Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:35:59.120Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anxiety, alienation, and estrangement in the context of social media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2021

Emily Qureshi-Hurst Open the ORCID record for Emily Qureshi-Hurst [Opens in a new window]
Emily Qureshi-Hurst*
Affiliation:
Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Oxford, Pembroke College, St Aldates, Oxford, OX11DW, UK
*
email: emily.qureshihurst@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article applies Paul Tillich's existentialist analysis of the human predicament, particularly what it means to exist and to be fallen, to social media. I argue that social media heightens feelings of alienation and estrangement, supporting this claim with evidence from empirical research in psychiatry and communication studies. Thus, I offer an application of a Tillichian approach to an area of culture previously unexamined in this way. I identify three primary ways in which social media exacerbates existentialist emotional states: (1) social media allows us to construct artificial versions of ourselves through the use of filters and photo editing software; (2) it provides the means to quantify social approval in groups the size of which the human brain has not evolved for; (3) it extends the size of our social networks but decreases the quality of interactions. Social media is yet to receive significant philosophical or theological engagement despite its prevalence, particularly within younger generations. I argue that this is a mistake – philosophy has a duty to engage with such a ubiquitous feature of modern life.

Keywords

Paul TillichSocial MediaEstrangementAlienationExistentialism
Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , September 2022 , pp. 522 - 533
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bostrom, N (1998/2001) What is transhumanism?. www.nickbostrom.com.Google Scholar
Bostrom, N (2005) A history of transhumanist thought. Journal of Evolution and Technology 14, 1–25.Google Scholar
Carr, CT and Hayes, RA (2015) Social media: defining, developing, and divining. Atlantic Journal of Communication 23, 46–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, JM (ed.) (1997) Plato: Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hackett.Google Scholar
Dreisbach, DF (1980) Essence, existence, and the fall: Paul Tillich's analysis of existence. The Harvard Theological Review 73, 521–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Earle, E (2017) The rhetoric of Kairos: Paul Tillich's reinterpretation. Journal of Communication & Religion 40, 24–36.Google Scholar
Eshiet, J (2020) ‘Real Me Versus Social Media Me’: Filters, Snapchat Dysmorphia, and Beauty Perceptions among Young Women. (Master of arts in communication studies). California State University.Google Scholar
Floridi, L (2014) The 4th Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hannan, J (2018) Trolling ourselves to death? Social media and post-truth politics. European Journal of Communication 33, 214–226.10.1177/0267323118760323CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harari, YN (2014) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. London: Harvill Secker.Google Scholar
Haywood Thomas, J (2000) Tillich. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Holland, G and Tiggemann, M (2016) A systematic review of the impact of the use of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes. Body Image 17, 100–110.10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hunt, MG, Marx, R, Lipson, C and Young, J (2018) No more Fomo: limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 37, 751–768.10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keles, B, McCrae, N and Grealish, A (2019) A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 25, 79–93.10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelley, Y, Zilanawalaa, A, Booker, C and Sackera, A (2018) Social media use and adolescent mental health: findings from the UK Millennium cohort study. The Lancet 6, 59–68.Google Scholar
Leopold, D (2018) Alienation. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/alienation/ [accessed 7 October 2020].Google Scholar
Ramphul, K and Mejias, SG (2018) Is ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’ a real issue? Cureus 10, 2263.Google Scholar
Sullivan, D, Kay, AC and Landau, MJ (2012) Toward a comprehensive understanding of existential threat: insights from Paul Tillich. Social Cognition 30, 734–757.10.1521/soco.2012.30.6.734CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thatcher, A (1978) The Ontology of Paul Tillich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tillich, P (1952) The Courage to Be. London: James Nisbet.Google Scholar
Tillich, P (1953) Systematic Theology I. London: James Nisbet.Google Scholar
Tillich, P (1957) Systematic Theology II. London: James Nisbet.Google Scholar
Tillich, P (1963) The Eternal Now. New York: Scribner.Google Scholar
Ulanov, AB (1985) The Anxiety of Being. In Adams, JL, Pauck, W, and Shinn, RL (eds), The Thought of Paul Tillich. San Francisco: Harper & Row, pp. 119–136.Google Scholar
Vannucci, A, Flannery, KM and McCauley Ohannessian, C (2017) Social media use and anxiety in emerging adults. Journal of Affective Disorders 207, 163–166.10.1016/j.jad.2016.08.040CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, C-C (2016) Instagram use, loneliness, and social comparison orientation: interact and browse on social media, but don't compare. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 19, 73–78.10.1089/cyber.2016.0201CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed