Nikoui-Smith 1

Sevyana Nikoui-Smith

Professor Rodrick

English 115

1 October 2018

Is Technology Really That Great?

In our society today, it is hard to go out and not see someone with their nose in their

phone. Majority of the people around the world are so consumed with technology that no one

knows how to interact with each other in reality. Most people hide behind a screen with what

they choose to put on their online profile because that is where they feel most comfortable.

Technology has shaped our identities negatively because it allowed people to be influenced

through self-image, cyberbullying, and video games.

Social media and technology has affected many young girls and women’s identities

negatively due to one own’s perception of having a specific type of body. Young girls and

women are affected negatively through social media because they are influenced by what other

people choose to put online. Multiple young girls and women believe that they should have the

perfect body because of social comparison from the media to themselves. The “perfect” body is

perceived as having a hourglass figure or the perfect face. Most people fail to realize what looks

good on someone else may not look good on them. Given that, there were ​“research on the

United States of America traditional media imagery on girls and young women has supported its

influence on body dissatisfaction, in part because the images of a physical ideal tend to reinforce

each other in their consistency across a generation” (​Andsager 408). The girls and young women

are easily influence by the media on their identity and physical appearance. Since girls are on
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social media all the time, they are reinforced by what they see which makes them more

vulnerable to crave unrealistic body images. This is because everyone has different body types

and everyone has features that they wish they have. But in most cases, a lot of pictures that they

see online are photoshopped. Photoshop is used to modify an image to make a person look better

than what they look like in reality. For example, you can edit your photo to make it look like you

have wider hips and a flatter stomach. When young girls and women see these photos online,

they start to hate their own bodies which leads to negative self-identity. When they have a

negative perspective on their body image, they only see the bad and not the good of their body.

Most girls and women want their body to be similar to a well known figure because they are just

wanting to follow today’s trend in America which is to have a big butt and flat stomach. Young

girls and women have been misguided by social media and have lowered their self-identity and

self-esteem.

Even though the young girls and women have lowered their self-identity and self-esteem

by the use of social media, social media has been the main hub of cyberbullying. Users of social

media are constantly updating their personal information to the web to keep up with the media's

ideals. People have to constantly keep up with the trend where social media is constantly

changing. Once young girls and women think they finally have it right, the trend starts to change

again. To follow the trend can be emotionally and mentally exhausting which may lead to

negative self-identity of worthiness. Individuals who are considered as Millennials along with

Generation Z are the main population that may be most affected by cyberbullying. The definition

of cyberbullying from StopBullying.gov is known as when "bullying​ that takes place over digital

devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text,
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and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or

share content.” The individuals who are constantly on social media has a high chance of being

bullied. In most cases, cyberbullying is usually started with the intent to not hurt someone, but to

be a clown to their peers. Most people who initiates the bullying fail to realize the

psychologically harm​. In a Ted Talk called ​Rethink Before You Type​ presented by Trisha Prabhu

focuses on the points that​ cyberbullying can damage someone’s self esteem and in some cases

can lead to someone taking their own life. Usually when someone is bullying another individual,

they proceed this act because they have problems at their own home and they are usually seeking

attention even if its negative attention. On top of this, many kids fear adults catching them

bullying in a school setting, so instead some choose to hide behind a keyboard and be a coward

to hurt someone through harsh comments or posts. When trying to cause harm, there is a much

lower risk associated with cyberbullying because the individual can hide their identity behind a

screen. A fake account can be created where commenting and posting harsh material is hidden

from revealing the actual person. For example, if someone posted an embarrassing photo of you

online for a bunch of people to see, how do you think it will make you feel? Most people would

start to feel upset and embarrassed. If someone were to cyberbully me, I would feel depressed

and start to disconnect from people. I would also start to wonder what I did to deserve to be

bullied. I think this is a common response for most cyberbullying victims where they become

mortified about what has been said about them. Then they start to make assumptions that the

bully has stated what everyone else thinks to be true about the victim. These assumptions start to

make the victim draw back from what and who they love in order to protect themselves from any

