1). Suggested Title of Research Project
To what extent has social media and technology had a negative impact on society?
2). Significance
My research is interesting because it highlights the change in behaviour of
society as a whole a result of a highly considered external influence. I will be looking at factors such as false identity and narcissism, isolation and mental health issues.
These factors are important because they are damaging society without us realising. If the points I raise are highlighted enough then the issues that they are causing will hopefully be resolved in the future.
3). Primary and Secondary Sources
- Goffman,E.(1990)The presentation of self in everyday life, London, Penguin Books
- Topham,P.(2012)Making People Appy,(unknown where published)
- 'Prince EA'.(2014)Can we autocorrect humanity?[Internet],Youtube Video. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ
4). Methods
- I could produce a questionnaire to gather first hand research by asking and identifying peoples own experiences.
- I could set up experiments to examine behaviour around the use and misuse of technology.
- Interview councillor/therapist (depending on confidentiality) ask them whether they have noticed an increase problems since the rise of technology.
- Read therapy today magazine to find articles associated with technology.
- Sit in a public place and record the number of people walking along using their mobile phones in a certain space of time.
I will be focusing on the changing atmosphere of society and individual behaviour as well as the incline of technology and mental health issues and whether this has a clear correlation, and whether this will continue in the future. I have chosen to look into this area for a number of reasons. One being my interest in mental health and behaviour from personal experience and experience of others. In my lifetime I hope to see the stigma around mental health to be eradicated and access to help and solutions being increased at the same time as discrimination against sufferers to be diminished.
I am also extremely conscious of living in a corrupted society that is being brainwashed by technology and dragged away from the 'real world'. I am keen to find out and highlight the problems associated with technology and in particular social media sites so that society will eventually become less shallow, insecure and small minded.
6). Essay Plan
a) Introduction
I'm going to state that it is a very broad topic to explore. I am going to argue how society has become so dependant on technology and in particular social media and how it is dragging us away from the real world. To expand i'll be exploring how it has almost brainwashed and alienated us causing feelings of isolation and narcissism to increase alongside mental health issues. I am also going to question whether this will continue to increase, as well as refer each point back to the argument of authenticity vs false identity. The areas I will be looking at in are highlighted in the title, isolation, narcissism and false identity.b) Main Body
Identity- Who am I and who are we? Is our identity more heavily considered online?
Short statement about how we perceive ourselves by surrounding features such as people, interest and culture/religion.
How heavily technology has influenced every day life (quick sentence)
Social media part of every day life, create online profiles.
+ (for) In general conversation people search and make pre judgemental conceptions on one another by scouring the internet for social media profiles. Most of which aren't actually a true representation of someones personality, mannerisms and characteristics.
–(against) Not in all circumstances. Situations such as job interviews, has to be a physical interview so the company can gain full perspective of a someones personality and decide if they're right for the job.
Narcissism- (linking to the point above) Online presence allowing us to be more self indulgent to gain popularity and attention?
How we have become too obsessed with ideas of how we SHOULD look from constantly looking at others pictures.
+Causes insecurity, makes us want to post pictures to meet a certain 'criteria' to feel accepted.
People jump to conclusions about your life from things being posted online. Causes people to become shallow both online and in real life(relating to the first statement)
–Self promotion might not be too much related to narcissism if the purpose was to raise attention about particular issues or positive things.
Isolation- Relying too much on online popularity/ technology to answer questions that we feel more alone/insecure?
+ If we don't get the desired attention we become insecure and feel down. Get into a bubble where constantly checking phones to see if anyone has 'liked' our photos. Get into a bubble. So wound up about not being popular online that this affects the way we behave in the real world. Influences the time we spend on our phones, likely to experience things first hand and have other social interaction.
–Argument against isolation is that networks can be made to open up more opportunities for example jobs, or if people advertise things via Facebook for example.
Mental Health- Has mental health deteriorated due to the pressure of keeping up with social networking? Online bullying/trolls.
When people feel isolated they feel like the world is against them and they become vulnerable to targets.
+ 'thinspo' (relating to narcassism and idea of perfection) depressesion associated with not feeling accepted and feeling worthless. Research further into the statistics of this area
– Mental health problems aren't completely related to technology, a lot is associated with other external and social factors as well as the corrupt society we live in.
Can I use some of the examples I used in the previous essay? If so..
d) Conclusion
Reiterate main points in the argument, say why I agree with the argument of how society has become so dependant on technology and social media that we are losing touch with the real world and being sucked into a shallow, small minded, isolated world where digital performance is pursued through false identity and is more highly considered than genuine personality and character.
Write a short sentence on how I think this will affect the future, and the consequences of the actions we take now.
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