5 Things New Social Media Taught Me

The impact and, perhaps, the breadth of new social media to every youth nowadays seem to be immeasurable. Aside from lifestyle change to technology habits, the aspects new social media have altered in our lives are also stretch to new disposition and thinking that add to our personal values and attitudes.

New social media contribute a lot to my life, I can say. Their contribution is not limited only to them making my life (err, academic life) convenient to the most possible extent. They have made me ponder on some things in life than ever. I know that some 5 to 10 years from now as I write this entry, I might be having different outlook from what I have now over various things. But when that day comes, I want to find myself looking at this list I made today on the nuggets of learning I got from new social media.

1. Friends are just a click away. And a click far away. I learned to value, cherish, and love relationships.

Before I used to say that it won’t change a thing if a friend of mine is not going to be ‘physically present’, for new social media will always give the bridge. But I was wrong. Relationships change. People change. They won’t miss you anymore or feel the excitement of talking to you. Cherish a relationship whatever it is.

2. New social media provide our ‘other half’.

No this isn’t about getting married or finding a mate. But indeed, finding yourself. The idea of our ‘real self’ and ‘ideal self’ contradicts in the real setting and new social media help us in self-discovery. Know how it feels to suddenly be able to post a status that cries your heart out? What about finding yourself motivated to do a change after seeing a photo of a friend?

photo credit: http://www.slais.ubc.ca

3. A simple post speaks a thousand words of who we are.

I believe that even though vocal aspects of communication (voice, tone, intonation, pitch, etc.) are absent in new social media, one’s personality will always come out even just by a single post. I met a friend online who says that it feels like she has known me for 10 years just by us communicating via chat. And I feel the same way. See?

4. Being careful does not only imply security measure but an image and reputation measure.

It’s not about adding, accepting,or ignoring friend or follower requests. But what we say, and the meanings we communicate, once we are online. People’s judgments know no medium for they will always exist. We are posing an image of ourselves online through new social media. Once they are tainted with negativity, they just don’t stay online.

5. Maintaining a relationship is,perhaps, the hardest.

Communication makes a relationship going- whether it is between you and your boss, a friend, a family member, a classmate. But then, in every communication interaction is the uncertainty for that to happen again. It is up to us now how to make those people trust, believe, and find interest in us over time. Plus the image and reputation that we are taking good care of.

But then, new social media are now just opening doors for me. I know that as I become more active online each day, the more that I can have discoveries about this communication trend that shrinks the whole world in my fingertips.  I am now indebted to new social media, and the realizations I got from using it that I will always remember in life.

Social media, Social good, Social change

The use of social media to benefit the society is now garnering more and more attention from global leaders. Given that we are now living in a digital world, the role of webpages, profiles, tweets, or statuses  is now recognized as potential tools to unify people for a single cause.

Did anyone think of this becoming possible five years ago by the way?

Next week, September 20-22, Social Good Summit will be held. It is a convention of world leaders and experts in the fields of media, policy, and digital to discuss various problems in the world right now and how these are to be put in action through the use of social media and technology per se.

It’s pretty amazing how one blog, tweet, video, and other social media tools help the world now just by becoming bridges of communication. Advocacies that are out of the majority’s awareness now have the chance of speaking out and be heard. As well as those advocates who are pursuant of their respective organizations. If there’s one excellent reason Internet exists,  it’s because finally the world has a platform where all individuals are now equal.

What about in the Philippines?

I believe that conventions like this are badly needed to be implemented in the country. Just remember how Efren Peñaflorida and his Dynamic Teen Company owned the spotlights because of him winning CNN Hero of the Year by online votes. How many children did that recognition benefit? How many more children did his kariton classroom help?

Although the percentage of Internet penetration in the country is relatively low compared to the country’s population, social networking sites are definitely good tools for local social advocacies. Indeed, just making a viral video for a non-profit organization as a class requirement was already something.

Who knows if majority of social problems now could be addressed by social media in the near future? Platforms are changing and so are ideologies. There will definitely be a change for the greater good.

To know more about Social Good Summit, read here.

To know the event’s details, read here.

Why making a viral video is challenging

This semester, our major requirement in our Communication Trends and Styles class is to make two viral videos. Easy?

Yes, to the ears. But everything is easier than done. Everything is so interesting at first. And so, I admit that our group has been having some difficulties in making a viral video that is at par with the other viral videos circulating the Net.

