Humans are social creatures; the feeling of loneliness can drive us insane, yet we are in a culture that promotes individualism. Individuals are often measure by personal achievement. Career, wealth, family, etc. Because of this many people lose their social connections, just to favor their self-image. This is why people define themselves as lonely. This is why the feeling of isolation is so common in the modern world. The reason for this is the online social network. In a world where time is money, were surrounding pressure forces us to achieve more and more, our social life often takes the back seat on our priority list. This is where technology comes in handy. It is simple, fast, and young. We become addicted to this virtual romance, it is disguised by a social network that provides a service that allows us to manage our social life effectively. However, we being to feel so connected we begin to collect friends as if they are stamps. We are not comparing the number of friends versus the quality of those friends, and changing the meaning of intimacy and friendship with the exchanging of photos and chat room conversations. By doing this, we are tricking our minds into thinking that these conversations will lead to connections. We are put into a situation where we claim to have many friends, but in reality we could be lonely. Sure conversation is great, but online conversation can only go so far.
Would you rather meet someone for the first time in person or in a chat room? While having a conversation with someone in person, you can pick up enormous amounts of information. The conversation you have is immediate and engaging. You can pick up on nonverbal cues, behavioral tendencies, habits, body language and so on. You can learn things about this person by just looking at their clothes, mannerisms, or something as simple as preferences in food choice. There is a connection between you and the person because it is happening in real time. There is no way you could receive this type of information via a chat room or even a Skype call. Meanwhile, texting, e-mailing, posting pictures, all of these things present ourselves as we want them to be. We are allowed to edit ourselves. Leaving out pieces of our self-image that you may not see via social media. Investing hours to create our profile, figuring out the best configuration of words in a text message, or choosing the photo we look the best in, or even editing a photos properties to make us look more appealing. Instead of building a solid relationship, we are pursuing personal rewards. All of this is supposed to show a desirable image of who we are. Yet, we are showing others what we really are not. How are we supposed to create relationships with one another if we are not representing our true self? Social media is changing our relationships and in the future will change how we form relationships. We are expecting more from technology and less from each other. The social media isn’t just changing what we are doing, but who we are as a person. That is because technology appeals to us most where we are most vulnerable. We are vulnerable because we are lonely. Social media offers us a fantasy that stats we will never be alone. This fantasy is changing us. We think that if we share something we are keeping in close contact with our “friends”. We often use technology to define ourselves. Our thoughts and feelings are posted on the internet to the world the very instant we are having them. Think of the countless people walking the sidewalks with their heads down and eyes connected to their phone. We think that always being connected is going to make us feel less alone. But in reality the opposite is true. The more connected we to various social media outlets, we are more alone. On the opposite spectrum of loneliness is narcissism. Narcissism is when you are obsessed with your self-image. The only thing you are worried about is how you look, and how you appeal to others. You