Anxiety, alienation, and estrangement in the context of social media

Journal article

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 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.

Authors: Qureshi-Hurst, E

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: Religious Studies
• Volume: 58
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 522 - 533
• Publication date: 2021-04-16
• Acceptance date: 2021-02-24
• DOI: 10.1017/S0034412521000093
• ISSN: 0034-4125
• Language: English
• Keywords: alienation; Paul Tillich; Existentialism; FFR; social media; estrangement