Since today is the first day for me to post content since the establishment of this blog, I would like to explain how social networking services, which have evolved derivatively from blogs, have been able to increase the number of users so far.
I will also try to introduce in a serious tone, including my own reflections on the harmful effects brought about by the use of these services.
The Spread of SNSs and Their Impact on Society
In recent years, social networking services (SNS) have spread rapidly, and almost everyone now has at least one SNS account.
According to the ICT Research Institute's "2022 Survey on SNS Usage Trends," the number of SNS users in Japan is 82.7 million, showing an 82% penetration rate in Japan.
By the end of 2024, the penetration rate is expected to reach 83.88 million, indicating that SNS use is becoming commonplace in Japan.
It should be noted here that SNSs, which have become so widespread and common in modern society, have gone beyond their initial characteristics as a mere means of communication and have now transformed into an important field for self-expression and self-actualization.
Evolution of SNS: Transition to a Means of Self-expression
In the 20 years since then, the service has grown to include "Instagram," which was acquired by Facebook, "X (formerly Twitter)," which is now operated by X Corp. X (formerly Twitter), which is now operated by X Corp. and Tiktok provided by ByteDance.
Each of these services is a social network service that allows users to express themselves through images on Instagram, documents on Twitter, and videos on TikTok.
The proliferation of the above-mentioned social networking services has brought many benefits to users, such as sharing information with other companies, online communication, and as a means of self-expression as mentioned above. At the same time, however, it may be encouraging the occurrence of nuisance and criminal activities, and we are concerned that it may be harmful to society.
Various Evolutionary Forms of SNS
The Internet services that pioneered the emergence of these social networking services began to spread to the general public in the mid-1990s, but in the 30 years since their inception, IT devices have evolved at an extremely rapid pace.
In the three decades since the service was launched, IT devices have evolved at a very fast pace, making it possible to record almost every moment of daily life in one medium and post them on online platforms.
As mentioned above, services such as Twitter and blogs, which mainly transmit documents, are considered to guarantee freedom of expression in terms of freedom of thought and conscience, so as long as they do not contain content that violates other laws, such as slanderous statements that injure the dignity of others or defamation of others, they are considered to be free.
Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that a certain degree of freedom of speech is allowed, as long as it does not include content that violates other laws, such as slander and defamation of other companies or defamation of others.
In recent years, however, there has been a trend in favor of video-based SNSs such as Instagram and Tiktok, rather than text-based SNS such as Twitter and blogs. I suspect that there are a variety of reasons for this, but one of them is that it is easier to express one's life-size or even larger "self" to others when one transmits one's own information through images.
It is expected that readers will interpret information in the way the creator intended, and information can be conveyed to the recipient more easily and correctly than if it were conveyed in written form.
The Rise of Visual SNSs and the Factors Behind Them
In today's world, where free expression is possible even for those without outstanding literary talent as long as they have their own presence, what is considered most important is their own glamorous or distinguished presence in the eyes of those around them.
Thus, image-based social networking sites have instilled the idea of appearance supremacy in people, and it has become commonplace to have one's presence recognized by others on social networking sites as if it were a natural process.
This has intensified a kind of competition for self-expression on the Internet, and users are now faced with the problem of how to satisfy their need for approval quickly and effectively.
As explained above, young people are currently engaged in activities to satisfy their own need for approval on social networking services, aiming to be "beautiful and gorgeous in the eyes of others" and "outstanding in the eyes of others. These activities are harmful to people's health and criminal to society.
Health Damage from SNSs Use: Pursuit of Beauty and Mental Health
First of all, let's look at the health hazards caused to people by the expressive competition on social networking sites, which may be mainly due to the expressive activities done to gain approval for the "beautiful and glamorous self seen by others.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has published a report on the impact of social media (SNS) on the mental health of young people. According to this report.
"When comparing YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter, Instagram was found to have the worst impact."
The survey, conducted by RSPH, surveyed 1,479 14- to 24-year-olds about the impact of the five most popular social networking sites, asking them about 14 items, including anxiety, depression, loneliness, bullying, and feelings of inferiority about their appearance that they experience on each.
The results showed that the photo-sharing site Instagram has a stronger negative impact on the minds of young people than other social networking sites, including anxiety, loneliness, bullying, and feelings of inferiority about their appearance.
