Essay Sample about Social Media

Myspace started the social media craze that is still going on today. However, since 2003 Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat have quickly taken over as the top social media apps. Social media has changed the way people communicate and stay in touch with their friends and family members. 

Unfortunately there is a dark side to social media. For instance, it sets unrealistic expectations for its users. Also, it leads people to believe that they need to look a certain way or live a certain lifestyle. In addition, because celebrities use it so often, people feel constantly under pressure to look like them or dress like them. When in reality many Americans can’t even afford to live that kind of lifestyle. There are, however, some positive aspects of social media. For example, people can use it to reconnect with people they went to school with. Also, people can use social media to keep in touch with friends and family. 

Social media postings are affected by control face because some people just post things for the sake of posting them. They aren’t looking for approval or admiration from others. In some cases, they may post a random image or quote just because they like it, rather than in anticipation of getting likes from their followers. Approval face influences social media postings because sometimes people post things to seek approval from others. For instance, if a person spends a lot of time looking for a picture to post so a certain person or group thinks that they're cool. Furthermore, this usually happens in middle school or high school when teenagers want to fit in with a popular group or they want a popular person to notice them. 

Social media postings are influenced by admiration face for a number of reasons. The first reason is that some people like to show off their accomplishments on social media, almost to the point where it looks like they are bragging about them. The second reason is that some people need constant appraisal from others to make themselves feel good. When celebrities like Madonna post about their achievements, their followers congratulate them in the comment section because they know the praise will make them feel great. 

As part of American culture, I feel like I am expected to meet certain standards so that I can be accepted by society. For example, everytime I see a model for a clothing company on social media I constantly start feeling pressure to start looking that way so that maybe I too can look like that in that outfit someday. Also, people are more likely to be accepting of people or things that are considered to be normal. However I don’t consider myself to be normal. How do I see the three tenets of face that are referenced in question one play out in my everyday life and interactions? Every time I repost something on social media, I usually do so because I feel like reposting it and I don't care what others think. However, when I message people on social media it's a different story. For instance, whenever I message someone that I like I start worrying about things like: “Am I overdoing it”, “Am I being annoying”, “Am I giving them enough space?” etc… Also, when they don’t answer me back right away I start overthinking about that as well. Finally, I don’t usually do this but I occasionally post about my achievements on social media because I’m proud of myself and I want others to feel proud of me as well. 

The meaning of face in Chinese cultures is different than it is in American cultures. Since Americans focus on what others think of them while Aisan cultures worry about what others think of them as whole as opposed to one person. When I was at work I observed an interaction between members of an Aisan culture. The norms of face played out in that conversation was that they were worried about what people thought about them as a group as opposed to just worrying about what other people thought of them. That same interaction would have been extremely different if it was between members of the Western culture. For instance, the people that were having the conversation would have been worried about what people thought of them instead of what people thought of them as a group. I might alter my communication approach with my fellow Aisan colleagues, neighbors, classmates or others, after learning and appreciating their perspective of face and facework. By instead of asking why they care so much about what other people think. Asking them why they care so much about what people think of them as whole. Additionally, I will be able to appreciate their very family-oriented culture more. Face is extremely important whether you're a part of American culture or Asian culture.