Could you give up social media?

-


In Bret Molina’s article “Could you quit social media? Your answer may depend on your age,” he explains interesting information found by a survey from the Pew Research Center. The survey found 40 percent of participants said they would find it difficult to give up social media. This is a 12 percent increase from four years ago. The survey also found generally younger adults find it more difficult to part with social media than older adults. I find this information very interesting but through my experience, I believe there are other factors than age.
I generally believe the more experience you have with social media, the easier it is to part with it. In other words, you get sick of it. I built this assumption based on my own experience and my observation of others. I personally have been on social media for quite a long time. I may get on social media from time to time but if I had to part with it, it would not be a huge issue for me. On the other hand, I feel my mother would have more difficulty. My mother has little experience with Facebook and since she has gotten into the platform, she has not been able to part with it. Of course, my mother is a lot older than I, so this is where I find the survey’s results to be surprising.
There is a flaw in this assumption. Since the younger generation has grown up with social media, would they not have more experience with it and find it easier to quit? I am not entirely sure. Therefore, I believe it just depends on the person and why they are on social media in the first place. Do they use social media for entertainment? Is social media their main form of entertainment, like my mother? Do they use social media to feel accepted or included? I think the cause for your use of social media plays a large role in the level of your need to have it.
Overall, Pew Research Center conducted a really interesting survey. It is neat looking into peoples’ relationships with social media. I am not sure if the true cause of social media addiction will ever be discovered but if it does, I will be looking forward to finding out what it is!

Comments

  1. Erin LaneMarch 6, 2018 at 8:53 PM

    I recently wrote about one of PEW Research Center's different studies and I just love seeing what they have to say! They include so much valuable information to answer questions about social media and I find this survey extremely interesting. My senior year of high school I gave up social media for a few weeks and honestly, it was pretty hard, but I feel like people our age do need to use it less because social media addiction is becoming a real issue!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Adelyn HelmsMarch 7, 2018 at 10:46 AM

    I think there are a lot of factors contributing to how people feel about social media and how hard it would be for them to give it up. I think a huge part of it is what you individually use social media for. Some people just use social media as a form of entertainment, some use it to stay in touch with friends or what is going on in the world, some people use it to make a living. Even within that spectrum I think it varies. Someone who uses social media as their job might be happy to give it up for a little while to give themselves a break, or they might not be able to take even a day off or they would jeopardize their living. I think it all depends! This is an interesting study though!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Preparing for the Interview

-
Image
Recently, I had my first big interview experience. I have interviewed for jobs before, but those required little thought or preparation.   This position, on the other hand, required much more time and effort. I ran for the graphic design intern position at Thirty-One Gifts in Columbus, Ohio. I originally found the position online and applied. To my surprise, they set up a phone interview with me. Of course, I was nervous for the phone interview, but I was not too nervous. For a phone interview, you can wear what you want and stare at the ground as much as you want without the interviewer knowing! I did research on the company to prepare. I guess my joyful voice and charming personality won over the recruiter because they invited me to their headquarters for an on-site interview. The moment I was told they wanted to interview, my mind started rolling. I truly love the Thirty-One brand, so I wanted to make sure I did the best I possibly could. Therefore, I had to do some work.
Read more

Customization is Key

-
The first step to enter into the world of social media is to create a profile. Overall, it seems simple. You enter your first name, last name, email address, username and then you are done. Sure, creating a profile is easy, but creating a professional and successful profile takes work. What I recently learned from Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick in their book “The Art of Social Media” is that there are many details that can easily be overlooked when creating a profile. A lot of these details contribute to customization. Before, I never realized the importance of the customization of your social media profiles. I thought that once your name was on the page, it was good. Kawasaki and Fitzpatrick basically stress how customizing your profile is key to making yourself appear unique and competent and I agree. If every person on Facebook had no information or pictures on their profile, what would be the point? Who would want to view their profile with nothing to engage in? It is important t
Read more

Memories from my 4-year-old self

-
When I tell my brother and sister I can vividly remember living with my dad as a child, they never believe me. They tell me it is not possible for someone to have memories from such a young age. I must admit I think it is odd I am able to remember so far back, but I also find it interesting. Before you read further, I must warn you. Some of these memories may be emotional or uncomfortable. I am not sure why I wish to share these memories. I guess they are a part of me, and I only wish for others to know they exist.  Our home: I can still remember the layout of our trailer in Kentucky. It was on a country road surrounded by a forest. It had a stone driveway and a shabby wooden porch. When you walked in the front door, you entered the main section of the trailer with the kitchen on the left and the living room on the right. Past the living room was the master bedroom in the back right-hand corner. Past the kitchen was my room in the back left-hand corner. In my room, I had a
Read more