Social Media in the Company of Friends

Julia Forest

Copy Editor

On April 1, MaryAnn Silvestri, Derek Duplessie, Maria Parmley, and Ella Bradshaw spoke on the pros and cons of social media in an event titled “Scroll Mindfully: Social Media in the Company of Friends.”

Duplessie, who is a Philosophy professor at Assumption, began the discussion by highlighting how social media can be helpful to build connections and stay in touch with others, but that there is also a desire for fame attached to these online platforms. Genuine friendship is more than just a follower or someone who likes one’s post.

“I think part of what it means for us to be social creatures is that we have an intense desire to know others and to be known by others. Part of what social media makes possible is that we can post a video of our talent, of ourselves singing a song, of ourselves again, sort of doing something impressive, and we can gain a larger audience. We can be known,” Duplessie said.

Social Media also feeds into our natural want to learn. “On the one hand, a lot of information is sort of available to us that wouldn’t have been otherwise a few decades ago before these apps were available. On the other hand, of course, the proliferation of this information means that there’s also a lot of sort of false, fake news and a lot of questionable information that becomes harder to tease out,” Duplessie said.

Duplessie also argued that at times, social media is relied on too much. “…it seems to be leading to the atrophy or the decay of something, which is bad. In order to understand whether or not the crutch is needed, whether or not the prosthetic is an augmentation or whether it’s actually a sort of limitation, I think requires that we have a clear sense of ourselves and of what it means to be a human, and what it means to live healthily,” he said.

Parmley, who teaches Psychology at Assumption, brought up the community and togetherness aspect of online platforms. “We have this need to belong and feel connected to others, and I think that’s the lore of social media. We feel that we can connect with others across the globe. I think part of it is sometimes, people feel alone and maybe your ideas are not popular, or you might have a disorder, or you don’t know anybody that shares that view or that disorder. Then, you can find your community online through social media. So I think this social media can help and foster community in those ways that helps us feel connected to others,” she said.

Bradshaw, a sophomore at Assumption, pointed out how social media is both a creative outlet and a news source. “…social media is extremely, not only prevalent, but accessible and I think it is the quickest and easiest source as both a student and just a citizen to gain information…that accessibility really helps make it a positive outlet in many ways because it provides news at your fingertips at all times,” she said.

“I think another benefit of social media is that it can help fuel competition in a

healthy way…social media allows you to promote your platform, to show your achievements,” Bradshaw continued.

Silvestri, the director of Counseling Services, commented on the negative aspects of competition on social media, as it can lead to people feeling excluded. “There’s that urgency sometimes to kind of get that comparison, or this person’s putting out this, so therefore you have to follow up with that,” she said.

Social media can also cause anxiety and isolation, so it’s beneficial to take breaks.  “Unplugging is actually really healthy. Just because you unplug from the phone doesn’t mean you have to give it up. Unplugging from that and giving yourself time to just be is really a great skill to do, and something that I think everybody needs to do,” Silvestri said.

On the flip side of fame, online platforms also allow people to be anonymous. This ability of being unknown can help people find a voice, but it can also promote cyberbullying because there are no consequences. “If you’re saying something negative to somebody to their face, you’re going to see it, whereas through social media, you’re not going to get that immediate reaction. People feel that they can say negative things and there won’t be any sort of repercussions…,” Parmley said.

Algorithms take a user’s data and filter the media in order to match that user’s opinions and interests. “I think you have to make a concerted effort to look at those different opinions…one way we can try to foster a good community with social media is trying to look for not only things that might only support your view, but looking at things that might disconcert your views,” said Parmley.

Much of the news on social media is taken seriously and because the opinions from some sources are so extreme, it limits discussion. “I do think that one of the vices of social media is that in terms of politics, it fuels effective polarization or how you feel about people who are politically different than you. I felt like I saw a lot of this last fall with the election. As a Political Science student, it was very hard to find information, especially on social media, that was completely moderate or unbiased, which I think is important to have that in the back of your head when you’re taking in any information from social media, taking everything with a grain of salt…it will provide a barrier between what’s on my “For You” page and what I hold to be true,” Bradshaw said.

Setting boundaries with social media and dedicating time to in person activities is important, but social media does have its positives. “I get on TikTok too, just to kind of watch those funny dog videos and things that kind of help me detach a little bit sometimes, when I need that… I also know that there’s things on there from an educational standpoint, for my job, that I look up all the time, and I find great ideas on there,” Silvestri said.

Another positive of social media is that it works as an archive. “If you’ve been on Instagram for x many years or Facebook, you can go back a decade now and find conversations and find posts… it’s nice to have that record of the past,” Duplessie said.