Social Media – The Social B.

Social Media and Civil Discourse

By Jillynn Reese

Social media has been a blessing and curse for the public today. It has provided a platform for us to immediately respond to things happening around us. However, there are two types of people that populate Twitter and Facebook timelines.

1. The “Good”: simply put, they use their accounts for good. These accounts promote inspiritation, gratitude, humility etc. They are used for positive engagement.

2. The “Bad”: again, as simply put, that use their accounts for bad. The individuals with the most criticism about everything. These are the people calling others dumb for their views on the world. These individuals comment negatively and argue with those who disagree with their views.

How does these type of people effective social media and civil discourse? Civil discourse is conversation that enhances understanding. While doing research for work, I’ve come across many opinions on the matter. Many believe that the practice has declined, thanks to social media.

But I don’t think social media is the one to blame. Recent studies have show that subjects such as social studies are being cut in the public school curriculum. Therefore, students aren’t able to learn the true basics of civility. With that being said, discourse has declined because it’s no longer being taught.

Now, I would like to point out that the students aren’t the cause in lack of civil discourse; however, they will be the generation to continue the decrease if we don’t get it together and act as better examples. We let the fact that we can post what we want on timelines and news feeds, go way left. We are subjected to cyberbulling, because the situation is funny. We argue about the validity of hashtags and yet people are still being mudered, taken, incarcerated etc #(insert name here). We never truly discuss for understanding of one another’s views. We discuss to prove how right we are and the wrongness of another.

We should be able to seek prime examples of civility within our government. But our government has become a Comedy Central skit, right before our eyes. A large percentage of our country supports a man that has the desire to dictate and rule America, rather than guide and be an assistance to his people. A man with no political background is running for president.

A man who just announced he would utilize his second amendment to “take care of the Hillary problem,” WHEN she’s elected. That is NOT civil. We have the worst example of civililty plastered across our screens, news feeds and emails daily. Debates have roasting matches, which certainly does not enhance understanding. I believe the lack of civil discourse has had a major effect on us as a people and how we communicate on social media in times of discussion.

We have to remember we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We have to understand this nation thrives on the diversity of people, opinions and views. We have to encourage healthy discussions and learn to agree to disagree. Next time you have a discussion of how black lives matter or why Trump shouldn’t be in the running for president, have an open mind and listen to understand. I’m sure both parties will leave the discussion having learned something.

Social Media Leading Women To Objectifying Their Body’s

By Bre Nicole J

insidethegirlsroom.com

Social media is a relatively new paradigm , not even two decades old. Various social media outlets include twitter, instagram, tumblr, facebook, dating sites, kik, and many more. So what do all of these outlets have in common? Researchers are continuously studying how women evaluate their body images through social media.

Since the start of Myspace and Facebook , researchers wanted to know how much time do people actually spend on these sites. Now, studies are leaning more towards how women compare their bodies to other women because of the excessive picture posting.

In the Sage Journal, “Psychology of Women Quarterly”, Psychologists Jasmine Fardouly, along with her team wrote,

“Given the large number of images posted to Facebook (currently over 250 billion images; Facebook, 2013), as well as the appearance-related comments they often receive from others, Facebook may well be considered an appearance-focused media type.
Alone women spend an average of 2 hours a day on Facebook. So it’s no surprise that in between those hours of the day, women are loading pictures and often times scrolling through their timelines lurking on images of other women or their own photos.

Researchers Slater and Tiggemann (2015) found that the amount of time spent on social networks was associated with greater self-objectification.

Women have a long history of being objectified in the media from television, music videos, and print magazines, why would the objectification just stop at these mediums and not social media? And why are women self objectifying themselves?

Some can argue low self-esteem, vanity, or insecurities. Women have been known to compare themselves to other women, whether short, skinny, tall, plus size, short hair or long hair. It’s just something women do—that is—label themselves in comparison to others.

When a person compares their own inner or self-image to an image that has been filtered on social media it can pose the threat to self objectification and self-absorption. When self comparisons take place that person looks at themselves as the spectator or observer.

One researcher suggests, “Self-comparisons to images of a previous self might engender a greater focus on specific body parts, also contributing to self-objectification.”

Researchers give tips on how to avoid becoming self objectified and harming one’s self esteem. Here are the tips :

Post fewer images of self on social media

Follow people on Facebook or (social media ) who post photos less frequently

Guess I’ve lost the battle to this fight! Let us know how you feel about this study?

Sources:

Author Rick Nauert PhD, Young Women Compare Themselves on Social Media”

Author Rebecca Adams The Huffington Post “How Facebook Stalking Could Lead Women To Objectify Their Own Bodies”

Fardouly, J., Diedrichs, P.C., Vartanian, L.R., Halliwell, E. (2015). ‘The Mediating Role of Appearance Comparisons in the Relationship Between Media Usage and Self-Objectification in Young Women’, Psychology of Women Quarterly, Sage Journal , p 34 doi: 10.1177/036168431558184

Bre Nicole is a multimedia personality working in front and behind the scenes. She founded a blog site called insidethegirlsroom.com, the fall of 2014, while studying Family Life Education and Communications at Western Michigan University. During her senior year at WMU, she received a full ride scholarship at Specs Howard School of Media Arts for Broadcast Media. Bre Nicole has also interned with Oh So Radio as a blogger, hosted on a TV show called 7 Mile 2 Belle Isle Reloaded and was a production intern for the Blaine Fowler Morning Show at 96.3 WDVD (Cumulus Media Detroit). She is currently an on air radio personality for Power96.5 in Lansing,Michigan. Media is just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to Bre Nicole,this young,ambitious 24-year-old has also interned as a suicide prevention specialist and has a nonprofit agency called Saving Our Sisters that focuses on breaking abusive family cycles and prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault in our communities, while providing workshops on emotional well-being and healthy relationships.

Cynthia Bailey Has Something To Say About Her Husband’s Cheating Scandal

By Ciara Page

Uh oh! Trouble in Cynthia Bailey’s “paradise”?

Maybe Mama and Sister Bailey should’ve kept the marriage license hidden a little longer than they did!

After Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star Peter Thomas was caught on camera being too close and flirtatious with another women, wife Cynthia Bailey finally spoke out about it!

After coming on air with V103 Atlanta Morning Show, Cynthia commented on the video. Agreeing that Peter was indeed too close to the women in the video and also inappropriate for it, she makes it clear that this is not enough to use her catwalk legs and walk away and divorce her husband of 5 years!

“I wasn’t there. I saw the video like everyone else. It seemed like he was kissing some identified woman on her cheek….You know, when I saw the video I thought it was inappropriate… I don’t know if it’s grounds for divorce, but… I’m not going to set his clothes on fire, but we’re going to talk about some things.”

I’ll be honest we love knowing the latest buzz so that’s definitely one conversation we’d love to sit in on.

Just kidding. But isn’t it just the WORSE to find out something about your man through social media?

Well, Cynthia had no problem playing the game right back! She took it upon herself to delete all her pictures of her and her hubby on Instagram, and even made her page private to stray away from all of the negativity. I’m certain her Instagram account was popping when the news first broke.

What do you ladies think about this? Is Cynthia too passive with Peter and all of his ways?