by Amanda Revesz

As most children mature into adulthood, they use the influences around them to learn about the social norms. These social cues may come from their parents, their peers, or even the television. But how does a new generation cope with a relatively new technology that seems to affect almost everyone’s daily lives? This technology is social media. To most users, it is a fun way to get connected with others over the internet, but this up and coming generation are also guinea pigs of social media. They are testing boundaries and finding out, sometimes the hard way, what is acceptable and unacceptable on social media. New profiles are being created on different social media sites each day, but what aspect of social media draws people to it by the masses?

This age of connectivity is fascinating to many. The debate about whether or not connectivity will be good for the world or be destructive to it has already begun. One issue that almost everyone can agree upon is that technology is all around us and growing. William Deresiewicz writes about how the influences of social media are allowing us to be connected to others at all times, leaving no time for us to be alone. He questions if we lose our understanding of one’s self when we no longer have solitude. Deresiewicz dives into these ideas thoroughly in his article, “The End of Solitude,” originally published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Like Deresiewicz, Christine Rosen believes that connectivity through the internet is the new norm of this generation. The internet, more specifically social media, has become standard and even crucial in our developing culture. In her article, “Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism,” Rosen explains her beliefs about why people are now depending on social media for interaction and detail some of the discoveries about our social culture that have been made. “The Impact of Context Collapse and Privacy on Social Network Site Disclosures,” by Jessica Vitak takes a look at social media from a different point of view. Vitak goes into detail about how social networking sites breach our privacy standards with or without us knowing about it. She claims that the boundaries between what should be public and private have become blurred. Whether people are in awe, against, or are captivated by the social media phenomenon, this issue is being discussed by numerous scholars.

The main idea with this topic is how our guinea pig generation is testing the waters of social media and as a result creating an unspoken handbook of how to interact with this idea of constant connectivity. Deresiewicz, Rosen, and Vitak are all in agreement that this technology brings people from across the world together and has become the new medium for communication, but they all have different thoughts about why, how, and what the consequences are of the increasingly popular social media sites.

People have used self-portraits to document their lives and social statuses for centuries. Christine Rosen refers to this idea of self-documentation throughout her article. These portraits can demonstrate two crucial ideals: how the artist sees himself and how he would want to be seen by others. Rosen relates this idea of old-fashion self-portraits to how most of us establish a social media profile today. We are simply modernizing this centuries-old idea. Since the technology is relatively new, Rosen answers why we, as humans, want to form profiles on social media in general: “We create them to find friendship, love, and that ambiguous modern thing called connection” (Rosen 173). Here the idea is simple. People crave interaction with others. The desire for acceptance from others is a need in this society. For most people, this need is so great that they are willing to give up their alone time in order to stay constantly connected in fear of missing anything.

William Deresiewicz continues with the concept of connectivity. Similarly to Rosen’s point of view, Deresiewicz believes that social media has made the need for continual association with others possible. Furthermore, Deresiewicz investigates his argument by talking to others about their idea of seclusion: “I once asked my students about the place that solitude has in their lives. One of them admitted that she finds the prospect of being alone unsettling that she’ll sit with a friend even when she has a paper to write. Another said, why would anyone want to be alone?” (Deresiewicz 308). This excerpt from Deresiewicz’s article clearly shows how the general population feels about connectivity. It has become commonplace in our culture ever since the main social networking sites started popping up in the early 2000’s. Solitude is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. This idea or state of being will be more radical then checking your Facebook page eight times per day. The fact is that people will not be able to function properly without their daily dose of social media interaction. Being alone in the world may turn into someone’s biggest fear. We are humans and naturally desire relationships with one another. Like others, Deresiewicz supports the thought that people engage in social media to accommodate for their growing need for interaction.

As the population around the world begins to familiarize themselves with social media, many users may forget who their audience actually is. Unlike Rosen and Deresiewicz, Jessica Vitak continues the conversation about social media from a different standpoint. Rather than talking about “why” humans are fixated with social media, she discusses some the outcomes of this new phenomenon. Vitak argues that individuals present themselves in accordance with who their audience is and that a person’s public and private self might vary: “One may self-present in significantly different ways when in a business meeting versus when on a date. Social networking sites, which place employers and romantic partners on the same communication plane, make it more difficult for users to segment audiences and present varied versions of the self” (Vitak 452). From this excerpt, Vitak aims to examine the “self-presentation” of social media users. Since the connectivity of social media is becoming so immense, the boundary between the public and private life is in a haze. With this technology relatively new, naivety could cause major consequences when mixing work and pleasure. Vitak emphasizes the point that social media is not only connecting people but different aspects of one’s life.

The social media discussion is growing as rapidly its popularity. As mentioned earlier, the three scholars all have varying thoughts and arguments that add to the conversation about the developing trend. Throughout my research I have found impressive claims about why social media is being used and how it is being used, but there is a universal gap in the entire discussion. With so many people from across the world documenting their lives on social media, is there a new found etiquette that is emerging? Which kinds of posts get the most reaction out of people? Are these reactions positive or negative? Does a person have to sacrifice real-time conversation with others in order to stay constantly connected? Is privacy a thing of the past? Should you be punished for inappropriate posts by your work place or school? All of these questions test the power of social media in today’s culture. For my capstone essay I plan to delve more into the world of social media and investigate how the typical person uses it. Incorporating my own first-hand research about social media, I will continue the conversation from an aspect that I believe has been ignored. The answers to these questions will shed light on how the norms of society are forever changed.