Patrick Chou Week 3: Putting the Influence in Influencer
When I scroll through social media, I think these profiles look kind of fake and I doubt anyone on my explore pages is really honest about who they are. There is no doubt that social media has an impact on our identities. I would describe myself as honest on my social media as I am in real life.
In a TED talk about the impact of social media on youth, Katanu highlights the fact that we edit our social media page to reflect the best of us and never the darkest parts of us. This is what she calls our “highlight reel”; this ends up being our way of filtering and forming our identity to form and mold ourselves to fit along with trends.
With the advanced algorithms that curate videos targeted toward your interests, that creates a sense of low self-esteem as we are surrounded by the fact that there are better people than us in our interests; it makes it seem as if all the accounts on social media are the embodiment of perfection.
No
The reason why Instagram and other platforms succeed is due to the fact that it is based on a currency of likes and shares a form of currency. This leads to a culture of self-comparison and self-presentation. This leads to the fact that mental illnesses can stem from this toxic relationship with photos that are cherry picked by other self-conscious accounts. These illnesses include low self-esteem, depression, social anxiety and FOMO (fear of missing out).
Up to this point this blog has mainly been on the negative side, but social media allows us to outsource and meet others. Take a moment to reflect and think about how social media has provided a chance to communicate with people from our same grade that we were too scared to talk to in person. Like every topic, social media has its pros and cons and at the end it is important to realize that social media can help us expand our identities but at the same time it will act to change our identities.
How does Social Media Influence Identities
Hi Patrick! I agree with many of the points in your blog. Looking at the overall structure of your passage, I like how you started off negatively and acknowledged it before mentioning how social media also has its positives. It is really impressive that you are able to stay honest online as I know in social media I don’t really show my true self. Sometimes I have things that I want to say that I just can’t bring myself to say because of how it may tarnish my reputation. Your point of how social media “leads to a culture of self-comparison and self-presentation” is very accurate, at least for me. I’m constantly comparing myself to those online and thinking that I’m not good enough or feeling relieved that I’m at least not worse off than others. I’m not chronically on social media, which makes it hard for me to imagine how much someone who spends much of their waking hours online would have their mental health impacted. The image you picked suits the article as well because of how the man is covering the sides of his head with his hands as if he is overwhelmed. Based on the points in your passage, social media certainly has the ability to stress us out.
ReplyDeleteHi Patrick! I really liked how you introduced your topic with your opinion on it before anything else, giving an idea to the reader of how the blog post was going to pan out. I also liked your use of the one-word paragraph towards the middle of the post. That "No" really stood out and was effectively emphasized when you chose to do that. It's important to show both sides of the story and not choose to make the topic seem all positive or all negative, and I feel like you found a good balance between representing the two even as your article was shifted more towards the negative side. A fair acknowledgement of the positives was included towards the end, and that was all you really needed, so awesome job on that. I would try next time to transition into the opposite side a bit smoother instead of doing it abruptly because smoothing it would just make it a bit easier to read. Your concluding sentence wrapped the post up nicely and the picture was a good choice for a post of this topic. Great job!
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ReplyDeleteHello Patrick! I really like how you started off your blog, as it gave the readers an understanding of what your stance on the described issue is. Your message is powerful, and it effectively gives the pros and cons regarding social media. I agree with the points that you made, and I especially like how you gave a positive aspect on it at the end as well. Although you began with the negatives, the ending really tied the whole blog together. It is important to address both sides of an issue, and I think you were able to effectively do that. Additionally, I really like the unique formatting on your blog, and how the one word "No" was clearly emphasized. It is also interesting how you spoke about the mental/social issues that arise with social media, such as comparing yourself to others you see on the internet. I relate to this, as I think that social media can cause us to disregard our true identities and create new ones, just to be like by those on the internet. I think the incorporation of the TED talk was really nice, as it gave us additional information, and also strongly supported the argument you were making. I believe that it's important to speak up about these problems, and your blog really gave me a new perspective on social media!
ReplyDeleteHello Patrick! I like how you immediately take the time to establish a firm stance on your perspective on our current societal conditions surrounding social media. You set a precedent for yourself and distinguish yourself by your unique stance. Your blog’s sentence structure is crucial to understanding the subject itself; the latest generation continues to pursue principles of comparison concerning their very lives. This unhealthy behavior should be discouraged and frowned upon—especially considering that each individual has their own life to live and their moral principles to follow. The pressure that can build upon the fragile minds of adolescents and teenagers can cause distress and sometimes even depression. The TED talk that the blog contains can lead the audience to understand the speaker's credibility and establish the subject's importance. There are many extensively developed rhetorical devices that you employ as a way of increasing their tendency to be receptive. I notice a trend of juxtaposition that you use to differentiate your opinion on the effects of social media on society through both positive and negative effects. Presenting both views of the situation displays your comprehension of the complex circumstances that can arise when debating such a divisive issue.
ReplyDeleteHi Patrick! I really like how you structured your blog, starting off about the negative aspects of social media but ending it with a positive tone. This clearly demonstrates the duality of social media and the impact it causes. I agree with you on how no one is really honest on their social media page, which causes excessive comparison. It is truely how you manage to stay true to yourself even on social media since that is very common in our age group. The mention of the Ted Talk was very enlightening as it gave extra information and commentary about the topic of social media's effect on youth. It also establishes credibility and further evidence. The highlight of the one word "No" was very powerful and clearly emphasized. I really like how you depicted the different illness social media can cause as we must bring more awareness to it. You used many different rhetorical devices but one that stood out to me was your choice of juxtaposition. This made your blog much stronger and allowed the audience to ponder for themselves about both sides of social media. Overall, your blog was a very interesting read and gave me more insight about social media.
ReplyDeleteHello Patrick! I was quite amazed at how you framed social media into the issue of identity which I find very thoughtful and intricately written. I especially liked how you put the word "No" as its own paragraph to show a sharp contrast. It made me think about the other side of the argument which you elaborated on near the end of the article. Some suggestions I had were to put your opinion into the article. It is important to show which side has influenced you the most and from what I can tell, the negative side has definitely been more evident in the article. A good explanation at the end of the article would be great to sum your ideas up and create a neat bow of the work you have done. Good job picking up the TED talk, they are good sources for evidence. Great work!
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