To present oneself as beautiful and glamorous, it is necessary to dress oneself up in luxury brands and modify images to look beautiful as defined by the service providers through image processing.
The most serious problem is that social networking sites are made up of posters that transmit images of themselves beyond their life-size, and their excessively decorated appearance has become their normal appearance. These acts of manipulation mean an indirect denial of their actual appearance and environment, creating a gap between their actual selves and their Internet-approved selves. I believe that this may have caused the health problems indicated in the above study.
SNS and the Increase in Criminal Activity: The Dark Side of Expressive Competition
Next, it is important to mention that social networking sites have given rise to the spread of criminal behavior in society. This may be mainly due to the fact that people have been engaging in expressive activities on social networking sites in search of "distinguishing themselves from others.
These criminal acts of expression on SNS are what are referred to as "nuisance content" that has been discussed in the media in recent years. Nuisance content" here refers to content that is filmed or recorded as behavior or speech that may violate laws or ordinances.
One of the most recent examples of this type of unsolicited content is the Sushiro soy sauce licking incident that occurred in January of this year.
A video of a young boy licking a soy sauce stick at a Sushiro restaurant, a major conveyor-belt sushi chain, was spread on social networking services.
The impact of this incident caused the stock price of Sushiro's operating company, Food & Life Companies, to plummet by 17 billion yen in market capitalization, a huge loss.
Based on statistical data released by public organizations and research institutes, it was found that along with the increase in the number of SNS users, the number of reports of online nuisances and criminal acts is also on the rise.
These may be mainly due to the anonymity of social networking sites and the environment of large numbers of users, which may have reduced people's sense of deterrence and led them to take more extreme actions. In fact, there have been scattered cases where many criminals and nuisance offenders are not fully aware of the negative impact their behavior has on others.
Thus, the behavior of trying to satisfy the need for approval by gaining attention from others on social networking sites may result in attracting young people to engage in illegal behavior.
Psychological Factors of Young People's SNS Behavior
Now that you understand that using social networking sites can have negative effects on people, such as causing health problems and encouraging criminal behavior, why do people become so desperate for approval on social networking sites?
I believe it is essential to investigate the psychological factors behind this behavior in order to find a drastic solution to this problematic behavior. First, I will discuss the causes of why young people engage in this behavior.
Approval anxiety refers to a state of mind that strongly seeks recognition and approval from others, and social networking sites are attractive to young people with a strong desire for this approval because they can obtain direct approval in the form of "likes" and "follows.
At the same time, however, the reality is that in order to gain a large number of likes and shares, content that is more extreme or challenging than typical content is more likely to attract attention. Therefore, it is possible that the strong desire for approval may be a factor that gives rise to extreme or disruptive behavior.
The desire for self-expression also plays a major role as a motivation for SNS use. Young people need to experience many experiences and challenges in order to establish their own identity during the process of growth. Therefore, SNS is very suitable as a place for self-expression and is used as a tool to communicate their values and thoughts.
Improvement of IT literacy and understanding of social issues
In this Internet Technology(IT) society, which has developed rapidly over the past 30 years since Internet services began to spread, the first thing that should be done is,
measures to improve the IT literacy of users, and this may be an urgent task in ensuring the safety of today's society.
In order to address these issues, it is necessary for users, educators, parents, and society as a whole to cooperate, correctly understand the new forms of communication in the digital age, and respond appropriately. However, at the same time, understanding and addressing the social ills associated with the growing need for approval is an unavoidable challenge in today's society.
SNS and the Impact of Desire for Approval: Coexistence of Tech Development and Challenges
Based on the above research and discussion, we can conclude that "the desire for approval is spreading among young people, and this is having a detrimental effect on society,
Even before the development of the Internet, we were engaged in expressive activities to establish ourselves, perhaps in sports or the arts.However, with the birth of social networking services, a convenient platform that allows people to express themselves anywhere and does not require special abilities or positions, people have jumped on the bandwagon and exploited opportunities for healthy growth.
In addition, self-expression on social networking sites is highly competitive, and it is natural for people to engage in extreme and disruptive behavior in order to differentiate themselves from others.
What is needed, therefore, is to improve the net literacy of users, to acquire knowledge of net-related laws, and to inform people of past cases that have occurred on the net.