The first viral video that made its way to YouTube (more):

Our first task was to have a viral video from a topic we had chosen. But this time, for the second time, we were asked to make a video that will help a cause-oriented organization. The mere fact of this makes everything even so complicated.

Viral video: To what extent should it be planned?

In my observation of viral videos in YouTube and Facebook, there is a few ones or perhaps none that an organization has launched. I don’t know but my limited knowledge on videos (since I am not that video freak) tells me this. Most of the viral videos I know seem to be done with its makers not knowing that it will go viral. I say that viral videos ideally should work and spread like a virus- they have multiplied (or in this sense, have been viewed or shared) in large numbers before you know it. Netizens may have several and different tastes on what kind of videos are they going to share or recommend to their friends, and so their behavior could be predicted at the very least. But then, even Psychology can’t accurately predict the likelihood of results of a certain behavior at all. Making strategies on how a viral video should be promoted entails a lot of research and effort for the Internet is a battlefield of information. I think intentionally making all netizens be informed by the video seems to be next to impossible.

photo credit: http://www.gunnzdesigns.com

Viral video: What should be considered?

Imagine making a 2-minute viral video that is worth  P5 million. It’s make or break; your client wants to make it viral in 10 days and it should have 1 million hits at least. 2 minutes, 5 million, 10 days, 1 million. And of course, count the sleepless nights.

Making a viral video is challenging because there is a lot to consider. Since it characterizes how viruses spread, mechanism of virus spreading should be also considered and there you can find some parallelisms. The following are the factors:

1. the size of the population of opportunity
2. the number of days contagious
3. the number of people with whom an infected person comes in contact
4. the probability of contracting the virus from contact with an infected person

And its counterparts in marketing:

1. the target market, or audience, and its size
2. the best time for launching or promoting,a.k.a right timing
3. the prospective audience that a target market, audience, or people as opinion leaders will influence
4. the extent or likelihood of their influence

Viral video: Its chances of being such

Viral videos depend on their audiences. But still, there are some common qualities present to viral videos no matter what kind of audience there is. First, I believe that netizens will view your video if they think, in the first place, it’s worth their time. A video should capture one’s attention and of course, interest. Creativity is definitely the measure here. Second, an excellent viral video should contain a controversial, hot, or timely issue presented in a different light. It should not be conventional or predictable. Stereotypical nor ordinary. It should have the ‘new’ factor although it seeks to address common unresolved social problems. And third, a striking video should possess a challenging statement or message. It should put one’s emotions and reasoning to test; so, it will make itself outstanding from all other available videos.

One of the videos I can vividly remember sharing on Facebook:

But in the end, a viral video should not stay as a viral video. The message it present does not end on the video’s last second, in the Internet, in monitors. It should compel people to feel and think beyond what it presents. They should act. A true value of a viral video comes in two things- lesson and inspiration- viewers get that they will never forget.

Be updated on the top viral videos here.

Know more about viral videos here.

Facebook wall, who’s the fairest of them all?

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”. This perhaps is the most famous line one can remember from the classic, Snow White.

And as years and generations pass by, this line from the fairy tale that was the first-ever cartoon shown on silver screen has been proven never to be obsolete and has evolved to be applicable to new social media today, particularly social networking sites.

In August 30 2010, an article was published in CNN.com that says:

Facebook, indeed, reinforces narcissism to some users who love ‘broadcasting’ themselves. Narcissism is defined by Wikipedia.org as “the personality trait of egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness”.  In fact, there is a personality disturbance in psychology distinguished as narcissistic personality disorder which is considered to be a mental disorder as well.

The beautiful yet vain queen and her magic mirror (from Snow White) photo credit: http://www.squidoo.com

As youth becomes addicted to Facebook, it can be said that they have more and strong tendency on becoming narcissistic. The advent of new social media emphasized even more the ‘me-generation’. Since everyone can speak up their minds in the Internet, everyone has the chance to project themselves in whatever way they want to. And in this sense, no one sets the limit. In my opinion, the following can be said to characterize narcissistic tendencies among Facebook users:

1. having a profile picture of a person’s  face occupying the entire photo or a picture with that person’s ‘best’ pose
2. having hundreds of photos in one album (and those pictures are taken from a single location with the person just changing the camera’s angle; with one single smile or facial expression most of the time)
3. having boastful posts or statuses
4. changing a status every second trying hard to catch the attention of  those who are online (it’s like: ‘I’m drinking an awesome juice my boyfriend made for me. *a second later* ‘Finished drinking the juice blah blah blah…)
5. giving harsh or not so favorable comments to others’ posts
6. changing profile picture almost everyday
7. having other messages, status, or comments that imply selfishness or too much self-glorification

I may have missed other of those symptoms but one thing is true: new social media impact people, particularly the youth, beyond monitors.

