Christopher Tice

Professor Padgett
Engl-1102
April 1
st
, 2014
How the Population Has Evolved with Social Media
Social media as we know it today has changed the way Americans interact with each
other and what is considered acceptable to share with others. When I think of social media I
mainly think of Facebook and Twitter as I feel like these are the two big outlets that many
Americans are utilizing currently. Recently a new form of entertainment has entered the social
media world: Instagram. Times have changed for me over just the past two years as up until
recently there was nothing known as Instagram. When I was in middle school I thought of
social media mainly as Myspace. I know as well as any other person that social media outlets are
those types of things that are going to be ever evolving for as long as I can see into the future.
For the main purpose of this paper I am going to mainly focus on the current big three outlined
above. These are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I think that these are the same three outlets
that many American teenagers would agree are the most popular today and occupy the most of
their time in regard to social media usage.
For me social media is mainly a way to pass time and have a quick look into someone
elses life even if I live 2000 miles away from that person. I am not the one that typically gets
obsessed about how many friends I have or how many people are currently following me. I could
not even give a very precise number of friends that I currently have on Facebook without
looking. I am also not the one that is posting status updates every few hours on Facebook or
tweeting throughout the day. I would say that I primarily use social media as a way to keep up
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with people that I do not see often when I have free time available. For example if I am waiting
to pick up food and I arrive early, I am likely to pull out my phone and get on Facebook or
Instagram. This has become a second nature habit for me; this is not so much as because I am
obsessed with social media and following other peoples lives, but more accurately because I am
an American and have always had access to entertainment at my fingertips almost any time. I do
not get to see some of these people because they live in other countries and others may only be
thirty miles away but going to a different college. I think that the main driving force for me to get
on social media is the fact that I can look at what other people are doing without even thinking
about them. This is because I can pull out my phone and browse my news feed and just scroll
through and read and look at what others are doing without having to have a one on one phone
call or even a text message to them. Most of the times I am using social media is in a place and
time where it would be unacceptable to call or write a formal email to them. I am sure that many
of my readers will recognize my habit of always being connected and be able to relate
themselves to a very similar occurrence.
I have also noticed and confirmed that a secondary reason that social media is as popular
as it is today is for the simple reason that it allows people to communicate in a less formal manor
even if they do think of the specific person in the first place. Many times the mood is much
lighter and the implied tone is much softer and more playful. This means that two or more people
can have quick informal chat on Facebook or even a conversation to Twitter without having to
call someone up on the phone. The time frame for responding to someone is slightly more
relaxed as you are not talking to each other per say, but rather typing responses when you get
around to it. Our current forms of social media have changed the way in which we interact with
each other on a daily basis. Each person really uses social media in a slightly different way, but
Comment [AP1]: Okay, this is interesting,
but I think you are berating the point a little.
Comment [AP2]: I think most or these
things can go without saying. Most people
these days know what social media is and
what it is used for.
as a whole I have noted that we all seem to be drawn to it for a few very similar reasons. Now
that the main points regarding social media usage are out of the way, it is easier to focus on many
of the changes that have been brought by social media.
Many people all across the world choose to openly participate in various forms of social
media. One thing that has been noticed by many researches and probably even yourself, is that
some groups of people utilize one form of social media more than others. Now some might say
that is just because they are following others, but then why would everyone not use the same if
we are just all following each other? As you can see the break in that logic is clear, the main
thing that seems to be a factor in which types of social media people uses seems is to be social
groups. These social groups could be any form of commonality such as race, education
background, religion, or job type. When one group of friends all get together they each like to
be able to stay in contact with each other online. This is how and why groups seem to stick
together when it comes to online social pages. Now if you look at the bigger picture over a larger
time frame you can see that we are all moving from one social network site to another. This has
been extensively researched and found to an almost exclusive overarching theme. It had been
pointed out by education researches that the entire population will slowly follow one another.
(Ahn, 2011) This is done in the form of social groups and over a short period of time many will
be on different sites but it all goes back around given a longer time frame.
Another notable change that has been seen with the increased usage of social media is
how genders perceive themselves. One aspect that social media seems to have placed increased
importance on is how one appealing to others. Overall it is clear that people are more self-
conscious than ever and this is mainly attributed to the sheer number of people that can virtually
get to know you without even meeting face to face. When it comes to how someone is seen
within the realm of popular culture one of the first things that is noticed is someones Facebook
profile picture. What is even more interesting to look at is the subtle differences that males and
females have when it comes to choosing of profile picture. Jessica Rose points just this: that
gender is one of the few factors that really changes how a majority of people choose pictures to
post as their profile picture. (Rose, 2012) She points out than nearly everyone will find pictures
that make them look both happy, and upbeat. The small difference that exists between other
factors is mainly attributed to gender. Overall it can be concluded that males and females have
both different priorities as well as goals when it comes to social media. This is the main reason
that the differences exist when it comes to profile pictures. All in all, this all relates back to self-
image and how you want yourself to be seen.
The way that people are seen or seek to be seen by other online play a significant role in
relationships that are formed as well as how they fit in to what is socially normal. This can all be
tied back to one aspect of social media such as the type of photos of yourself you post or even
what sort of pages you like or commonly retweeted phrases. All of these aspects of your
