1. Describe your attachment to technology and social media. What are the positive and negative aspects and what should you change?
Technology and social media have transform the way we interact and communicate with each other. With the advances in technology it have allowed us to complete more tasks in less time with less effort and more productivity. But with these abilities, our interactions with other people have drastically changed.
Smartphones have been part of our everyday lives being conveniently accessible just with a touch of a button, people are using social media everyday as part of their regular daily basis. We got so grown and attach to technology because it is like a part of our extended self that carries a lot of information and contacts of our daily lives.
Social media can have both positive and negative aspect. One of the positive aspect of social media is self-expression and branding. Social media has proven to provide an effective means for favorable and accurate self-presentations that is important for one’s positive socialization and psychological functioning.
The negative aspect of social media is the violent content. Prosocial TV enhances children’s social and emotional skills for healthy relationships, but, on the other side, television and video games with violent content might also develop aggressive behavior.
In Conclusion although there are some risks of negatively impacting social relationships, it also offers opportunities. With that said what can be done is to monitor and control where children are surfing and browsing through the website and also educating them on the negative and positive of social media.
2. How do your social media networks mirror your own existence?
Social media can be a good platform for job opportunities or even trying to reconnect with your childhood friend or finding your long lost relatives. which is why it is important that our profile on social media should be based on our personal data that had been input by us or other users, such as friends who’d mentioned you or emailed you, posted your photo on their facebook page or listed you in their smartphones address books.
The notion of keeping up appearances is not unique to social media, from job interviews to meeting new people for the first time, it’s only natural that we try to put our best selves forward. We all identify with three different types of self. The actual self the person we perceive ourselves to actually be and the ought self-based on who we believe we should be and the ideal self-shaped by hopes, wishes, and aspirations the person we want to be. The larger the perceived discrepancy between the actual and the ideal self, the more prone the individual is to negative emotions, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, and even self-contempt.
Achieving and maintaining a positive self-image in the social media age is not necessarily about quitting Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Rather, it is about adjusting your perception of the online world and finding a balance between digital and real life. Firstly, learning to see through the smoke and mirrors of other social media profiles will break the habit of comparing yourself unfavourably, so that time spent online is more about connecting with friends than highlighting your own shortcomings.
Andi's Journal 