I found the content of the film very extremely interesting; it is about how social media can affect our psyche on a day-to-day basis. It was brilliantly constructed, so I was easily able to follow the author's points. I guess you could say that it does expose social media in a mostly negative light - the argument is approached with balance and consideration of the positives - however the conclusion (that we can potentially become lonely whilst being surrounded by people) is certainly in most people's eyes not a good value to hold.
I also found the distinction between being lonely and being alone was particularly thought provoking, so decided to do some more research and try to distinguish them further. It lead me to discover that the key difference it seems is that being alone is a positive state of mind, where a person is content with being only with themselves; a state of mind in which they can be to calm themselves, recover and overall figure themselves out. Whereas in stark contrast, being lonely is a negative state of mind where a person feels sad/upset at being left alone; a state that arises from a certain situation in a person's life which leaves them discontent or heartbroken.
The visuals really support the voiceover and are used to illustrate what is being said, encouraging imagery to be created within the audience. I am by no means an animation expert but it is clear to see that there is a distinctive, modern, retro-like style which is maintained throughout.
"We're sacrificing conversation for mere connection, and so a paradoxical situation is created, in which we claim to have many friends whilst actually being lonely"
The audiences thirst for why and how is soon fulfilled, as the autor describes that advances in social media and technology are to blame for the barrier that appears to be forming between the importance of the quality of a friend and significance the quantity. You don't have to look very far for evidence either; on Twitter, the figure underneath the word 'followers' is to some people the most important aspect of their account, and many go out of their way to increase this number without actually considering who they are looking for - for some, their 'friends' are merely the figures.
Time and control appear to be the main reason that connection is replacing conversation, and building our own personal profile/images to be as close to perfect as possible is the driving force. But why is this dangerous? The film concludes with the sentence, "If we don't know how to be alone, we are only going to be lonely". In other words, the autor's concern is that social media means we have the potential to never be alone, as we are always surrounded by our connections - which means we effectively do not have the chance to find a place of serenity and peace. He believes that this in turn, will lead to humans feeling isolated and dissatisfied, rather than being content and happy within themselves.
Personally, I think his points are extremely tempting to agree with, as he poses such a clear argument and you only have to log on to any chosen social media platform to see it in action. However, I think he has been rather stereotypical in his points. It is certainly true that many people use social media to promote themselves and become as popular as they can be - which is part of human nature - however he does not take into account the fact that there are many people who use social media for thousands of other reasons aside building their image. For instance, people who use networks purely to reconnect with friends, or people who already have a clear sense of who they are and actually just enjoy the function of social media etc. I actually think that the character building aspect is an extremely positive outcome, as it promotes development within our society. So although I understand his points and agree with the basis of his argument, our conclusions differ, as I believe that social media has an insane way of bringing people together - what's the harm in connections?
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