By the way, do you think you are an online Narcissus?

ScriptShirt takes inspiration more than a statement

Contact Information

Jamie Espadilla                                                                                                                          0922-8481457, 0927-2868754                                                                                         scriptshirtclothing@yahoo.com                                                                                         http://scriptshirt.multiply.com/

SCRIPTSHIRT TAKES INSPIRATION MORE THAN  A STATEMENT

ScriptShirt, an online business of  RTW statement shirts, came from the conceptualization, initiative, and commitment of Ms Jamie Espadilla, together with Louise Espadilla, James Ferrer, and Derrick Mapagu in September 2008. Bound by music and inspiration to spark a difference, they are also passionate in spreading their faith and belief in God in this very creative way.

“I’m into Christian music while my business partners (Louise, James and Derrick) are into Emo music. And that’s how we ended up with statement shirts that could either be dedicated for God or for someone special.” -Jamie Espadilla, on how ScriptShirt came to be

The ScriptShirt Team (Derrick, Louise, James, and Jamie)

ScriptShirt is named after the word Scripture that represents biblical texts. True enough, its founders basically spread God’s word through shirts’ statements and from this, seek to get other people inspired as well. Furthermore, Jamie puts it, “Eventually, we realized that our shirts, if utilized properly, can actually make a difference. Of course, it’s not about the shirt but the statement printed on it! For the Christians, this is one way of doing a simple evangelism. For others, this is one way of inspiring people and spreading positivity. Either ways we can all MAKE A DIFFERENCE through wearing a shirt that has a positive impact. ”

This business joins Facebook and Multiply in promotions and advertising. To date, it has garnered 633 fans in Facebook. Updates such as new designs and upcoming events ScriptShirt will join are posted there moreover. Their using of social networking sites provides convenience to their business in terms of connecting with their customers in one hand and seeking for potential partners as well on the other. Features of these sites that allow them to add people into their list as prospective customers, posting of blog and photo albums in product marketing, and messaging features such as chat, personal messages, and comments allow them to explore promising ideas to manage and improve their business as well.

They recognize how much help Internet has been to their business but at the same time know where and what to work on.

“The challenge in using social media is that have to be online most of the time because: 1) customers need immediate response from us; 2) we need to be aware on the messages people post in our sites because we wouldn’t want negative feedback to spread.”  – Jamie Espadilla, on the obstacles they are facing as an online business

In 2009, ScriptShirt launched ‘Shirt for a Cause’, featuring ‘Inspirenation’ shirt, where 20% of each piece sold went to Ondoy typhoon victims through Red Cross relief operations.

It keeps its customers engaged via social networking sites not only by getting feedback such as comments from them and the like. ScriptShirt launched its promo, ScriptShots Part 2,  in February 2009 to celebrate the month of love. ScriptShots is a compilation of meaningful photos of people wearing their favorite ScriptShirt outfit.

Now who says that new social media can’t lead to a difference in our society?

Boilerplate

ScriptShirt is an online shop owned by Jamie Espadilla, Louise Espadilla, James Ferrer, and Derrick Mapagu creating RTW statement shirts. For orders and inquiries, visit ScriptShirt official sites on Facebook and Multiply or text 0922-8481457 or 0927-2868754.

Workplace redefined?

Time is running out for me to enjoy the perks of being a student who relies on parents financially. I know, and no matter how  it disturbs me, I have to be mature enough to assume the role of our family’s breadwinner sooner or later. We discussed in our previous classes in Communication Trends and Styles that the dynamics of the workplace, particularly on employees as to what motivates or compels them to work and the values they bring along with them, has changed thanks to ‘generation gap’ (as we may call it) between the ‘baby boomers’  and  the ‘NetGen’.

