Oversharing Online: A Slippery Slope
Today, we will discuss some of the effects of social media on mental health, relationships, and self-esteem. We will address two questions: 1) Do social networking sites have differing benefits and drawbacks, and 2) Do these social networking sites have any responsibility to promote positive mental health practices to their users, and how might they do so? These questions will address the two most popular social media apps (and the ones I am most familiar with): Instagram and TikTok.
Via Adler & Proctor, Interplay
Do Social Networking Sites have Differing Benefits and Drawbacks?
The short answer — yes. If we’re using the examples of Instagram and TikTok, these communication styles vary. On Instagram, you can post a photo or a story to your followers or even just your “close friends” list. In this way, there is more privacy and intimacy. Depending on if your account is private or public, you have a different level of masspersonal communication (Adler & Proctor). If your account is private, you have the opportunity to connect with your close friends, family, or other people you trust. While this might limit your ability to connect with those outside of your circle, it keeps your information secure. On the other hand, when your account is public, your posts are subject to strangers’ eyes. In some ways, this can enable new relationships to form that might not have otherwise; but a major downside is the risk of oversharing (Adler & Proctor). Your posts, your words, are open to anyone on the internet, and those people don’t always have your best interests in mind. Many people have public Instagrams, allowing them to curate their image and grow themselves as a brand, but this also leaves them subject to hate comments and scrutiny. Photoshop culture is a huge thing on Instagram, and whether or not a celebrity uses it, their body will get torn apart in the comments. I love Instagram for the connection with my close friends and family, but when using it to curate your self-image, there is a fine line between your profile representing your image, and it representing the image your audience thinks they see.
Via The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram
Moving onto TikTok, this would be considered mass communication (Adler & Proctor). Sure, you can post your videos to followers only or not at all, but the general goal of TikTok users is to make videos in hopes of making it onto the “For You” page; getting views and likes from millions of people who don’t know them. I have some bias for TikTok, there is a certain charm in the way the algorithm connects people together and projects voices that on other platforms would be ignored or lost. However, the virality of TikTok can be dangerous, leading to what we know as “cancel culture.” The dog-piling that happens on TikTok is swift and cruel; an unstoppable herd-mindset. Moreover, videos that users don’t expect to go viral sometimes do, resulting in various consequences from unexpected oversharing, like embarrassment, trouble at work, school, or home, and cyberbullying. The TikTok community can be a force to be reckoned with, and if you get on their bad side, you won’t be able to show your face on TikTok without at least one person tormenting you in the comments. TikTok commenters are a different breed, and even on comments you leave on other videos, often someone will try and start a fight, no matter how neutral what you said was. There is so much freedom and ability to connect on TikTok, but it can be scary to do with the pressure to say the right things and act the right way. While there is more authenticity on this app than I think any other, it still has a long way to go; there needs to be more room for acceptance and forgiveness. It seems like sometimes, communication can become stuck; where commenters and other users control the image of another, while that person’s communication becomes lost in the algorithm and influx of what others have to say about them.
What is the Responsibility of Social Networking Sites to Promote Healthy Online Behavior and Practices?
When we consider the consequences of uninformed social media usage, such as cyberbullying and cancel culture, we see a need for increased education and awareness of internet safety. With so many young people on social media, it is important to discuss the ways popular social media influencers don’t represent real life. Instagram does sometimes put “check your sources” when someone posts something political or scientific, but there is no fact checking. I talked about photoshop earlier, and there has been discussion surrounding the integration of “photoshop checkers” into Instagram; so if a photo has been altered, it will tell you. I don’t think I necessarily agree with this tactic — editing has always been around. However, there could be an increased awareness surrounding it. TikTok has a feature that will put a video on your FYP if you’ve been scrolling for too long, what if Instagram had photoshop PSA posts in the feed, like they do with ads? TikTok could also use these “take a break” videos as an opportunity to increase awareness and positivity. They have never addressed cancel culture, but perhaps if they stopped ignoring it, we could actually start fixing it. There is a responsibility for these apps to promote healthy behavior, as any other public social space does. While the tactics need to be different, they still need to be present. If we all understood the behavioral guidelines for online behavior like we do face-to-face behavior, there would be less miscommunication and an increased sense of trust. We all trust each other to follow the traffic laws, why not trust each other with social media “laws?”
Cited Works
Adler, R. B., & Proctor, R. F. II. (2023). Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication (16th ed.). Oxford University Press.
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