The Student Room Group

Sept 27th: Social media, inspiration or pressure?

Social media: inspiration or pressure?

This week on the Surgery, we’re going to be talking about social media. How does social media make you feel? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends, but do you sometimes find yourself feeling negatively because of it? Do you love to follow inspirational people but then feel pressure to post stuff yourself? Do you feel like you need to show people that you’re having a good time? Or are you genuinely having a great time and want to tell the world about it?

Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try to help you out live on air on Wednesday at 9pm on Radio 1.

Please note you can post anonymously.
Original post by BBC Radio 1
Social media: inspiration or pressure?

This week on the Surgery, we’re going to be talking about social media. How does social media make you feel? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends, but do you sometimes find yourself feeling negatively because of it? Do you love to follow inspirational people but then feel pressure to post stuff yourself? Do you feel like you need to show people that you’re having a good time? Or are you genuinely having a great time and want to tell the world about it?

Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try to help you out live on air on Wednesday at 9pm on Radio 1.

Please note you can post anonymously.


I feel like if someone was trying to set me up with someone else and they visited my Facebook profile for example, they would probably think 'oh this guy doesn't have many friends, isn't really active...' or if I had to join a society Facebook group at uni. Irrational? Maybe. Maybe not.
I don't see how anyone can take social media as inspiration or pressure. People were active or apathetic before social media and seeing a pic of someone holiday isn't gonna change you. Sure you might think you might be in need of a holiday cos you saw a photo but you would have though of that regardless anyway. The way I see it it's just a better way of communicating with friends.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by BBC Radio 1
Social media: inspiration or pressure?

This week on the Surgery, we’re going to be talking about social media. How does social media make you feel? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends, but do you sometimes find yourself feeling negatively because of it? Do you love to follow inspirational people but then feel pressure to post stuff yourself? Do you feel like you need to show people that you’re having a good time? Or are you genuinely having a great time and want to tell the world about it?

Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try to help you out live on air on Wednesday at 9pm on Radio 1.

Please note you can post anonymously.

Makes me feel bored.
Not really. I just use it for the messaging stuff, not so much the posting. Reluctant to join more than 1.
No
No.
No.
Original post by BBC Radio 1
Social media: inspiration or pressure?

This week on the Surgery, we’re going to be talking about social media. How does social media make you feel? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends, but do you sometimes find yourself feeling negatively because of it? Do you love to follow inspirational people but then feel pressure to post stuff yourself? Do you feel like you need to show people that you’re having a good time? Or are you genuinely having a great time and want to tell the world about it?

Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try to help you out live on air on Wednesday at 9pm on Radio 1.

Please note you can post anonymously.


Hello,
Social media makes me happy when I can talk to friends or family that I can't reach in real life. It's also allowed me to meet people from different countries and expand my knowledge on cultures.

What I don't like about it is the dependence on replies from friends. One of the worst feelings ever is having a message you sent someone ignored by that person. Especially when you really care about them. If you said something to a friend, they wouldn't just downright ignore you in real life.
Another thing is that it can become a substitute to socialising in real life. As someone shy, i find it really hard to socialise in real life enough as it is. With social media, i'm more tempted to use that because it's easier for me than starting a conversation in real life.

In terms of posting and followers, i'm ugly so there's no issue there lmao. i'm not addicted in the slightest. but i can understand why people with actual social lives might feel pressure to conform and make "certain" posts.
I think social media is great, if you use it for the right reasons and you are part of the right community. Those that focus on creating conversations (whether with friends or the general public) are my favourite as it can be used as a platform for exchanging ideas - for example, Twitter is a great place for debating current affairs, keeping up with the news, and swapping memes. Facebook is good for keeping up with old acquaintances that you wouldn't otherwise keep in contact with (is this a good thing? I'm not sure) but I mostly use it for the messenger app and to keep connected to my course events in uni - a lot of revision days and teaching sessions are organised using the groups and events functions on there.

As for snapchat, I don't really see how it's useful except for sending ugly close-up selfies of yourself and your friends for others to see, and to stalk elusive exes using the map function... I also use it to follow lots of cat accounts so I can watch the floofs on their snapchat stories when I'm sad :colondollar:

Social media can be dangerous if you follow a lot of celebrities or have a lot of toxic people in your friend lists. If everybody you have on there is constantly sharing photoshopped make-up covered selfies and holiday throwbacks, you're obviously gonna feel a bit **** about your own life! I strongly believe in the power of "cleaning up" your friend lists - every so often, perhaps once a year, I'll go through the list and delete / unfollow a load of accounts that aren't really important for me.

I really like the unfollow function on facebook - I can unfollow people in my friend list that I don't really talk to or I'm not very interested in seeing their life events, without outright deleting them. This way my news feed stays full of positivity (and lots of cats) without me offending anyone :lol:
Depression
Original post by BBC Radio 1
Social media: inspiration or pressure?

This week on the Surgery, we’re going to be talking about social media. How does social media make you feel? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends, but do you sometimes find yourself feeling negatively because of it? Do you love to follow inspirational people but then feel pressure to post stuff yourself? Do you feel like you need to show people that you’re having a good time? Or are you genuinely having a great time and want to tell the world about it?

Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try to help you out live on air on Wednesday at 9pm on Radio 1.

Please note you can post anonymously.