more harm, but in reality they are only hurting themselves more by doing so. The best thing
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someone who is a victim of cyberbullying can do is to reach out to an adult they trust, contact

proper authorities, and report the​ ​bullying. A lot of cyberbullying can be tied to Twitter because

it has been stated that, ​“​although this social networking site has become an important, near

real-time communication channel, a study determined that Twitter is turning into a cyberbullying

playground” (Al-Garadi et al 433). For those who do not know, Twitter is a website where

individuals can create an account to share personal information about themselves, whether it is

just a tool to spread thoughts and opinions, their business, or maybe just a way to stay connected

with friends. It was created with the intention of lifting people up and celebrating everyone’s

uniqueness, but sadly has now become a place for people to tear down each other. Although

social media giants, such as Facebook and Twitter administrators may try hard to monitor for

foul play on their sites, but there is only so much they can prevent when there are millions upon

millions of members on their sites. Statistically, most of the cyberbullying will go unseen by

administrators for these companies and cyber bullies know this.

Video games are similar to social media and the use of technology today. Video games

such as Grand Theft Auto, Black Ops, and other high conflict simulation games taught children

that it is okay to be violent. In the article ​Denying Humanness to Others: A Newly Discovered

Mechanism by Which Violent Video Games Increase Aggressive Behavior​ by Greitemeyer and

Mclatchie stated, “while playing violent video games, the player typically sees him- or herself as

a human perpetrator engaging in repeated acts of justified violence.” Video games like these are

not giving children good examples on how to act. When they play and watch these video games,

they are starting to think that it is okay to be violent and to treat someone badly. Children are

incredibly impressionable beings and if they see something happen repeatedly in the medias,
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then they will look up to it. They might see situations on the television or video game where they

will think it is okay to reenact those behaviors in real life. For example, in Grand Theft Auto, if

you suddenly decide to start a fight with someone that bumped into you on the street, then you

can punch them in the face and get away with it. But, if you did that in real life, then you would

likely be charged with aggravated assault and that would also likely lead to jail time. Kids need

to learn that when something does not go exactly their way or even when someone is treating

them poorly, then the first plan of action cannot be a violent retaliation.

In conclusion, while social media has brought about great strides to bridge the gap

between friends and family who previously would not have been able to communicate regularly,

it has also brought about a great deal of pain and anger towards one’s identity. Women and men

alike now feel a great deal of pressure to look unrealistic that is created by picture editing

software that has now swept the fashion and social media industry. It has created a new way in

which kids can bully each other, thus increasing mental health issues and suicide rates in teens.

Kids no longer have to fear being “sent to the principal” for what they said to a peer in the

hallway. Instead, they can log in from a fake account and send hurtful messages and pictures

without the high risk of being caught. Lastly, it has also created unrealistic coping mechanisms

in kids, as they have been raised by video games that have taught them to lash out violently when

things do not go their way. ​Perception of negative self-image, cyberbully, and video games will

continue to only create a harsh environment for our future generation if there are no changes in

the initial purpose of social media which is to lift people up and celebrate our unique identities.
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Work Cited

Al-Garadi, et al. “Cybercrime Detection in Online Communications: The Experimental Case of

Cyberbullying Detection in the Twitter Network.” ​Computers in Human Behavior,​ vol.

63, no. C, 2016, pp. 433–443. Accessed 22 September 2018.

Andsager, Julie. “Research Directions in Social Media and Body Image.” ​Sex Roles​, vol. 71, no.

11, 2014, pp. 407–413. ProQuest. Accessed 22 September 2018.

Greitemeyer, Tobias, and Neil Mclatchie. “Denying Humanness to Others: A Newly Discovered

Mechanism by Which Violent Video Games Increase Aggressive Behavior.”

Psychological Science,​ vol. 22, no. 5, 2011, pp. 659–665. Accessed 22 September 2018.

“Rethink Before You Type.” Trisha Prabhu, TEDxTeen, 23 Oct. 2014. YouTube,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkzwHuf6C2U​. Accessed 21 September 2018.

​“What Is Cyber Bullying.” ​StopBullying.gov​, Department of Health and Human Services,

www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html​. Accessed 22 September

2018.