DIndia 1 Kendall DIndia Adam Padgett English 1102 April 8, 2014 The Effects of Social Media and Technology

Over recent years, the expansion of social media and technology has not only shaped our society, but also shifted our culture. With its popularity consistently growing, it sometimes seems as if our lives completely revolve around it. However, there are many skeptical concerns regarding our use of social media and technology that have risen up over recent years. I feel that my generation, currently the most technologically exposed, tends to ignore concerns such as these, more than that of older generations. For many, the question of whether or not there is really something so wrong with our use of social media and technology, that we truly need to be concerned about it, is asked. There is a various range of different ways social media and technology affect us. One of the more concerning impacts is that of the effect on our subjective well-being, or in other words, the quality of ones life including emotional reactions and cognitive judgments. Many of these concerns have been researched thoroughly and are backed by scientific evidence, including that of our subjective well-being, which has some compelling results. Even though our society is extremely dependent on social media and technology, the negative side of it needs to be recognized. The effects of social media and technology need to be acknowledged because the major roles they play in society cause them to directly influence the subjective well-being of people today.

DIndia 2 For many people in our society, social media has become a significant part of their lives. It is used to socialize, share pictures, communicate with friends, and entertain us. Not to mention just how outrageously popular things like Instagram and Twitter have become. So with all our use of social media sites like these, what kind of impact is it having on us? Well Twitter was found to have one of the most interesting influences on our subjective well-being. One experiment performed was geared towards finding the effects that Twitter has on us, monitored tweets and users, evaluating the emotional content of each users 6-month record of tweets (242 Bollen, Gonclaves, Raun, Mao), to discover the impact it had on us. What they found was that being connected to unhappy users can make one unhappier, and vice versa (249 Bollen, Gonclaves, Raun, Mao). What these results are telling us, it that Twitter itself can directly influence our happiness, swaying us to be happier, or less happy. This is something people should be conscious of when on Twitter, who would want to become less happy just because of some tweets they happen to view? Hopefully situations like this can be avoided, and perhaps people will try spending less time on Twitter to help benefit themselves. As most people are aware, social media and technology are known to have many negative effects on us, however, some also consist of a few beneficial aspects. Technologies, such as video games, fall into this idea. Some know that video games can effect emotions, but many are not aware of how they can advocate certain ones. Despite what you may normally hear about video games being bad for you, they actually contain some beneficial aspects. In fact, they are found to increase spatial and problem-solving skills. Not only is it good for cognitive skills such as those, but also, Gaming may be among one of the most efficient and effective means by which children and youth

DIndia 3 generate positive feelings (6 Granic, Lobel, Rutger), which makes perfect sense because people play video games for fun. Unfortunately not all the effects that video games have are as good as those. They have also been found to trigger emotions such as frustration, anger, anxiety, and sadness. Because video games can trigger certain emotions, we must be careful to tell the difference between when turning to video games to feel better is adaptive and at what point using games becomes an avoidant strategy that leads to more negative outcomes (6 Granic, Lobel, Rutger). Even though video games provide people with happiness, beginning to depend on it for happiness will only create further issues. Sometimes technology can affect us in more ways than we are aware. It is important to understand the effects that social media and technology have on us so that we may make adjustments to our lives accordingly. Much of the social media and technology we have can be used for some form of communication. So how does communicating this way affect us, in comparison to faceto-face interaction? An experiment was performed using instant messaging to find the mental impacts that communicating through a keyboard and screen has on us. The results revealed that the emotional feeling of loneliness was highly affected. The researchers of this experiment found that using the Internet to support already existing relationships predicted decreased loneliness, whereas virtual relationships alone predict greater loneliness (10 Laghi). In other words, if you used instant messaging to talk to friends that you were also friends with in real life, loneliness levels were found to decease, but it had the opposite affect if you used instant messaging to talk to people you appeared to only be friends with online. Again, this type of technology can produce both positive and negative outcomes. In this experiment the results also found that instant messaging

