Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media have enabled people to maintain social connectedness with family, stay informed on current events and network with people with shared interests.
“I use to hate social media because it is annoying to be around my friends with them constantly on the phone,” said Tyler Harrison, a sophomore supply management major. “But I gave it a try and now I kind of like it because it’s allowed me to expand my social circle. I would be lying if I said I didn’t use it every day.”
The power to communicate with people from all over the world, instantaneously, is what makes social networking so enticing.
Countless arguments have been made that social networks have made us lonelier, isolated, disconnected and distracted.
However, a recent article by Carolyn Gregoire of the Huffington Post revealed studies that refuted those notions.
Researchers from Griffith University and the University of Queensland, in Australia, ran two set of data analysis on high school and college students and found that college students from past decades were experiencing more loneliness and isolation than college students of recent years.
The researchers also found that high school students of this generation are less likely to feel isolated because their greater sense of individuality and lack of reliance on interpersonal relationships. The researchers suggested that our generation prides itself on individuality and personal success which drives us to become independent from our families and friends.
Several University students shared their own experiences with social media and how it impacted their lives.
“It doesn’t surprise me that our generation is less lonely than the past ones, said Derrick Hudson, a freshman sociology major. “We have so many different ways to connect with people that if you really wanted to make friends and just hang out with someone new, you can do it almost immediately.”
Samantha Dillard, a junior VCT major, offered a different take.
“Sometimes social media can be too distracting. I remember when I first got an Instagram account and I became obsessed with posting pictures, getting my likes up, and interacting with my followers. It consumed too much of my time, it was unhealthy, and after a while I had to delete it,” she said.
Dillard said she used to spend up to five hours a day patrolling her various social media accounts and realized it was starting to affect her real friendships.
“Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. It sounds clichéd but it’s true. I almost lost my real friends because I became too consumed with my [Instagram] and Twitter friends. I would just caution people to be careful with how much time they spend on those things,” she said.
