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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
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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
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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