These days, a lot of people use social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Especially in universities, including DCU, students are seen taking photos and editing them to post on Instagram or texting to friends all the time. Social networking services are very useful to gather information, to contact people in all over the world, or to know how others are thinking about a particular thing.
Some people think those services have badly affected our lives, for example, due to dependency on online relationships. People stay at home and sit in front of their computers all day and chat with ‘friends’ on the Internet. They do not join any community in the real world. Actually, this kind of lifestyle is possible. People do not have to go physically shopping anymore, due to online shopping, to go to work, due to home office and have the ability to see their family or friends by using video call. Therefore, the problem which arises here is whether the lifestyles which completely depend on the Internet would be accepted or not and how people can distinguish the real from the virtual world. Perfect examples are the social networking services Twitter and Instagram.
Twitter is very popular for its convenience to find people who have similar interest, to interact with one another, and to learn others’ point of view. However, I found an interesting tweet. A person who works for Twitter Japan said: “at first, Twitter was a space where we can tweet anything in our mind freely. But somehow, it turned into a public space. Today, we will be attacked if we tweet something not humble”.
This seems a big problem – should Twitter be public or free? Some people regard Twitter as a public space. The definition of the word ‘public’ here is that people should tweet only humble opinions and radical tweets should not be allowed. Therefore, those who support this position sometimes criticize other Twitter users who strongly tweet different opinions from them. Also, they aim for an effective and constructive exchange of opinions with other users on Twitter. However, others consider Twitter as a tool to express their opinions freely and to just enjoy communication. Since they want freedom of expression, they admit radical or extreme tweets to some degree. In addition, they actively try to find those who have similar interest to them and share information. Therefore, Twitter should be a space where people can tweet their opinions freely at all because freedom of expression should be kept.
Twitter states on its official blog: “Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them. For this to happen, freedom of expression is essential. Some Tweets may facilitate positive change in a repressed country, some make us laugh, some make us think, some downright anger a vast majority of users. We don’t always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content”. Thus, Twitter users should be widely allowed to post freely along with the law and Twitter terms of service.
Instagram, on the other hand, is popular for its pictorial expression, especially among young people. On Instagram, people usually post “instagenic” photos. The word “instagenic” is a recently coined word which means that a picture is photogenic and suitable for posting on Instagram. There is a reason for posting instagenic photos – the psychology of instagenic.
Many people try to post cool or beautiful photos that they believe will make their followers fascinated. According to the brain scientist Kenichiro Mogi, people who are famous for posting instagenic photos can have benefits such as opportunities to find friends on social media or even to get a job. Also, people establish their identity through communication with others and communications on social media are included in the process of establishment of identity. Therefore, many people try to get more likes. Accordingly, young people naturally try to take and post instagenic photos. However, some people feel uncomfortable about this trend, believing they need to stay protected from any form of online presence, so they cannot be seen on screen. Furthermore, some of them dislike people who are trying to take nice photos. Thus, the trend of “instagenic” is likely to remain for a while, but young people should realize that there are a lot of lovely things outside the virtual world and they can be seen only through ones own eyes.
To sum up, modern life is getting more and more dependent on the Internet. The Internet helps people in many ways, but it is usually invisible. What people are watching on their smartphone screens cannot be detected by others looking at them. In conclusion, social media will get bigger and bigger and the Internet will play more and more important roles in people’s life. However, it is needed to find the best balance between virtual and real life.
Yuki Yanagida
Dublin Insight 