Friday, February 6, 2015

Where's the individuality?

As we use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other forms of social media to express ourselves, we really are becoming more like one another. It's like seeing someone with the newest iPhone and wanting it just because everyone else has it or taking a selfie with just the right amount of lighting because that's what's "cool." We all see things that we like and we copy it creating less room for personal creative thoughts about who we are. When we spend this time looking and seeing what everyone else is doing we tend to want to be on the same level as our friends, co-workers and family members.

Some may argue, well isn't that how society works anyway? Aren't seeing these things helping people by motivating them to accomplish their goals just as their friends are? I would agree, but it also has its downfalls like creating a more polarized society (politically speaking). We choose what we want to look at on social media and this reinforces our current beliefs even more without challenging them. We tend to agree or "like" things because most of the time we already thought that way. If you don't like something on social media it's just as easy to block or unfollow as it is to follow. What this does is it keeps our society closed-minded. Because many people get their news from social media they often miss other points of view from different audiences, unless maybe their account is public.

All I am saying is that we don't know that we are doing it, but we are losing our individually on social media from selective attention. We all have different voices and we shouldn't let the voices of others shape or simply reinforce ALL our thoughts. Diversity is important even on social media, but it is our job to seek it. http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/i-have-never-had-an-original-thought

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