(image: youtube.com)
Pila kaw ka oras nagsuyong
sa selpon?
You
think that they are not active on social media since they are not posting
anything. But they are there, scrolling and looking at each mistake others do
on the virtual spaces. These are the modern-day voyeurs. They are the social
media voyeurs.
A
social media voyeur is the one who lurks in the shadows and uses social media
as a means of peering into the lives of others (Fazio, 2014).
This
one goes online to get the scoop on what’s going on with everyone else. Often
these people will scroll through their news feed for hours, or you might find
them following the accounts of multiple people especially those who have
celebrity status.
Manochikitsa
(counselling site in India) reported: Psychologically, voyeuristic tendencies
can be driven by a desire for control, a sense of escape, or the fulfilment of
unmet fantasies. The digital age has facilitated voyeuristic behavior by
providing anonymity and accessibility through webcams, social media platforms,
and explicit content dissemination.
When
can we say that we are now falling into this category? Through self-assessment,
and focused self-observation, you may notice that you are scrolling social media
sites even if you are eating, attending a meeting or during conversations. When
manners and social etiquette will be set aside in exchange of the sheer
entertainment of knowing what others are doing, something is already wrong.
Is
there an effect to the brain of doing this?
Social
media-addicted individuals show poor skills in controlling or inhibiting their
responses. Another aspect that deserves to be mentioned is the lack of
attention. The constant lack of attention produced by the internet results in a
phenomenon that some have explained as “distracted from distraction by
distraction” (Abreu, Nabuco, ND).
Research
studies suggest that people who are constantly online activate regions
associated with language, memory, and visual processing in a lower intensity,
that is, they do not display much activity in the prefrontal area.
Therefore,
cognitive control processes will be hampered.
There
is a need for awareness on this matter. The one who grimaces on such feedback
and be on denial mode is already manifesting traits of addiction. Addicts do
not accept that they are.
Instead
of consuming too much information and become a voyeur to the lives of others, one
can make the social media as a platform to create, inform and recreate. The mind
is dependent on the individual who nurtures or damages it.