Being a part of NetGen makes me question the nature of workplaces, hierarchy, or even work itself time and time again. Maybe I am just that kid before who was used to have things set by parents that’s why applying for my first own job and setting my career are difficult and, sometimes, tear-jerking. I contemplate on things regarding life after college these days no matter how exaggerated this is for others.

I don’t know but, perhaps, people enter college to secure employment upon graduating. This is a fact. After years of being in school, we as students have to pay back our parents who spent most of their earnings for our education. And so, it’s highly depressing to know that jobs are not everywhere, competitors abound, and opportunities are most of the time biased. Moreover, it’s sad to note that your own country can’t support you to have your dream job that you just have to forget attaining it. After years of study, it will be just salary, salary, salary. Sometimes factors like self-fulfillment are considered less.

But then, whew.

A New Workplace

Perhaps, the Internet has been changing a lot of aspects in our lifestyle today and there’s nothing it does not affect at all. The notion of workplace is definitely one of these. If work is just a means to an end which is connected to financial stability at the very least, then some factors will not be that held important. Nowadays, more and more people looking for income or jobs  are opting to take freelance work or work at home instead. Virtual companies such as those of language tutorials are on the rise.  For instance, in freelance work, one can enjoy:

• flextime at its fullest
• working at home (while attending to other matters)
• no or less dealings with difficult bosses
• no interaction with difficult co-workers
• a salary that office employees are likely to earn

There are even call center companies that allow employees to work from their homes. Of course, these are all possible through the use of new social media. Language tutorials are done in Skype where people of different nationalities converse. Web designers do the layout of corporate websites without being those company’s employees. Organizations hire bloggers just to make blogs and comments for their companies’ sake. There’s a lot of avenues new social media could provide now- without the limits of organizational hierarchy or policies and regulations.

"Freelance work" photo credit: http://www.atniz.com

New behavior?

Would there be a point that employees will stop seeking for corporate life? Would there be a point that they ’employees’ or ‘workplace’ are going to vague terms as well? Employees, being individuals, will continue to have increasing demands, differing values, and new priorities as they, of course, age.I know some people who abandoned their corporate life to give way to their own business they manage through new social media. Most of them value being at home and with their families as to decrease the chances of them being so workaholic neglecting their responsibilities with their children at home.

Organizations, in the advent of NetGen in the workforce and as ‘baby boomers’ are about to retire, should be ready for the ‘unthinkable’ implications today’s trends concerning new social media. This will in turn provide new paradigms in communication within organizations above all. Could it be possible to have computer-mediated organizational communication in the future?

When customers become your ‘friends’

They say finding true friends in the Internet is next to impossible. The fact that you cannot communicate with them in flesh says it all. Let’s just say that nonverbal communication can never be replaced and still the most difficult to objectively decipher. Written messages in social media in the form of wall posts, status, or comments can never suffice the richness a message has. All netizens, experts or not, alike know this basic tenet.

photo credits: http://www.customersrock.wordpress.com

Computer-mediated communication has brought some changes not only in communication per se but rather on relationships. My close friends whom I spent almost everyday with years before are the ones I miss a lot these days. Some of them are abroad while some are the ones whom I lost communication with. Yes, thanks to Internet, I can have conversations with them now. But then, I know that nothing is going to be the same anymore. Failing to connect with them once accounts for everything.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but these days, I am thinking over how social media and the Internet redefined the meaning or ‘friendship’. Perhaps at least one friendship is ended everyday as well as a new friendship that is formed between two strangers. Some friendships end while some just becomes faded.

Building friendships is similar to establishing connections with customers in the perspective of organizations. Maybe the difference lies in the fact that organization-customer relationship is crucial for it’s not that symbiotic. Organizations should develop good customer relations if they want to survive in this age of business competition literally. However, customers now are the ones to be ‘pleased’ and hold less pressure for there is a wide array of products, services, or companies to entrust themselves into. When customers lose interest, and moreover trust or loyalty, to a product or service, companies have to think of strategies to win them back. In a sense, this is like a one-sided relationship. Although both parties benefit, the amount of effort and expectancy level is not equal. And now, these all become more complicated because of social media, where a person’ message can instantly reach millions in just a click.

To organizations,

photo credit: http://www.1429creative.com

but be sure on how to have them.

