Erin Clement's Portfolio

Did you know you can get plastic surgery in minutes? With a few pinches and two swipes of the finger, anyone can alter their face. Want bigger eyes? You can have that. A smaller nose? It will take you three seconds! Yet, how can it be possible that social media users are able to get a full makeover that extends anywhere from a new face, to a new body? The answer (which advertises itself with a 100% “right-swipe” guarantee) is called FaceTune.

This is not just a simple editing tool, it is a false sense of connection packaged into an app. In a world that seems to care more about obtaining Kylie Jenner lips than ascertaining real knowledge from social channels, it is no wonder an app that can plump a pout in seconds is rising on the download charts. This is yet another digital aid that has further stretched the extensions of what is real on social media. A catalyst in the movement towards more falsity, and less connection.

On almost every main social app you can add photo filters to intensify the beauty of what is being shown, creating an even more symbolic meaning to the idea that people refine what they share to get rid of hints of the real world. With hunched backs and noses pointed at screens, reality is passing by without anyone realizing it.

The fact that an app like FaceTune should even exist, points to how social media users are fostering false versions of themselves in order to further their even falser online connections. People are drawn towards their phones and relate more to altered digital personas they see online than the real person behind the screen.

With an estimated 2.56 billion global social media users as of 2017, 34% of the population is decidely opting out of face to face first impressions with those they have never known before connecting on social platforms.

The American Psychological Association has named the avid American smartphone users (8 out of 10) “constant checkers”, and noted how this group of social users felt a lack of connection from their family, “even when they are together, as a result of technology.”

In addition, the APA’s 2017 study found that one-third of these “constant checkers” admitted to being less likely to meet up with real people (friends and family) because of their social app use. This unfortunately is not surprising, especially when you think of millennials and how they would rather communicate via any other social method than hear an actual voice over the phone—myself included.

Yet no matter what generation you are from, if you use social media, you are prone to “a sense of false intimacy”. Psychotherapist, Michael J. Formica, notes that the fabrication of intimate social relationships has people “falling in love with a fantasy.” Thus, decreasing our social and emotional intelligence.

With a decreased emotional intelligence, avid social media users are more likely vulnerable to depressive conditions. Especially those that fall into the false picture/persona schemes mentioned earlier. In fact, a study from the psychology department at Pace University found an association between Instagram use and depressive symptoms by means of “negative social comparison”. Their findings concluded in results that determined greater depressive symptoms for those who follow more strangers on the social media platform.

Instagram has become one of the main platforms for the rise of the social media star. Depressive feelings make sense when we start to follow influencers and try to connect with those that seem to have an out of this world lifestyle. These types of accounts in turn inspire other users to start adapting their social personas to fit with what seems the best way to gain followers. This is a root for falsity, and a downhill path to meaningless connections. Just because you have a lot of followers and a full DM inbox, does not mean you have made meaningful real world connections with other humans. If anything, it gives you the right to sing “Down In the DM” by Yo Gotti. But really, what value is that compared to having real-world face-to-face friends?

There are those out in the world that will advise social media “detoxes”, and decreased usage in your free time. But let’s face it, social media is only going to continue to penetrate every aspect of human life as technology evolves. The best social media users can do is be accountable for the visual and verbal things items they come across. Realize everything is not always exactly what it seems, and know that you should never have to alter yourself for an online friend. If you want a detox, do one. Yet, facing false connection can be as simple as scheduling coffee dates to catch up with friends face to face.