Paper #3 (First draft)

Paper #3: Self Narrative Rhetorical Inquiry

            The claim that disconnecting oneself from social media leads to an increase in happiness and an overall decreasing of stress is not a foreign one. But why would such a claim arise and manage to enter the public arena? If the rhetoric in the claim was inherently incorrect it would be easily regarded as fictitious. However, the claim that quitting social media, Facebook garnered enough attention to have articles written by reputable publications such as Business Insider, for example. But why? With that question in mind I decided to find out if there are mental or physical health risks involved from using the social media platform Facebook.

So, my first step was to try to find information in line with my question, whether it is supportive or contradictory isn’t important, the fact that there is discussion on the issue is a good sign. There are many articles associated with the rise of social media and its effects on intrapersonal relationships, the range in which this info can be found is as broad as reputable news websites to scholarly academic articles. To begin I started my research with an article from theatlantic.com titled “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” written by Stephen Marche. The article features an example in the very first paragraph that can be used as evidence to perhaps show or imply the effects of the social media age. The effect being that despite the world being connected to each other the depth of these relationships is shallower than that of offline relationships. If this is to be believed, then a reliance on social media as a source of companionship is not realistic and cannot be a substitute for “Real relationships”. The quotations on real relationships are meant to bring to light another point that the article conveys, that face to face interactions hold more value than online.  How could this information be relevant to my main line of questioning? Well if by discontinuing the maintenance of an online persona, that effort is then shifted into peer to peer interactions and a greater sense of worth is obtained and therefore happiness then that would explain partially the sense “relief” and “happiness” that seems to be reported thereafter. This line of thinking can be directly applied and confirmed by the example the Atlantic provides. Yvette Vickers a woman in her 80’s was found dead in her home with the computer still on. She did use social media, and it was discovered that she in her final years did not turn outward to peer to peer interactions but instead to social media and talked to “distant fans”. By choosing distant relationships over familial for example, did she isolate herself and cause an early death? I believe she did and the fact she was not discovered until the better part of a year passed is telling.

            Loneliness isn’t the only factor effecting health, it is still possible despite being connected and having a fulfilling social life to be afflicted by health issues. The online self is distinct and crafted. Usually meant to showcase the best aspects of one’s self and obscure the negative. It because of this that an attack or loss of face to this glorification of self can be stressful or traumatic. In Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch’s “Your post is embarrassing me: Face threats, identity, and the audience on Facebook” elements of this online persona are discussed along with how embarrassment plays a role. As we all know cyber-bullying can lead to real-world repercussions.  Sometimes the bullying can lead to death of the target but why? Because it’s not as simple as some say, it’s not so simple that you can “Just turn it off”. Anne’s paper makes it a point to show that the online attacks to self-presentation do have a “significant impact on one’s identity”. Aside from bullying there exist “face-threatening” attacks which equate to an attack on the character they show on social media. What’s interesting is that according to their research there are many people who make posts they regret and believe that they revealed too much info or created a narrative that doesn’t reflect on the idealized version of self. This understandably would lead to a stressful online atmosphere until the situation and damage control can be implemented whether by editing or outright deleting. Obviously, a post that contains embarrassing info will lead to stressful situation but the possibility for containment is still present. What about when the embarrassment comes from friends who don’t share the same knowledge of what adheres to the online persona? The anguish comes from it if the person is heavily invested in their social media platform. If these factors lead to criticism which is cited to be the most influential and embarrassment inducing incident. This is a direct link between social media and its negative effect on mental health and stability. In the same article and the driving force behind the embarrassment if the fear of the unknown. The unknown audience to be exact. It is shown that the thought of a stranger encountering a face threatening posts leads to stronger responses in both embarrassment and anxiety. However, if the post is embarrassing but still in line with their online identity they are much more likely to keep the content and in some cases, laugh it off.

            In my analysis of these sources I have seen mush to indicate that online stimuli and interaction can and do have negative impacts on the self. If what I’m suggesting was not true then it would have been unnecessary to enact legislation nationwide to make the act of cyberbullying illegal. Along with the effects of personal attacks which come from negative interactions no interactions and loneliness are also valid attacks and harmful to the self. For these reasons, I believe that social media can and I’m many cases effect mental, physical and emotional stability and present a threat if not used properly and safely.

 Works Cited

STEPHEN, MARCHE. “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” theatlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lonely/308930/. Accessed 18th April 2017.
Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch., et al. “Your post is embarrassing me: Face threats, identity, and the audience on Facebook” Computers in Human Behavior, Vol.73,(2017) Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh Accessed 18th April. 2017
Oduaran, Choja. “Psychological Violence and the bane of Cyber-Harassment against Women: An Experiential Inquest on Facebook” Gender & Behavior. 2016, Vol. 14 Issue 3, p7589-7608. 20p. Accessed April 15, 2017