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Alexa Gregorian
Professor Olson
30 March 2015
ENGL114B
Flaws of Social Media
In recent years online networking has encountered endless popularity in our general public.
From personal web pages to full-blown mass communication networks where users can find
almost any information about themselves or others within seconds. As the amount of time users
spend on social media sites continues to grow, their interactions with others decreases, meaning
that most of their socializing occurs within the computer or phone screen. The nature of these
social media apps and sites allows individuals to truly define what they want people to see, down
to how people filter their selfies. This has a negative impact on the millennial generation
because many people define their identity on social media as something different than they are in
real life. People need to be conscious of what they are publishing and who is seeing their posts,
as their acquaintances can form any opinion of them. In todays society, social media sites such
as Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder contribute to a false sense of perception to the majority of
social media users. When one has the ability to portray themselves differently on social media
than they are in real life, it opens up several insecurities such as trust issues, appearance, and
false identities a person has within themselves.
Facebook is the biggest social networking site containing 1.2 billion users per month;
therefore, making facebook a contributing factor for online dating. Users have the opportunity to
be honest with their feelings via status updates shared will all of their friends. According to
Social Media Sites as a Means of Coping with a Threatened Social Identity, When a social

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group is devalued or marginalized, it results in a threatened social identity (Schmalz 26). This
proves that many people may be against certain groups made on Facebook, and can lead to group
issues or personal reputation. Group activity can affect a person at an individual level with the
groups they choose to be apart of and the comments that get published on the group page. This
can isolate people or negatively corrupt ones identity by not including someone into the group
or posting unrelated or improper information. Facebook was designed for maintaining longdistance relationships, entertainment, organizing social events, and establishing new friendships.
According to the journal called How Facebook users select identity categorizes for selfpresentation, The attention of some authors has been drawn to the way that displayed identity
on Facebook may have only limited correspondence to that in the real world. This proves how
many Facebook profiles are used to create idealized versions of selves and not ones actual
characteristics. Ones identity can be judged by who they accept and follow, what they
post/share, and what a person likes on the social networking site. Furthermore, this can be
detrimental to a persons identity and can create trust issues in relationships and false
appearances changing the way one is looked upon in the future.
Due to Instagrams vast ability to view other peoples profiles worldwide, comes
problems with privacy and trust. Instagram is a photo-sharing application in which the user can
share with the world what they find interesting or important to them in their lives. According to
the journal Electronic Identities-Public or Private, The electronic appearance is very
simplified, thus not at all unique and can be easily faked (Schweighofer 236). This quote shows
that apps like Instagram, which has several filters and a variety of effects that can help make an
image look better or possibly unrecognizable to the public, proves that our cyber identity we
portray is easily misinterpreted. The majority of pictures posted on Instagram range from events,

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such as what the user is eating, listening to, parties and concerts attended, etc. Instagram can
have a contrary effect on a persons identity by what pictures they share and popularity from how
many followers they have or how many likes they can get on one photo. False appearances are a
result of a persons insecurities and can create trust issues and a negative stigma of oneself.
Tinder relys on users to create profiles based on appearance rather than personality,
proving it to be a risky form of dating and finding love. Tinder is thought of as being a onenight stand app. A different variety of ages use this online dating website to establish
relationships but at the same time are looking for some fun. Many young teenagers are using
Tinder for popularity reasons to meet new people. According to the Daily Dot News article,
Tinder doesnt actually do that much to ensure users are who they say they are. This article
proves that it can be very easy to fake an account and steal ones photos from their Tinder
profiles. Tinder has an opposing influence on how one is looked upon and described from the
images they are portraying of themselves. There could be a possibility of the Tinder account
being created by an individual who is not the person in the images, possible sex offenders, or
people that one needs to be cautious of or research before interacting with. As a result, Tinder
allows one to alter their personal identity to shape an enhanced version of oneself.
Social networking sites provide a means of self-expression for users, but having these
outlets of expression, can create an issue of balancing multiple selves and their respective
audiences. Teenagers use social media to make changes to their self-identity online due to
insecurity issues such as mistrusts, appearance, and false identities. Using several of these social
media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder, individuals can form an online identity of
you and who they perceive themselves to be. Whether it is the people you are friends with online,
or the pictures that you post to your profile, people have the right to perceive a certain identity of

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you through the Internet. When you completely control each aspect of your social media
presence, one has the ability to truly define what you want to be, but in reality, it may not be a
true representation of who you are.

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Works Cited

"Facebook Has Totally Reinvented Human Identity: Why Its Even Worse than You Think."
Saloncom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
"How Facebook Users Select Identity Categories for Self Presentation." How Facebook Users
Select Identity Categories for Self-Presentation. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
"How to View All the Photos You've Liked with Instagram for IPhone." IMore. N.p., 02 Sept.
2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
Schmalz, Dorothy L., Craig M. Colistra, and Katherine E. Evans. "Social Media Sites as a
Means of Coping With a Threatened Social Identity." Leisure Sciences 37.1 (2015): 2038. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
Schweighofer, Erich, and Walter Htzendorfer. "Electronic Identities Public Or Private."
International Review Of Law, Computers & Technology 27.1/2 (2013): 230-239.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
"Tinder, a Dating App With a Difference." Bits Tinder a Dating App With a Difference
Comments. N.p., 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
"UNC Student Searches for 'Kim,' the Girl Who Stole Her Identity on Tinder." The Daily Dot.
N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.