenagersusingtechnologytopaintscarletlettersongirlsthatarepracticallyimpossible
todeletefromcyberspace.HowmanyAmandaToddswilltherebebeforeweactonthis
problem?
E.Criticism
TeenNetworkingis,ineffect,beyondcontrol,exceptformaybeinindividual
homes.(Maggid).Iagreetremendously.However,Idonotagreewiththeparticular
messageMaggidwastryingtohithomewith.Ithinkthatthesolutiontothesocialmedia
monsterproblemisnotparentstellingchildrennottousethesesites,Ibelieveithastodo
withparentsteachingchildrenthingsthatcanmakethemfeelgoodawayfromthe
computers.Ifchildrenhadenoughselfesteemandpositivereassurancecomingfrom
outletsbesidessocialmedia,theywouldntfeeltheneedtoconstantlybasetheirself
worthonthenumberofLikesoramountoffriendstheyhave.Parentsmustinstead,
instilltheideasthatthosethingsdontcontributetolivingawellbalanced,fulfillinglife.
Asanaviduserofsocialmedia,IfeelthatIreceiveamoresubstantialfeelingof

accomplishmentwhenIdosomethingcompletelyoutsideofthesocialmediarealm,
howeverthoseachievementsrequiremorework.Thecheap,easythrillthatisfeltwhen
youputupapictureanditgetsnumerouslikesisfastandtemporarilyrewarding.
However,thefeelingneverlaststhusleavingmetoseekoutthenextsourceinwhichI
canreceivethathighfrom.SocialMediaisheretostay,thatwontchange.Whatwecan
changearethewaysthatweviewourselvesasindividualswhohavesocialmediasites,
insteadofwhowearetoeveryoneelsedependingonourInternetpersona.