online life to some degree determine how you fit in socially in regard to others around you. This
is something that American teens have to get used to and adjust for as just 15 years ago no one
was able to look at the sort of trends you have been following without first getting to know you.
This is just one more reason that many young adults get so wrapped up in social media and
trying to fit in online. One thing is for sure, if you are an outcast online in your social media it is
much tougher to work back to being accepted within groups of people around you. (Agosto,
June, 2012) If you are not careful it is easy to give the wrong impression or come across a certain
way online that may not reflect your true personality. We as the people have to change our ways
to match the ever evolving social media world just to fit in with others around us. Teens today
have placed an increased importance on what is socially acceptable due to the nature of online
image.
When people think of the various revolutions that have happened in the last 100 years or
so, it is rare then the more recent ones that have happened in the last five to seven years are
thought of. When you do take the time to compare these types of events such as the Arab Spring
that out broke in Ukraine in 2010 or the various other recent events it is quickly becomes evident
that social media has played a significant role in the events. Various forms of technical
communications can really have a vast effect of how these revolutions get started and what fuels
the fire to cause so much change or even damage. Up until recently it was much harder for
indiviguiallyindividually to voice their openionsopinions and be seen or influence as many
people as we can today with the vast power of social media. Traditional forms of media such as
the news or newspaper for the most part have a filter and keep much of the negativity out. This is
the simple fact that differs for social media such as Twitter of Facebook. (Satell, 2014) Many
other recent events can be related back to the influence of social media and how it has allowed
certain groups to organize before an outbreak or large protest. Social media is vastly changing
the power that small groups have in regard to organization of public events and outbreaks. Social
media largely exists without filters and allows much more negativity than traditions news outlets;
intern this has shifted the way that social revolutions form.
Closely related to the issue of social media lacking traditions filters is the emerging
research regarding young adolescents use of social media from such a young age. Many children
under the age of 13 are currently allowed access to the various forms of social media such a
Twitter and Instagram. Both of these media outlets do have certain age restrictions in place but
many of them are not taken seriously or even ignored completely. Many young children are
exposed to thing that they 10 years ago would not have been at a similar age. This is really just
something that is unavoidable if children are allowed on the same social media sites as the rest of
the general population. It is slowing shifting to the point where it is socially acceptable for
younger and younger children to interact with each other online. When Facebook was first
started is was for use on college campuses only. As you can see times have changed and in
America at least we have adapted to allowing our young children online in the social media
world. (Anderson-Butcher, 2010) It is pointed out that unless the population does something to
change this habit it is not likely that out youngest generation will do any different for others in
the future. As it is now, we are just going with what naturally happens with social media trends
and research shows that this will still be the case in the future. It can be argued that this is good
or bad or a balance of both, but what we have to realize is that we are most undoubtedly evolving
with social media.
Currently social media is mainly used as a form of entertainment and insight into
someone elses life that may not otherwise be seen from so many peoples eyes. Some people
just like to check their feeds because they have mothering else to do for the few random minutes
throughout the day, while others almost feel sick if they go an hour without browsing Twitter.
Regardless of what type of user you are or consider yourself to be the fact is that social media is
changing our culture more and more every day that social media is in existence. One of the main
reasons that we are so drawn to social media as a human the race is the perspective that it gives
the readers in regard to how they compare to others and what is thought to be popular at the time.
Just 10 years ago social media did not really exist as we know it today and this really dictated a
different lifestyle that many people choose to live. For one thing everyone was not as concerned
with exactly what was trending on twitter or what the current Instagram hashtag was for the day.
This meant that everyone was able to go about their day more freely without having to constantly
focus on how to fit in or become popular online. Online media has changed nearly all aspects of
life for its users and we are still evolving with social media today. This has both its benefits as
well as its drawback and it is our job to keep informed with how social media will progress in the
future.
Chris,
I like a lot of the issues you bring to the table. It is clear that you have researched your topic very
well, and I think you do a good job engaging these sources and including your own thoughtful
opinion. I do feel that you cover too many disparate topics in this one paper. You discuss the
benefits of social media, over-sharing, and children on social media all in the same paper. You
need a much more clear and focused thesis and every paragraph should be dedicated to
supporting that one precise thesis. Im not sure what youre arguing here or who you would be
arguing against. Covering these disparate issues takes away a sense of purpose that you would
otherwise have with a more specific and precise thesis. What is your purpose here? Im not sure.
Who is your ideal audience? What sort of effect do you hope to achieve on that audience?



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Works Cited
Rose, Jessica, et al. "Face It: The Impact Of Gender On Social Media Images." Communication
Quarterly 60.5 (2012): 588-607. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 25 Feb.
2014.

Agosto, Denise E, June Abbas, and Robin Naughton. "Relationships and Social Rules: Teens
Social Network and Other Ict Selection Practices." Journal of the American Society for
Information Science and Technology. 63.6 (2012): 1108-1124. Print.

Anderson-Butcher, Dawn, et al. "Adolescent Weblog Use: Risky Or Protective?" Child &
Adolescent Social Work Journal 27.1 (2010): 63-77. Communication & Mass Media
Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Ahn J. Digital Divides and Social Network Sites: Which Students Participate in Social
Media?. Journal Of Educational Computing Research [serial online]. November
2011;45(2):147-163. Available from: Education Research Complete, Ipswich, MA.
Accessed March 03, 2014.

Satell, Greg. "If You Doubt That Social Media Has Changed The World, Take A Look At
Ukraine." Forbes. Forbes, 18 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/01/18/if-you-doubt-that-social-media-has-
changed-the-world-take-a-look-at-ukraine/>.