Does Facebook Promote Loneliness? Literature & Language Essay

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Does Facebook Promote Loneliness?
Facebook promotes loneliness. The behemoth tech giant has been founded on the illusion of connecting people but in the hindsight, it is setting people apart. Less people have meaningful interactions outside social media and it has created an artificial layer of friendship which covers many lonely souls. Many people take to the social media to connect with friends but they barely know the people they call friends.
Firstly, before newer social media sites like Instagram and TikTok took root, Facebook and Twitter were the main social media sites available to many people. they presented the illusion that the people are connected while they just kept tabs open to know their friends. Facebook capped the number of friends anyone can have to 5000 which is many times more than Dunbar’s number. Users can entertain a maximum of 100–200 stable relationships CITATION Gon11 \l 1033 (Gonçalves, Perra, & Vespignani, 2011). That is a very large number and no one can maintain meaningful relationship with such number of people. It is impossible to form meaningful bonds with people in the cyberspace and friendships coined on social media if used as a substitute for real-life social interaction can lead to loneliness.
Time spent on social media should be invested in meaningful social circles. Only real-life friends can help someone with some challenges. Staying on social media robs the people time to engage in meaningful interactions that can build their social life. Eventually, most people end up only having Facebook friends who cannot help them in time of need. They also lack healthy friendships in real life which further alienate people from each other CITATION Sol14 \l 1033 (Solomon, 2014). Over the years, there has been many people who withdrawn from their friends and family but maintain a constant presence on social media platforms. The illusion that they are keeping up with friends on the social media many of whom they met through the platform becomes apparent when they want a real friend to support them. At that point, they feel lonely becaus...