DIndia 4 affected anxiety and depression levels as well. For those who used instant messaging to communicate with individuals they were already friends with in person, instant messaging strengthened their relationships, which was then shown to lead to a decrease in anxiety and depression levels; a beneficial influence on our subjective well-being. This would be especially valuable for people who tend to be shy and have a hard time making friends because it allows them to communicate with others in a less stressful environment where they will not feel intimidated by face-to-face confrontation. Despite the down side to this online communication, this experiment showed us how it can be used to produce positive outcomes. Knowing how technology and social media, like this, affect us, can allow us to take advantage of it by using its good aspects to benefit ourselves. It is no surprise that some people develop a form of dependency on social media and technology. However, this dependency has recently been linked to causing clinical symptoms of psychiatric disorders. It has especially been seen in regular Internet and mobile phone users. For those individuals who appear to display this type overdependence, they have been found to exhibit signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). As found in an experiment testing this, researchers discovered that in cases such as this, Users are not checking their text messages or email to feel pleasure, but to relieve anxiety (22 Rosen). This type of dependency can create adverse effects on subjective well-being, and lower ones level of happiness. This experiment did not only find symptoms of psychiatric disorders, but also some other psychological effects that social media and technology can cause. For example, an increased use in Facebook was found to lead to more signs of narcissism (14 Rosen) in individuals. Not only that, but greater use in Internet was associated with more signs of loneliness and depression

DIndia 5 (20 Rosen). This may not be the case for every individual. However, it is compelling information that really displays the amount of influence social media and technology can have on us. Similarly as to how social media and technology can be linked to psychiatric disorders, it can also be assessed from an aspect of addiction. By viewing the problematic use of social media as that of an addiction, researchers were able to find common factors. Through an experiment they found that the use of social media and technology influences self-traits in ways similar to that of addiction, lowering self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-control. It was also found to reduce individuals motivation. Other factors that are also commonly affiliated with addiction, were also found, when findings revealed that users who rely excessively on human-machine interactions tend to be less sensitive to violence, display higher levels of depression, and demonstrate reset syndrome or experience discontent in conversations among family members (19 Khang, Hyoungkoo, Kim). Findings such as these illustrate how the effects of social media and technology are extremely similar to those of other serious mental issues. This close relation further shows how social media and technology can directly influence subjective well-being. Social Media and Technology are predominant aspects in our lives and in society. Because its presence is so dominant, especially in my generation, it is nearly impossible to avoid the influence it presses on us. There are numerous positive affects that they can have, as well as many negative affects though. Regardless, the denouement is that social media and technology impacts our subjective well-being, whether it is noticed or not. They will always be able to influence how we feel, but each individual situation will

DIndia 6 effect us differently. However, by understanding this concept, we can try to manage what affects our subjective well-being, for the better.

DIndia 7 Bibliography Bollen, Johan, et al. "Happiness Is Assortative In Online Social Networks." Artificial Life 17.3 (2011): 237-251. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. Granic, Isabela, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels. "The Benefits Of Playing Video Games." American Psychologist 69.1 (2014): 66-78. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. Laghi, Fiorenzo, et al. "Knowing When Not To Use The Internet: Shyness And Adolescents On-Line And Off-Line Interactions With Friends." Computers In Human Behavior 29.1 (2013): 51-57. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. Rosen, L.D., et al. "Is Facebook Creating Idisorders? The Link Between Clinical Symptoms Of Psychiatric Disorders And Technology Use, Attitudes And Anxiety." Computers In Human Behavior 29.3 (2013): 1243-1254. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. Khang, Hyoungkoo, Jung Kyu Kim, and Yeojin Kim. "Self-Traits And Motivations As Antecedents Of Digital Media Flow And Addiction: The Internet, Mobile Phones, And Video Games." Computers In Human Behavior 29.6 (2013): 2416-2424. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.