We all know that social media can be a great way to connect with friends and family. But what about the other aspects of online life? Does the internet actually make us feel more lonely?
Social networks
Social networks are a great way to stay connected with the people you love, and they can also be a great way to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the world. With social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, you can quickly share photos or videos with friends and family. You can also find new people to connect with based on interests or hobbies, which is especially helpful if you live far away from loved ones.
Social networks are especially popular among celebrities because they help them stay connected with fans who want updates about what is happening in their lives.
The perfect image
We all know what it’s like to look at a photo of ourselves and think, “I need to get in shape,” or “I wish my hair looked like that.” We live in a world where our culture is obsessed with perfection and many people are not happy with their own image.
In order to feel better about ourselves and fit into the social scene, we often turn to Instagram for validation through likes and comments. The problem lies within our perception of these perfect images as real—they’re not! Many social media users post photos of themselves when they are happy or feeling confident so that others can see how wonderful they are feeling on that particular day.
This leads us to believe these images represent an accurate portrayal of who we really are and how we appear every day. But do they? If someone has 10 perfect selfies up on their feed, you would assume those were taken over 10 days where each day was equally good-looking right? Not likely! Most likely there was one day where everything fell into place perfectly—hair did look good (maybe even styled), makeup was flawless and overall mood was great. That doesn’t mean every other day looks exactly like that though.
Are we more alone?
The more we use social media—which is basically just a virtual version of real life—the more likely we are to feel socially isolated or depressed. This is because when you spend so much time on social media, your brain starts associating that activity with positive feelings like love or belonging. So when you’re actually interacting with people in person, it seems less interesting by comparison (even if they’re really great friends). This can lead some people into a downward spiral where they withdraw from their friends and family members because they don’t want them interfering with their ‘online life’.
We also need to look at how technology affects our brains: many studies show that constant use of smartphones and other devices can disrupt cognitive function over time by slowing down reaction times while making it harder for us to focus on one task at hand without being distracted by notifications coming in from all directions!
