For this interview, I interviewed my dad who is a professional in digital media and advertising.

Olivia: So, what social media platforms do you use?

Dad: I use Facebook obviously but I am new to Instagram and Snapchat. I also use Skype to conduct interviews and Whatsapp to communicate with my international offices.

Olivia: So for the most part, you are using most of these platforms for business purposes.

Dad: Well not exactly, I am new to Instagram but that’s mostly because you always rave about how its your favorite but I now see how easy it is to promote yourself and products. Even restaurants use Instagram.

Olivia: Yeah, I told you that’s how I find some of the trendy spots across Manhattan! Through Instagram. Anyways, would you use a name other than your own for any of your accounts?

Dad: Well, I don’t see why I would unless I am personally running an account for a company or business. Otherwise, what is the point of creating a fake name?

This was just a small portion of our brief interview but it was interesting to see a professional adults standpoint on social media. I also find it interesting for someone to be so new to these social media platforms because for us, it is second nature. Everyday my dad comes to me with new questions about Snapchat and Instagram and how they are used to promote yourself and products, restaurants, travel destinations, etc. For him, it is a whole new world of vast opportunity.

On the other side, he doesn’t understand why people would create fake internet personas. He asked me “well isn’t that how people get catfished?”— exactly. I myself don’t understand why anyone would create a fake name on social media unless they are personally running an account for a company or a brand.

We both believe that many people create fake lives on Instagram. They show only their best times and best looks but the problem with that is it makes many people believe that they too should be living this extravagant life but in reality, its actually fake. Turkle speaks to this idea in her article “We have used our relationships with technology to reflect on the human (Turkle pg. 24).” Much of the time, we are reflecting on people who are promoting themselves through an exaggerated form making their lives look much happier and more extravagant than they actually are.

So my questions are ultimately:

Do you believe social media has a negative effect on our emotions when people are creating these false images of happiness and extravagence?