Social Media and Addressing Isolation Essay Example

carried out in the neighborhoods. By meeting new people, one is able to make friends with whom he or she can interact with rather than making virtual friends via online sites like Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, and Youtube.

Another strategy that can be utilized to help individuals experiencing social isolation is volunteer work. This enables a person to utilize time doing quality work for the community or vulnerable members of the society (Robert 4). Importantly, it helps to reinforce the sense of belonging to a community (Pettigrew 917). As one partakes in volunteer work, he or she meets new people with whom healthy and productive relations can be built and is also distracted from the urge to spend time chatting via the social media. Volunteer opportunities are not hard to come by. One can volunteer in various institutions including nonprofit organizations like orphanages and homes for the elderly. Talking and other forms of interactions one has during volunteering work form a platform for networking and expanding the social circle (Robert 4). With patience, long-term and genuinely intimate interactions develop. These relations are more likely to place emphasis on face to face conversations (Albarran 51).

There is a range of lifestyle adjustments that one can make to fight social isolation brought about by excessive social media use. Notably, they all emphasize on the creation of opportunities to meet other people and groups. It should, however, be noted that social media remains integral to modern lifestyles and therefore cannot be wished away. Instead, social media users need to learn how to use social media wisely by striking a healthy balance that permits interpersonal interactions to thrive. This calls for appreciation

that the social media only complements but should not replace face-to-face communication. If having a challenge to wean oneself off social media addiction, it is advisable to seek assistance from counselors and therapists who can offer invaluable interventions. By so doing, health and social benefits associated with avoidance of social isolation can be achieved.

Works Cited

1. Walrave, Michel, Koen Ponnet, Ellen Vanderhoven, Jacques Haers, and Barbara Segaert. Youth 2.0: Social Media and Adolescence: Connecting, Sharing and Empowering. , 2016. Internet resource.
2. Paik, Anthony, and Kenneth Sanchagrin. "Social Isolation in America: An Artifact." American Sociological Review 78.3 (2013): 339-60. Web.
3. Shaked, Ami, and Ami Rokach. Addressing Loneliness: Coping, Prevention and Clinical Interventions. ,2015., Routledge. NewYork Print.
4. Leahy, Robert L. Beat the Blues Before They Beat You: How to Overcome Depression. Carlsbad, Calif: Hay House, 2010. Internet resource.
5. Pettigrew, Simone, et al. "Older People's Perceived Causes Of And Strategies For Dealing With Social Isolation." Aging & Mental Health 18.7 (2014): 914-920.Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.
6. Albarran, Alan B. The Social Media Industries. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.