Blog Post 4 - "Friends" on Social Media
Hey everyone, my blog post this week centers around main subjects covered in our midterm. Social media, as discussed by Baym, remains an impersonal form of communication due to a lack of intimacy and authenticity. Part of this reason can be subjected to the amount of followers people interact with on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. According to Dunbar, the size of human social networks stabilizes around 150 individuals, known as Dunbar’s number. He states that our brains can only capacitate to know a max number of 150 people. Dunbar further elaborates that 150 is made up of 50 friends, 15 good friends, and 5 close friends. However, with many users interacting with more than 150 people, the level of intimacy decreases further. Many friend groups contain more than five people; however Dunbar suggests that not everyone in the group has the same level of intimacy. Now applying this to social networking, people have thousands of followers that a percentage they don't even know....
I mostly relate to your third question. I believe that I could have spent time elsewhere and done something more productive rather than watch endless social media. I believe that we should try to minimize our usage, not necessarily abstain from it altogether. We could pick up new hobbies or new hustles that could make some money. I think that too much time on social media is sometimes a waste of time. Especially since we are being commodified, and it is considered valuable to companies.
ReplyDeleteHey Noah,
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your post. I specifically liked the part where you mention that in our modern-day, individuals are judged due to their presence on social media. I totally agree with this as I have personally experienced something similar. How do you think our society can move a way from this mindset? Overall, great post.