Although a neophyte in communities and chatting, I learned essential things . I think these things may not be that directly translated to organizational strategies but I believe they are the fundamentals in every relationship there is. Here they go:

1. Disclosing true information helps you.

What’s the sense of pretending to be someone you’re not? Yes, information we disclose over the Net must be carefully sifted for security reasons. Yes, deception can be said to have higher rate of occurrence in the world wide web (particularly in social networks) than face-to-face. But there will always come a time that scandals will surface, hidden agenda will be traced, even secrets will be revealed in the Internet age. And that time is more unpredictable than before.

2.The first conversation is always the most important.

Relationships involve conversations. People rely and believe on first impressions. These are facts. First conversation is actually a predictor of the existence of succeeding ones. It’s like establishing good PR for yourself leveled up because it’s online. Smart people know whom and not to trust in the Internet. Gaining trust, perhaps in any channel or mode, is still difficult.

3. Keeping conversations entails pressure.

How to keep the interest in your target burning is a difficult task to do. In fact, it’s sometimes pretty normal to be paranoid in predicting, assuming, and expecting customers’ behavior. Each opportunity an organization can get to have conversations with customers should lead to more conversations in the future. Sometimes, it is even better to have clashes between companies and customers (although this is a huge no-no!)  than finding customers apathetic. It’s like having people not realizing your existence.

4. No matter how short conversations are, people remembering you gives the best feeling.

Trust is definitely gained, hardly gained. Real relationships are with people who know one another though they are not with each other physically. I am working on the assumption that when people/ customers believe in and like you, they will remember you without commanding them to. They will be ‘evangelizers’ of you instantly. It is not about the quantity of conversations organizations are having with consumers, but the quality of their relationship’s impact is. It’s about how much they value one another and be there when one needs the other.

Of course, I think, too, that relationships have their endings. No matter in what form those would be and because of what reasons, relationships should be taken care of very much while they last.

Is Intranet a new CPR?

These past few days, one company has been topping the headlines due to some problems with its employees. Employees’ resignations. Employees’ protests. And these got me concerned more than before.

Yes, it is Philippine Airlines. And it pains me to see the first ever company that made me feel what corporate life is all about is undergoing such issues.

I did my internship in Philippine Airlines in summer this year. I was assigned to the Advertising and Promotions division under the Commercial Group. It was there when I first learned how was it to go to the office rushing before the clock strikes 8 in the morning, dress up in stockings and high heels, use lunch time for something worthwhile, and anticipating for the last hour of work. It was there when I first learned how to build relationships with other employees and co-trainees. It was there when I first realized that a President’s office is really huge and worth-craving for. It was my first workplace.

Headlines say that cabin crew of PAL- pilots, flight attendants, and others- are resigning from their posts. In fact, the resignation of 25 pilots caused some alterations on the flight schedule of some passengers. Whether their resignation is legal or adhering to their contracts, I don’t know. But the company for sure is about to lose more and more experienced and knowledgeable workforce if it will fail to address their employees’ concerns.

In my limited stay in the company, I somehow felt what the pilots and flight attendants are accusing PAL to have been falling short of. They say they don’t value employees in such a way that the management fails to give them the right amount of salary they should have as well as the holiday and rest days they deserve. Okay, as a trainee, I am not entitled to those work conditions but I felt like  the management is a world away. In my observation, there are limited avenues in which the management keeps in touch with the employees.

The Possible Effect of Intranet Overhaul

During free time in my practicum(or when there is nothing to do), I read PAL Infoserve, the company’s intranet. It serves as a bulletin where announcements are posted, and where PDF files of these can be downloaded to be exact. There are also some advisories and other articles posted by Human Resources as pieces of advice to employees. But then, I noticed that this intranet of theirs is linear and definitely a top-down communication. Some employees don’t even take a serious look on what the intranet says. I think it apparently lacks engagement from the employees that social media have now.

What if their Intranet works two-way? What if it has forums or discussion boards where employees can discuss their grievances or better yet, with the management itself? Can overhauling their Intranet provide an answer for better dialogue between the management and employees?

I think it will. Aside from being a source of feedback, the management can utilize the Intranet for establishing solid employee relations? They can even make loyal employees that way and avoid high rate of turnovers. Communication among PAL employees from offices worldwide can be made possible. Employees will feel that they are valued and taken care of.

