Discussion #3 - Biallas

 The 20th century embarked on lives being consumed by online presence. Overall it has caused a negative impact on the lives of its users. According to StatsCan, overtime social media begins to affect their lives, whether it be a lack of sleep, bullying/harassment, less physical activity, or in the case of Nancy Baym, a collective “anxiety.” Due to its interactivity and freedom, it is difficult to judge a person's authenticity or well-being via social media. Taking a technological deterministic viewpoint, social media has generally negatively affected the lives of its consumers. According to StatsCan, roughly 94% of people between the ages of 15-24 regularly use social media. These are the prime ages of a person's life, when they are supposed to be focusing on education and personal development. However, many of these individuals stay online for longer than expected. This will ultimately cause a lack of concentration in tasks or activities, and therefore cause an overall sense of laziness. In terms of the online experience, many people experience a sense of anxiety. There are lots of reasons for these anxieties, such as a sense of disconnection from the world when they do not have their phone nearby. This can create anxieties for social media absence. Anxieties can also be created on social media itself. People have the opportunity to remain anonymous, allowing them to bully and harass others behind a screen. 

Many social media applications were created for specific uses. However, the social construction of technology can be altered by the social forces of users that help to influence and reshape a technology, thus shifting an application's original use. Initially the telephone was imagined as a business invention, but it was shaped by women as a household-to-household communication, and now it is an everyday use for most of the world. 

The negative impacts of social media have become domesticated in the lives of its users, thus making them feel ordinary. Some examples include wifi and electricity, but also according to StatsCon, roughly 38% of users between the ages of 15-24 reported losing sleep, and 35% had trouble concentrating. With roughly 20% of all ages feeling these problems as well. These impacts have become a part of the lives of these individuals, and nearly all users have experienced at least one of the other impacts of; anxiety, depression, less physical activity, envy, frustration, etc. and likely the user has accepted these negativities as well.

Social media can easily cause individual and collective anxiety by anonymity, harassment and feeling distant from the world, and. Due to the reshaping of technology, nearly everyone is impacted by social media. This interactive space can cause someone's downfall.