Does Facebook Make us Feel More Loved?

Pre discussion questions

Why are social networking sites like Facebook so popular?

How do you think Facebook makes us feel more loved?

One of the newest shows on Netflix online television is Black Mirror. Black Mirror is about a world where we are all competing with each other for ‘likes.’ In this world how popular we are is the most important thing to be successful. The first episode is a woman who needs to get her average above 4.5 out of 5.0 if she wants to be able to rent a house at a cheaper price. If she has more than 4.5 it means that she is a better person because of how many people press ‘like’ on their phones during a day. So she is nice and says ‘hello’ to strangers in the elevator. She is very nice to the person who she buys her coffee of.

Is this the way that the world is becoming?

The most famous, at least in the English speaking world, is Facebook. Some of us spend hours of our time to see how many people have “liked” our photos and posts. And we want to know who ‘liked us.’ We feel elevated when people make nice comments. We might tell everybody about our newest problem and get sympathy from others. Comments like,  “don’t worry, it will be okay”, “oh you look fantastic in that jacket” Perhaps our ego is connected to what others think of us.

A word that has become used a lot these days is ‘narcissism.’ Some would say that Facebook panders to our narcissistic tendencies. It is about showing the world the ‘me’ that we want them to see. We need as many people as possible to like us, to think about us.

Basic psychology says that human beings crave positive reinforcement. We get this reinforcement from praise and reward. This is okay, but the problem can be that the more we get praise, then the more we want more of this reinforcement. So could we say that social network sites like Facebook have caused this problem? Maybe we have always been the same, but Facebook has just shown us more of what we are really like.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=1, B=8, C=5, D=7, E=2, F=3, G=6, H=4

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1.      His perfect score elevated his grade from an A to an A+.

2.      He had a difficult year, so we need to have sympathy for his hard time.

3.      He has a big ego, he thinks he is the very best.

4.      Many say that Donald Trump is a big narcissist, he cares about himself first always.

5.      She pandered to his need to feel important by always telling him that he was the best.

6.      Cats have a tendency to steal food.

7.      I gave up eating sweet sugary foods, but sometimes I still crave chocolate when I go into a shop.

8.      We reinforced the wall which was weak with some more concrete.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1.      Does being popular on social media elevate your feelings? If so, how?

2.      If someone says they are sad on Facebook, then how do you show sympathy? What do you say?

3.      Describe someone you think has a big ego.

4.      Why do you think narcissistic leaders can be dangerous?

5.      When people show their photos on social media, do you pander to their need to have people comment?

6.      Do you have any tendencies that you need to change?

7.      Do you crave any kind of food? If you were outside your country, what food do you think you would crave the most?

8.      If someone is feeling sad, how should we reinforce their need to feel valuable or needed?