Employees as Stakeholders

I think above any other stakeholder, an organization should prioritize employees. I think messing up with them is a no-no. First, employees are the company’s workforce. No employees, no operations, no company. Bad employee relations could solely dictate an organization’s effectiveness and efficiency. Second, employees are definitely brand ambassadors. Their loyalty and faith in the company will translate to them ‘evangelizing’ the company itself to customers and perspective consumers alike. They are a instant source of people who will give highly-credible testimonials that will benefit the company’s reputation as a whole.

Now I am convinced that social media could be enough to resuscitate an organization. It can be even said that social media is an organization’s oxygen in the present age. And I did not thought of this before; social media can make things critical for an organization or become its panacea.

Security n’ Social media

Whoah. Wow. Whoah.

We could not keep ourselves from saying these (and repeat them)  in class as our professor ‘revealed’ some new social media sites we haven’t known or heard before. Our Communication Trends and Styles (OrCom 152) class has never been this interesting, I can say. It was like being able to explore a secret passage in a deep excavation beyond expectation. Perhaps, we have never thought social media are actually beyond tweets, likes, posts, or comments.

Of all what our professor, Sir Barry, showed our class, the efficiency that the Internet gives a person to organize various social media sites while monitoring every update connected to an organization, celebrity, product, or anything there is impacted me the most. The core of our lesson today was how important image and reputation are to organizations and how new social media impact these nowadays. I usually fail to remember that aside from pleasing target markets and doing PR, organizations should prioritize crafting tactics on how to take over their competitors given the relay of tons of information. Information should be designed to engage to customers in one hand and to provide a defense against competitors in the other.

But then, the bigger issue here becomes how are organizations able to manage image and reputation in one hand and security in the other as they stand atop of social media?

Let me illustrate my point in relating what Joshua Cooper Ramo explained in his book The Age of the Unthinkable.

Glass- House Dangers

Ramo says that every nation now, in the context of globalization, is like glass house that is open for other nations to take surveillance on. This is the norm now, for if a nation has to shut itself from globalization,  it opts to suffer.

“If your country is open and democratic, then my open and democratic country can see what you are thinking. You can see what we are thinking.”

Similarly, I realized from today’s class that taking good care of your image and reputation entails comparing yourself with others. The sense is like “there is no such thing as good of there is no bad”. Moreover, in the business setting, every business should be ‘good’ all the time. This now implies segregating what should be in the limelight and what should be kept hidden.

There should be no walls anymore that organizations build to protect themselves from their external environment but instead have strategies that will make them protected while giving out more information.

Monitoring your competitors online seems to be an exciting task actually. It’s more interesting because of the fact that the Net is borderless unlike national war zones. Online battlefield is what the Internet is all about for organizations. Information war is now taken into a higher level where catapults, armies, and shields all comprise an organizational image.

Organization X can track all the information they need to have about their competitors and their competitors can do the same. But then, is this scenario gives an organization more of a benefit or more of a threat?

Transparency

“Positive transparency means more clarity should mean more stability.”

The idea of positive transparency among nation-states is also applicable to organizations. The more information people has about you, the more they get to know you. The more you disclose honest and genuine information, the more likely you can gain public’s trust. The more people trust you, the more you can earn your way to ‘stability’ as an organization.

But then, nothing works one way. Everything surely has its counterpart.

The existence of “negative transparency” is also discussed in the book. Transparency makes one nervous and realize that there is nothing to be complacent about in return. Ramo explicates this:

If your neighbor’s house was transparent and you could watch him polishing his gun collection, would this  make you feel nervous or less? What if you just watched him while he watched you?

Information battle makes one, or an organization, alert and prepared than ever at the very least. This is another thing organizations should prioritize:  how to be ready at all times given that environmental uncertainties abound. An organization must keep an observing eye to its surroundings and watch its competitors’ every move without being too anxious on their part.

Disclosing too little information in social media is detrimental nowadays for organizations as well giving out too much. How the battle will be won over relies on how companies develop strategies on how they can deliver just the right amount of information to its public, allow customers to be brand ambassadors themselves and let the web pages and blogs do the talking for them. To thrive as an organization may mean being Machiavellian of some sort but keeping the organization’s values intact and adhering to corporate ethical principles will surely lead organizations as glass houses the security they long to have.

