Social media promotes narcissism, distraction
I’ve noticed an obnoxious blemish on our generation’s usually flawless public appearance lately. Joking about the flawless part, of course — we’re not all as self-centered as our predecessors think. In fact, usually we can be pretty forward-thinking trailblazers.
The infraction that really gets me going, however, is our (yes, I admit to this, too) overuse of words to the point of robbing them of any meaning. A prime example: “literally.”
Not to make this like the start of every graduation speech by referring to the good ol’ Merriam-Webster dictionary, but I think this situation calls for it. The dictonary defines literally as “actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy. True to fact; actual or factual” See also, “not metaphorical or figurative.”
So to all the girls talking to their friends earlier this week, that wasn’t literally the best hamburger in the world, or literally the drunkest you’ve ever been. You’re abusing the word and making it lose its meaning. Also to those overhearing you, you just sound vapid and uneducated.
This may seem like an extreme interpretation of the situation, but hear me out.
Madison Montgomery, of the show “American Horror Story: Coven,” is one of Generation Y’s very own. In the show, she has a great monologue on how we’re often portrayed and perceived as narcissistic.
“Social media allows us to post when we fart or have a sandwich for all the world to see,” she says.
Everything we now do must be exciting and better than the thing before. This sandwich literally has to be the best, or this dress literally has to be the cutest, or else no one will notice and award us with a like or retweet so that we can feel affirmed in our opinion and accepted by our peers.
The next line of her monologue addresses something a bit darker, saying, “But it seems our one defining trait is a numbness to the world.”
The numbers for depression and anxiety medication are higher than ever; almost 13 percent of our country is on some form or another, and college students often take it into their own hands and self-medicate.
The correlation here is that in our everyday actions, social media posts and conversations, we’re trying to make very average things seem impressive. When things aren’t exaggerated, they’re not impressive anymore, and they become a figuratively huge bummer, causing us to become depressed.
Things that are truly stunning, like a beautiful Columbia sunset, pass in front of our eyes again and again, quickly losing their luster. Social media’s inundation of exaggeration makes us numb to how nice simple everyday things are, because we’re looking at constant comparisons to other, seemingly better things.
I may have diverged slightly from my original plea of checking our use of the word literally, but I think the abuse of that word holds a key role in our constant competition with each other for attention. This passive digital and social competition can be dangerous to our mental health, so why perpetuate it?