Academy

What is Social Anxiety Really about on Social Media?

« Actions need to be taken to avoid generalizing and labeling certain people simply because they are believed to have social anxiety judging by how they interact or are shown in social media».

Nicole Valeria Suárez Lozano

Lic. en Lenguas Modernas con Énfasis en Inglés y Francés

Nowadays, the term “social anxiety” is used in social media especially for meme content, allowing people to build their own negative perceptions and assumptions regarding this condition. But how accurate are they? Social anxiety is the presumption or presence of an interpersonal evaluation in real or imaginary social settings. It takes place when people are concerned about the perception and evaluation that others may have of them (Leary & Kowalski, 1995). Normally, people’s perception regarding this topic might be that those who have this condition are aloof, unfriendly, and arrogant, but they do not really get to see the feelings and thoughts that are inside a person (Social Anxiety Institute, 2013). Although social media negative assumptions may aff ect what people think about this type of anxiety, there are certain steps that can be taken to avoid this kind of misunderstandings.

To begin with, people could get informed about what social anxiety is. There is a large number of defi nitions about this topic that could be easily found only by typing the words “social anxiety” on the Internet. Some of them might be accurate and many others can be based on people’s predisposed perceptions, causing misunderstandings about what social anxiety is and what it is believed to be. Therefore, people must be really careful with the information they choose to believe as studies have shown that 52.8% of Internet users consider that most of its information is “reliable” or “accurate” (Ackman, 2003). Another way to get informed is by talking with specialists about the subject. For instance, a psychologist could provide all the information required to have a basic knowledge regarding social anxiety and they could even answer most of the doubts that people might have. Besides, getting informed about this topic could be useful as it might decrease bias levels, show the whole panorama of the situation, help identify patterns in someone’s behavior, and create consciousness about the struggle many people are going through.

Another solution to reduce misinterpretations in people might be to inform others about it. One of the best strategies is word-ofmouth marketing, as it is one of the most infl uential variables in the decision-making processes in the customers making a product spread quickly and effi ciently (Sarmiento, de Esteban & Antonovica, 2018). The reason for mentioning this marketing strat-

What social anxiety looks like. Tomada de braive.com/what-is-social-anxiety

“Th ere is access to eff ective and proper treatments currently available for anxiety disorders, so helping others look for assistance will not only benefi t their mental health, but it would also be useful to increase public awareness of social anxiety”. egy is because throughout history this phenomenon has been seen in every human group through the influential variables and the spreading factor that it has. For instance, this word-of-mouth communication can be found when a grandmother transmits to another generation her recipes and all the information about them, making the legacy last more generations. This strategy can also be applied to inform others about social anxiety because there is an important relationship between the spread of knowledge and the relationship with others that can make this process of sharing information possible and eff ective. Therefore, it would be more effi cient if a person that knows about social anxiety talked to their friends or family about it rather than waiting for others to learn this information on their own. Besides, it would help to reinforce the knowledge they had on the topic and to intensify the curiosity of those who just got informed about it.

Last but not least, a third solution is to try helping friends or people that might have this problem. An article published in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders showed that 8% out of 142 individuals who have been diagnosed with social phobias were reported to have sought professional assistance, but half of all the help-seekers had not seen a mental health professional (Pollard, Henderson, Frank & Margolis, 1989). The help a person can off er by doing their own research is nothing compared to the help that a professional in the topic could give, but it does not mean that a person could not be an excellent aff ective support as it may be needed in order to treat social anxiety. That is why, to help a person, it is highly recommended to take them to a mental health professional so that they can get appropriate guidance to treat their anxiety disorders, or, in this case, social anxiety. However, if the person who has social anxiety does not have a hint of it, a good way to help them is to identify the factors that may indicate that they are suffering from it and then persuade them to seek professional help. It might be useful not to give advice to deal with this disorder because it could lead to worsening the problem due to the lack of expertise in the topic. There is access to effective and proper treatments currently available for anxiety disorders, so helping others look for assistance will not only benefit their mental health, but it would also be relevant to increase public awareness of social anxiety.

All in all, there are some solutions that could be taken into account to avoid social media negative suppositions that cause misconceptions regarding social anxiety. The key aspects that should be considered in this regard are, on the one hand, getting informed about what social anxiety is; and, on the other, informing and trying to help others that might not be aware of their disorder. Actions need to be taken to avoid generalizing and labeling certain people simply because they are believed to have social anxiety judging by how they interact or are shown in social media. Instead, people should be paying attention to those who actually have this type of anxiety so that it could be treated and that they could feel comfortable when interacting with others without worrying about what these people might think of them. If you are reading this and you are or think you are suffering from social anxiety, what are you planning to do about it?

Referencias:

Ackman, D. (2003). For 53% Reliable Information, Click Here. Retrieved from https://www.forbes. com/consent/?toURL=https:// www.forbes.com/2003/01/31/cx_ da_0131topnews.html

Leary, M. R., & Kowalski, R. M. (1995). Social Anxiety.

Sarmiento Guede, J. R., de Esteban Curiel, J., & Antonovica, A. (2018). Word-of-Mouth Communication as a Consequence of Relationship Quality in Online Environments. Palabra Clave, 21(4), 1075–1106.

Social Anxiety Institute. (2013). Perceptions of Social Anxiety. Social Anxiety Institute.

Pollard, C.A., Henderson, J.G., Frank, M., & Margolis, R.B. (1989). Help-seeking patterns of anxietydisordered individuals in the general population. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 3(3), 131-138.