Online Presence and Interacting
So now that we know about Social Media, in a sociology light, let dig into it.
Today’s Blog is all about understanding online presence and why we interact online. What are we doing and what’s happening when we use social media.
So what do we gain when we use social media. According to Blumler, a communication and media theorist, people use social media for a purpose, which will lead them to having a reward or some form of gratification. This is the Uses and Gratification theory.
What is it? Well this theory of communication, understands why people use media to satisfy their wants and needs. Having a gratification of needs is the most important role of media for humans. People get to gain from media and have a means to get knowledge, interact with others, relax and escape, become aware of what’s happening and also entertain themselves through media (Bajracharya, 2018). With social media this is easily done through the use of a single device.
So to summarise, people use media to essentially gain something. Since we’re looking into social media, some examples of these wants and needs can be either keeping in touch with old friends or current friends, to learn about events and what happening around you, or maybe for online dating as it's much easier and faster to meet people online.
To put it simpler, were all reaching a goal from using social media. These can be both conscious so posting about a particular event that happened to you or they can be non conscious, such as waking up and first thing you do is check your phone, to see if you received any notifications. It's the non conscious one needs to be careful of. Why? Well sure trying to see who communicated with you first thing in the morning can be a nonconscious goal to socialise or experience positive feelings of self-enhancement. As human being we look for positive rewards and always avoid negative consequences. That’s why a lot of people nowadays when they post a picture, most of the time they’re expecting positive feedback from their viewers. This boosts our behaviour, I mean who doesn’t like praise. However, when the feedback is negative, then it would weaken our behaviour.
This introduces the idea of how we present ourselves online. In order for one to gain positive remarks then a whatever is being shared online, is usually idealised or in other words ‘perfect’. It then just makes you wonder how many people are truly being themselves through their online presence, as not many talk about their faults publicly but rather paint this perfect picture of what their audience sees. You end up seeing the good but never the bad, we are always are showing ourselves for a perceived audience. And this idea alone is what generates most of today's anxiety.
In today's world we are heavily focused and constantly engaged in showing ourselves and getting input from others. These actions can influence our self-perception through the feedback we get on our actions as well as others. All this can be considered as social comparison. As we form judgements on ourselves through comparison with others. There are a number of studies that show how social media reduces self-esteem after scrolling through, others show that anxiety increased and worry clouded the minds of individuals after looking at other people's feeds. Either not having the right body shape, branded objects, love interest or even social events, some way or another one will feel less to what they see. The funny thing is that at the end of the day we forget that these people are only projecting a version of themselves that they want other people to see, when in reality they themselves can have the same anxious thoughts that cloud their mind.
References:
Bajracharya, S. (2018). Uses and Gratifications Theory. Retrieved 5 June, 2021, from https://www.businesstopia.net/mass-communication/uses-gratifications-theory
Blumler, J. G. (1979). The role of theory in uses and gratifications studies. Communication Research, 6(1), 9–36.
Humphreys, A. (2016). Social Media: Enduring Principles. Oxford University Press.
