Social Media and its effects on one's esteem...

JohnnyRoulette

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THIS post got me thinking. (This is not a slam on the OP, just concern because too often things can lead down a negative path of isolation or worse).

I've always been fascinated with the workings of the mind and how society has an impact. As a human being, I think we all yearn for attention. We want people to notice us, we crave someone to validate us (pat us on the shoulder, tell us we were funny or clever or attractive). We want to be known. We compare ourselves to more popular versions.

The only problem is this...our world has become VERY self indulgent and self centred.

You can see it in simple conversations with friends, when you want nothing more than to offer your opinion or your thoughts on a topic and your friends/peer group chat above or over you, with the most applause going to the loudest person.

You can see it on facebook/twitter/youtube etc, where people are just screaming for attention with selfies photos, posts to try and lure others to comment on them.

When did our self worth and value become something that is only validated with 1000 friend requests, followers and 500 likes?:confused:

My genuine concern is that some people, especially today's youth, live for this attention so much, that they become incredibly depressed/jealous/angry when they don't get what they think they deserve. My heart goes out to them.

Hell, even I'm guilty of wanting attention, wanting people to like me. 20 years ago, it was wanting to be the popular boy/girl in school. Now it's evolved to a much greater scale. Everyone is so desperate to have this attention, they go to tremendous means to get it.

Please don't. It's an empty form of popularity. As a guy who feels really old some days (even though he's only in his early 30s), trust me when I say, it doesn't matter.

Enjoy the friends you are with and realize that, with so much going on in the world, and everyone being so damned self absorbed, people may read your posts and not respond.

Those are just my thoughts. Feel free to add yours.
 

TaigaStar

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There's a belief in psychology that humans aren't mentally capable of handling the Internet. Mentally, our brains haven't evolved much more beyond small tribes, and so we all overload. The problem, however, is that we crave social interaction and we walk into clusterfuck of social shortcomings not kept in check.
 

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...with the most applause going to the loudest person.

- I completely agree. I hate that.

I agree with what you have said about social media being about popularity and people being self centered. However, you say later on that it doesn't matter, I believe it does matter.

I used to be very popular (it was sort of nice, but not where I wanted to be), I got out of that crowd, did my own thing to get where I wanted to be. 7 years later, I'm not quite there yet, I couldn't be less popular and now I'm not sure if I'll ever get there. If I was given the choice right now to change myself from being the intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, knowledgeable and career minded person I am now, to the loser, yet popular guy I used to be in high school, I hate to admit it but I would strongly consider it. Popularity makes fickle people (like me) happy.

Also, popularity is in everything. Whether it's getting a job, to political elections, and even to some extent, how countries are run. Intelligence and logic take a back seat nowadays to, as you said, 'the loudest person'. It's the sad truth.
 
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Somewhat related thread.

I get frustrated too. Maybe its like having 2000 tv channels and nothing interesting to watch. Maybe its like having the entire internet available to you, and still being bored.
 

breeze

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Somewhat related thread.

I get frustrated too. Maybe its like having 2000 tv channels and nothing interesting to watch. Maybe its like having the entire internet available to you, and still being bored.

I use to have the same problem. There was a rutgers study that concluded that watching tv causes depression or makes people depressed. All you have to do is watch judge judy or dr.phil to see that.

I no longer watch tv { except for a football or baseball game or 2 } but dvds. I can't get enough of lady gaga , gwen stefani , james taylor , the batman moves , the resident evil movies etc. I can pick and choose. I guess to some extent you have this choice with cable etc.

If you think about it there is a big difference between movies and tv shows. A lot of tv shows are just about people talking either in a chair or room They don't have the budget to do much more. While movies can be far more creative in their special effects and plots.

On the net you just have to find a few interesting sites like this one.
But the net is about information and other uses. Ebay on paper has made me six figures.
 
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Personally I don't think facebook and the like have added anything of great value to society other than distraction and another place to advertise. It's a very shallow place full of emotional and pshychological traps for many. The internet itself I think has, as far as information communication etc goes been good. In the end it's what you want to put in and expect to get out, sometimes expectations are just that.
 

mistabobdobalina

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Social Media as an online diary (Facebook, Myspace, twitter, etc) has been completely uninteresting to me. It doesn't impact my self esteem because I don't use it. At worst, I occasionally feel minor pangs of guilt for having some friends that use it religiously and I don't.

I do enjoy the odd message board (but those have been around forever now), as well as some link aggregation websites (like Fark).
 

TaigaStar

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I've had my moments where social media has gotten me depressed (usually when I'm already feeling vulnerable and someone's idiocy just pushes the button). It's also helped to keep me extremely happy at times. There's good with bad, and sadly most people make themselves too vulnerable to the world.
 

SprinkleMe69

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Damn, no ladies responded? Well fuck me upside down.

Social media and self esteem. Some people just crave attention. I don't get it. I'm a somewhat private person and I do my best to delete shit in my life that isn't needed. Less stress in my life that way. I do the same with FB and what not.
 

JohnnyRoulette

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I use to have the same problem. There was a rutgers study that concluded that watching tv causes depression or makes people depressed. All you have to do is watch judge judy or dr.phil to see that.

I no longer watch tv { except for a football or baseball game or 2 } but dvds. I can't get enough of lady gaga , gwen stefani , james taylor , the batman moves , the resident evil movies etc. I can pick and choose. I guess to some extent you have this choice with cable etc.

If you think about it there is a big difference between movies and tv shows. A lot of tv shows are just about people talking either in a chair or room They don't have the budget to do much more. While movies can be far more creative in their special effects and plots.

On the net you just have to find a few interesting sites like this one.
But the net is about information and other uses. Ebay on paper has made me six figures.

I say congrats on that financial result. :rolleyes: Television and Movies, while entertaining...has often been something I've looked at as a negative. It shows many aspects of the world, and not all of them are positive.


Personally I don't think facebook and the like have added anything of great value to society other than distraction and another place to advertise. It's a very shallow place full of emotional and pshychological traps for many. The internet itself I think has, as far as information communication etc goes been good. In the end it's what you want to put in and expect to get out, sometimes expectations are just that.

It absolutely is WHAT you put into it. The problem is, some people absolutely use these social media to vent their feelings and emotions, or just toss out their thoughts to the world.

I've had my moments where social media has gotten me depressed (usually when I'm already feeling vulnerable and someone's idiocy just pushes the button). It's also helped to keep me extremely happy at times. There's good with bad, and sadly most people make themselves too vulnerable to the world.

See, this is the shining star. You can get a lot of joy from these things.... it really depends how you use the media, and if you use it to your advantage.

Damn, no ladies responded? Well fuck me upside down.

Social media and self esteem. Some people just crave attention. I don't get it. I'm a somewhat private person and I do my best to delete shit in my life that isn't needed. Less stress in my life that way. I do the same with FB and what not.
We're in a world of 7 billion+ people, all of us screaming to be seen, to be heard. I don't really get why...but I can see the joy that comes from acceptance and attention.