TOPIC: Social Media

In a world where social media has become the leading subject of both communication and entertainment, how has individuality and the collective compensated, if at all? What are the functional versus dysfunctional qualities of social media, and what would need to change in current society to come to more ideal and healthy ways of using social media? Does the ego get affected in a positive or negative way by social media? Are there enough safety measures to the internet and social media use, and do we need it?

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In the last session, topic “This ego of mine”, we discussed how the ego affects us in sometimes positive and sometimes negative ways. More specifically we attempted to focus on how the ego can be a positive reflection of individual identity without being overly attached to the idea of the ego thus leading to what many Buddhists believe is suffering. In doing so, we used the example of mask wearing during COVID as an example of ego’s clashing and attempted to arrive to a middle point. This feat proved to be very difficult and sparked a conversation on both self care and social media — the topic of which was used for today’s session.

Due to the Coronavirus, we do urge you to stay at home if you’ve travelled recently, feeling sick or weak, have been in contact with someone recently quarantined, are in the “at risk” group. The DDG team cares for all your individual health, and hope that those who can make it can share some insight on how to cope during these odd times. Please be sure to keep a fair distance around people, avoiding touching the face or others, drink lots of liquids. Since our conversations have moved to a virtual medium, there will be no live video posting.

*OPTIONAL READS*

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#3c66223e2e5a

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-and-mental-health.htm#:~:text=Since%20it’s%20a%20relatively%20new,harm%2C%20and%20even%20suicidal%20thoughts.

https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/impact-of-social-media/

https://www.simplilearn.com/real-impact-social-media-article

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2019/07/28/social-media-has-normalized-the-idea-of-sharing-without-consent/#194c01b81910

https://sociable.co/social-media/social-media-unconscious/

image from: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/