M
EDIA ONSTER
To what extent is the fantasy world of social media robbing us of our true identity?
Some may say that social medias are soul sucking, robbing people of their depth, taking away their personality and turning people into plastic demeanors. To what extent are we living in the moment? Has our identity been taken over by social media? These are some of the questions that have begun to arise throughout the younger generation. Social medias such as Instagram has become an obsessive tool that people use to create an ideology of something that it is not.
Cropping changes everything. We show our audiences a life in a square frame, only showing them what we want them to see, followed by a filter and other editing techniques. When in reality, this perfectly framed subject is more than likely surrounded by mess and clutter. This creates a fake/ fantasy world that other people actually aspire to and want to live in, but we simply cannot. People are now so engrossed within the 21st century technology and social networking, that from the moment we wake up in the morning, the first thing most of us usually do is look at our phones for notifications. It is now estimated that there are approximately 400 million active Instagram users each month (September, 2015), which is a staggering increase from the 150 million in September 2013.
We find ourselves aimlessly admiring the lives of others or using the channel as a platform to exploit ourselves, but it is becoming too entwined within our lives that we are forgetting how to function outside of the fantasy world. It is at this point that people feel like they have to show the world how much they need their approval and in reality, it can also affect our self-esteem. Getting zero likes on a photo one may post of themselves may lower their self-esteem as they are not receiving the approval from others; in contrast, getting 1000 likes on the same photograph may actually boost self-esteem as it is receiving attention and approval from the audience which leaves the person satisfied that the image has been ‘successful’.
Issues aside, People are now becoming aware of the power that social media holds and how it is destroying the way we function. Australian teenager with more than 612,000 Instagram followers radically rewrites the captions following her ‘contrived perfection’ photographs that were made to get attention. Essena O’neill, 18, said she was able to make an income from marketing products to her followers on Instagram and became consumed by it, which she hated. After taking a step back out of this manipulated world she came to the realization of what it had done to her and how it is damaging others, which is why she decided to ‘quit’ social media and is now urging others to follow her lead. It is true indeed that social media can be damaging not only to yourself but to others too. You’re either the consumer or being consumed. Or, on the rare occasion, neither, staying sane and keeping out of this manipula¬ted world. But, because of the mass usage and the positive effects it may have on marketing, unfortunately this issue is going to be a never-ending one.
Has social media stole your true identity?
Has our identity been taken over by social media?
Stop being a consumer of a fantasy world