Mummy, Look At Me!

One of the most notable changes in technology in the past few years has been the rise of social networking websites, now more imbedded and influential than ever before.

Facebook and Twitter are amongst the most visited websites in the world, with millions of personal profiles visited every day. The statistics surrounding these social networking sites are of unerring magnitude, almost Orwellian in the way they seem to have ‘taken over’ some aspects of daily life.

Most company websites these days have links to Facebook, Twitter or both, and their popularity has been picked up on by consumerists as a powerful point of selling and advertising.

There are obviously many benefits to these websites, and their unifying qualities are what have made them the stalwart of the internet generation that they now are. People of all ages and backgrounds are welcomed on to Facebook and Twitter, and it is perhaps the sociability of such websites – allowing you to stay in touch with friends and family, as well as broadening your social horizons – that are their most appealing facets.

But a recent report by Baroness Greenfield, Professor of Pharmacology at Oxford University, claims that websites like Facebook and Twitter are having a bigger effect on our lives than we may initially think. It has been said that social networking websites are giving some individuals an ‘identity crisis’, and creating a child-like mentality when using them, similar to a toddler saying ‘mummy, look at me’.

The use of such websites may lead to what Baroness Greenfield has described as a ‘re-wiring’ of the brain.  It is feared that there may be an effect on people’s concentration spans, as well as having greater impatience and a want of immediate gratification, and even so much as causing an inability to make eye contact in conversations.

With another eminent technological advancement of the last decade, the mobile phone, now joining forces with social networks, it seems that the effects social networking may have will be greater now than ever before, as many phones these days have applications that directly link in with social networking sites. Some Contractor Weekly readers may have noticed our article on Google+ recently, and with greater competition within the social networking world, such websites are here to stay and their influence and importance is more likely to rise than to fall.

Though Baroness Greenfield is an expert in pharmacology (simply put, the study of how the brain functions under certain chemical influence) her arguments seem to be more concerned with the moral and personal issues that Facebook, Twitter and the like may bring about.

Chief concerns are that social networking nullifies the individualistic aspects of a person, and that posts and statements that people put on the websites are often for show and to gauge a reaction, and Baroness Greenfield fears that this will create a generation more concerned with what others think of them than what they think of themselves.

Greenfield has described her worries at the ‘banality’ of what is posted on Facebook and Twitter, but that people do things and say things in order to become a sort of ‘mini-celebrity’, with people desperate for others to ‘know about them’ and what they are doing.

Sue Palmer, an author and literacy expert, has echoed Greenfield’s views, placing significant analysis on girls and social networking. Palmer claims that many girls feel that they are a ‘commodity they must sell to other people’ and that Facebook has altered the way that people view themselves, focussing undoubtedly on their social and public representations, ‘people used to have a portrait painted but now we can more or less design our own picture online’ said Palmer.

The notoriety and influence of the social networking phenomenon shows no sign of slowing up or ceasing, and with new additions coming from powerful quarters, it seems that social networking may become somewhat of a cornerstone in some circles. With the effects of this virtual world already being noted and taking place, how long will it be before social networking has serious ramifications on the way we live our lives? Or, perchance, has it already happened?

One does wonder what George Orwell’s profile picture would be, or whether he’d consider re-tweeting this article were he alive today.