With the rise of the internet and social media, we are all connected permanently to cyberspace. Of course it has made lives more suitable, our dependency for it is what is becoming the problem; theres a name for it, Social Media addiction. The dependency the world has on social media has corrupted the way we communicate with each other. As a people, we are beginning to lack in social skills. Todays world is faced with the continually growing need and desire to constantly use social media. People today are more concerned about how many likes and views we can get, instead the actual people that are in front of them. People are creating these personas and unrealistic lifestyles, to impress people that they do not even know, and for what? What one used to consider a great treasure, is now playing a huge role is health problems, concentration issues, and lack of communication skills. Using two satirical visual pieces, one image source Sexting by Marc Kosabi and another Lets play from Angel Boligan.
The image Sexting by Marc Kosabi is an image that is literally an exact representation of what some relationships look like today. The importance of ones phone holds more value than the actual relationship. When you are with someone you love, your sole purpose when around them, is that do do just that, be around them. People are spending too much time interacting in social media and not having a face to face experiences, which is beginning to or already has been taking a toll on our relationships. You ever go on a date to a restaurant and look around the room, about 60 percent of the customers are probably looking at their cell phones. Why do we feel the constant need to check our phones for likes and approvals from millions of people we dont even know. People across the world choose to connect to people through the small screens on their devices instead of a face to face interaction. The pressure of having a perfect relationship just to be posted all over the internet, which ends up increasing jealousy, and decreasing rate in faithfulness. Social media causes a strain on the relationship, which sadly may end up failing. Without the use of social media, relationships would focus less on factors that create hardships for relationships. Unfaithfulness can be seen as anything from physically cheating on someone to flirting with someone excessively over text, and things of that sort start by a simple like from social media. Lack of privacy also comes to play when dealing with social media and relationships; It seems that everyone knows when a couple is having issues because one or both of the individuals tweets something about the other, partically inviting everyone into their private lives. Inviting outsiders into your relationship, causing pressure from outside influencers, creating an impossible situation. So if we keep our private relationships well, private, then a lot of outside sources won’t be affecting how you handle your situations.
The second image Lets play by Angel Boligan is displaying an exact image of what our youth is becoming. Society is constantly facing electronic and social media growing problems. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter or applications like Instagram and Snapchat are becoming a mechanism for teenagers to become obese and hermits. Cell phones, internet, video games, television all have taken over the youth in society and corrupted them in almost zombie-like beings. As a people, we are beginning to lack in social skills, but the younger generations are growing up lacking the most important skills to survive. Younger generations arent able to have proper intellectual conversations, without slang and cyber terms. Video games, television, and social media have captured the minds of the youth and is almost holding them hostage on the couch stuck watching their small screens of their phones. The obesity rate for children has been brought up to an unacceptable level because they insist on watching television and watching videos on social media while stuffing their mouths with unhealthy snacks. Kids arent kids anymore, and that is a terrible truth. No longer are kids wanting to go outside and enjoy the beautiful fresh air, exercise, play outside games. They are too busy texting, and communicating through social media to find any of that interesting or exciting.