I think that it can be a bit of both and people feel pressured because it is what people judge you on - what you post online and how you look online is very much how you are judged within your social circle. And there are people online who you've never met before but they're still seeing everything you post
PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE!!!
any photo you post has to be ‘cool’ and you have to look ‘hot’ and ‘pretty’. if you don’t get enough likes then you feel like it was a stupid post and if you dont get enough comments on you recent selfie then it makes you feel like you look awful (even if you initially thought you looked pretty).
now on instagram and snapchat many teenager put their ‘sarahah’ link in their bio or attach it to a snap. we all want loads of lovely comments but when we only get a few we feel stupid. also it is inviting bullys and mean comments. but we all do it because we have to know what others think of us.
being a 15 year old girl in 2017 on social media and real life is unimaginably hard. you are judged for everything you say, how you look, and what your interests are. we can’t express ourselves or our opinions because they just aren’t ‘cool’ enough.
Reply 9
Social media, like alcohol, seemingly manages to be one of the best and worst things that's happened to humanity.

It's exceptionally convenient and useful, but if not treated with a considerable amount of caution will completely thwart your better judgement. It's designed to be as addictive as possible, surrounds you with superficiality and misinformation, and erodes your concentration span.

Social media is full of inspirational quotes and stories, but it actively works against you in actually achieving anything in your own life.

It's not inspirational at all. I've never found it to be a pressure, but then again I never had to compete with classmates for selfie likes.

This, coupled with the insane privacy, targeted manipulation and ethical issues, make social media probably more bad than good. The only social media I use are Reddit, Snap Chat and Facebook (but I uninstalled FB on my phone). And TSR, if you count that.
(edited 6 years ago)
I only use whatsapp/skype to keep in contact with my friends I dont do social media as I feel like its just a popularity contest where you compete for likes and folows. I also think it promotes vanity and narcissim, and people use social media to brag to other people about how fun and outgoing they are rather than just having fun with their own life for themselves not the stranger through the phone screen. However this isn't everyone, I think this mostly applies to most peopl my age so secondary school kids and teenagers possibly some young adults too.

I also use TSR but not sure if hat counts as its more of a Help and Advice Internet Forum
Original post by CheeseIsVeg
Makes me feel bored.
Not really. I just use it for the messaging stuff, not so much the posting. Reluctant to join more than 1.
No
No.
No.


agree
Reply 12
Original post by BBC Radio 1
Social media: inspiration or pressure?

This week on the Surgery, we’re going to be talking about social media. How does social media make you feel? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends, but do you sometimes find yourself feeling negatively because of it? Do you love to follow inspirational people but then feel pressure to post stuff yourself? Do you feel like you need to show people that you’re having a good time? Or are you genuinely having a great time and want to tell the world about it?

Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try to help you out live on air on Wednesday at 9pm on Radio 1.

Please note you can post anonymously.


I feel like there is a lot more pressure among young people to present themselves in a certain way both online and in person, and social media can both help and cause issues for this reason. For example, some people feel that they have to dress a certain way to fit in with school mates and their online presence, but social media also allows for inspiration and exploration of an individual's style and personality. Personally I notice that I make a lot of choices in my everyday life that are influenced by my Instagram account (@orlaellensmith 😉), e.g. what I wear, eat, and do. However, this is not due to me having to do these things, but wanting to. Social media is also a form of escapism that lets me look at what interests me and helps me to develop and create my lifestyle.
Reply 13
Social media is a complex subject, everyone's usage of the platforms available are so different. For me, social media is an invention which will shape the generations who follow and influence the knowledge we have. Personally, each social media platform has a different way of being used. For instance, Facebook is mainly used in keeping up with people who I have met when I've been travelling, keeping updated on the major events in their lives, even if I don't have that connection with them anymore. Facebook messenger is for chatting with friends or people who I may have met and need in instant communication with. Twitter, I use for following celebrities and important change makers. People I aspire to and movements I wish to be apart of. Allowing me to keep up-to-date with real time information and progress of current issues with not only my country but worldwide matters. Another platform I use is snapchat, like Facebook and Facebook messenger I use it to keep up with both close friends and friends who I haven't seen in a while, it gives me insight into their lives when I'm not able to be present.
The positives of social media do outweigh the negatives however I believe everyone should be aware of the repercussions of abusing the platforms. Also sometimes people are so consumed by sharing the moment, they forget the importance of living in it.
I belive that Social media is a pressure because all i get at school is that you should be on Social media or you miss out on thing with your firend's and you become isolated from every one
Please note you can post anonymously.
Original post by BBC Radio 1
Social media: inspiration or pressure?

This week on the Surgery, we’re going to be talking about social media. How does social media make you feel? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends, but do you sometimes find yourself feeling negatively because of it? Do you love to follow inspirational people but then feel pressure to post stuff yourself? Do you feel like you need to show people that you’re having a good time? Or are you genuinely having a great time and want to tell the world about it?

Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try to help you out live on air on Wednesday at 9pm on Radio 1.

Please note you can post anonymously.


I only have it because in ICT we need to advertise a business on social media. Other than that I used to use it to message my crush cause I’m shy but now all it’s really used for is me being emotionally hurt when my ex-crush mocks my feelings..
I use social media for M E M E S
Social media is a fantastic medium to set up real life interactions with people, but shouldn’t be used as a medium for social communication itself. I have autism, by so actively communicating behind your phone screen with people it really does hinder your real life social communication skills, which are so valuable.

It’s great to feel connected with your friends/famous people/the news/your interests so easily, but social media has got to the point where we judge people based on their social media profiles - their posts, their likes, the people they follow etc. This can create (especially did so with me as someone with a little amount of friends) an urgency to be fake online and to show yourself in a different light than your true self in order to fit in or ‘compete’.

We should just accept and use social media as a quick form of communication and access to the people we want to interact with and the news we want to see, and just accept that it is a fake world full of many people disguising themselves. Use social media to make friends, follow famous people, get quick access to the news stories you want to hear, but don’t use it as your sole method of communication with people or treat it as the real world
I also think social media is a great way to reach the people.

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