Human beings are social beings. The need to connect with others is a fundamental impetus. Therefore, we have a prefrontal cortex in our brain to work together and have closeness. Life today is not only lived in the real world, now the virtual world gives new life to humans. However, there are still many people experiencing the fear associated with new technologies. Even though technology helps facilitate a lot of human life, including the internet and of course social media. So what are some untrue myths about human life and social media?
Myth 1: “Social media undermines a person’s sociability and replaces human relationships in the real world.”
Research shows that social media can actually improve relationships between people by looking at existing situations and conditions. For example, if you and your partner live in different cities or countries, Social Media can be an adhesive tool for your relationship even if it is not to replace it. Or if you are interested in exchanging ideas and connecting with people from other parts of the country, this can be helped by social media.
Myth 2: “You have to follow all social media, because basically everything is equally important.”
This is also not always true. Use social media according to your needs. If you want to easily connect with your schoolmates first, maybe Instagram is for you. If you enjoy writing and want to connect with other writers you can use WordPress. Also make sure the purpose of using your social media is for personal or part of your business.
Myth 3: The real happiness is when we are not on social media at all.
A person’s happiness is not determined by whether or not you are on social media. Set your life goals. Make sure what values are important to you but don’t force your values on others. For example, my grandfather enjoyed using Facebook because it was his way of paying attention to the activities of his grandchildren, but my mother preferred Whatsapp to talk to her children.
Myth 4: There is no honesty in social media, people only show what they want to highlight.
It is undeniable that many people lie through social media, but this is not always the case. Research shows that there are people who actually prefer to display honesty even though there is a tendency to sort out the information they want to display. Falsehoods or lies are also often revealed sooner or later. Don’t equate the appearance of social media for personal with business.
Myth 5: We can’t control our own social media.
Unfortunately this has some truth, but we can learn how our social media privacy settings match what the creators of the social media application offer. Therefore, first think about everything that you want to say or display on social media. It is important to remember, everything that is on the internet is permanent and searchable.
Myth 6: Relationships in cyberspace are not real.
Online relationships take many forms, between individuals, between group members. It may be that these relationships take longer to achieve closeness, but the relationships established in the online world are also often based on their substance rather than mere physical appearance. Emoticons through images or symbols such as LOL can also help describe feelings and thoughts that are felt. Especially if the distance that separates is far apart, such as between cities or between countries.
Myth 7: Social media only has an adverse effect.
On social media, many people can gather many other people to donate or campaign to help someone or a community. Not infrequently also people teach something to make people’s lives better such as Youtube videos about sports training that are suitable for beginners, for example. Of course, everything must be sorted carefully, yes. Happy browsing! Don’t take to long, ok!
Anindya Psychological Practice 