Cry and click: What links depression to social media

Social networking sites have definitely changed us. Not because the way we communicate nor the way we connect to others has. How we view ourselves and the world are now in a flux more than ever because of social media.

I am coming clean. Two years ago, I suspected myself having a depression because of the usual things adolescents like me go through. Conflicts and issues with family, circle of friends, and even people I never thought I would care so much about became the dwelling thoughts in my mind from the moment I close my eyes to sleep to the time I wake up. I was actually not the type of person who cries easily when the going gets tough as I am used to put on a fierce and bold mask when terrible circumstances arise even though I am tearing up inside. How exactly did I escape  those dark times I do not know. However, as I discover my strengths and weaknesses from those experiences, there is this one that influenced my outlook in life now- yes, you are correct- social media.

(photo credits to : http://www.healthspablog.org)

Psychologists in the University of Leeds, UK studied if there is a relation between the use of Internet, particularly social media, and depression in February this year. They found that there is indeed a correlation between the two variables and even discovered that young people are more vulnerable to depression as their Internet addiction is definitely higher that middle-aged adults. The whole article can be read here.

The study even poses a new question whether the Internet causes depression or depressed people are drawn to browse the Net. In my experience ( as I cannot answer the question myself), I can say that depression and Internet come in cycle, and it is a case-to-case basis to know whether which variable comes first and which comes its implication. The more I visited social networking sites back then, the more I felt that depression covers me. But then, the more I become depressed, the more I sought the comfort of the world wide web.

I am contemplating on the reasons or factors why this phenomenon happens, and here is what I have came up with.

1. Social networking sites empower individuals to project the ‘self’ they think they are.

The conflict between the real self and ideal self of individuals clash in social networking sites. We always want to project a good image and reputation of ourselves, I think that is one basic human drive, to others. And in the Internet, we do this by making our profiles speak the best we have in ourselves. We post even hundreds of our vain photos (pictures of ourselves) in Facebook and Friendster. We want to show all our followers in Twitter that even notable people in the world are following us, too. We want to broadcast in the Net that we have 1,200 friends in Facebook, 50 photo albums, and our one status garners over 70 likes. But then, in real life away from the computer, are all these things true? Do we really look the ‘best’ as we do in our vain pictures everyday? Do we really mean it in real setting when we click ‘like’? I think there is a cognitive dissonance somewhere there and it may cause depression.

I Rate My Day! (www.iratemyday.com)

A social network where users are encouraged to describe how they are feeling that day. The company was founded by D2Soft Technologies based in Montreal, Canada.

2. Since our ideal self is what we want the world to see, we want that ideal self to be the best.

In other words, what we see and encounter in social networking sites give us reasons to be more envious of others. Or is it really that way? What we read, watch, or know from social networking sites sometimes make us feel our emotions, especially when they are negative, twice its heaviness. You feel so alone and problematic and there’s no one to comfort you and suddenly you found all your friends changed their status to ‘in a relationship’. Wouldn’t you feel heavier? You want to be the best in your class this semester and this high school competitor of yours when it comes to grades suddenly receives a lot of praises because he or she got a 1.0 in all his or her subjects? Wouldn’t it make you feel a loser? There is an implied competition in social networking sites without our awareness. We cannot help to compare ourselves with others, let’s say the one who you are stalking is in relationship with.

3. We realize that our cyberlife is different from real life.

In times of problems, we have the tendency to sign in on our social media accounts, post a status of what we are truly feeling, comment on that, and chat with those who are online. But then, do they really ease the pain and all? They help in some extent but the degree of how we feel and think is still the same. I am not saying that social media is or not therapeutic in this sense. Our 1,200 friends in Facebook are actually only 50 in real life. Among the 70 comments that our status has, only 10 of them are from friends that are really close to us. People in Facebook, Twitter, Multiply, or Tumblr may have all the :), :D, XD, or even :)))))))))))))))))))))) in their posts but not all of them have the same facial expression in the very same moment. I think in one way or another, this is a mechanism that we develop to project what we feel in the Internet. This is a probable cause if depression because there are instances wherein our emotions are actually augmented by our interactions in the Web.

But then, whatever reasons there are that account to our depression, what is important is how we deal with them and learn. This is even more exciting- social media is affecting us deeper as we do not know it- as social media is now a factor in our self-discovery.