SAD CULTURE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE US’ MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AS EXPRESSED IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Bagas Al Fajri(1), Ani Windarti(2), Ulaya Ahdiani(3), Zanuwar Hakim Atmantika(4*)
(1) Universitas Ahmad Dahlan
(2) Universitas Ahmad Dahlan
(3) Universitas Ahmad Dahlan
(4) School of Foreign Languages, Northeast Normal University, China
(*) Corresponding Author
Abstract
The exponential growth of social media has resulted in the establishment of significant communities, trends, and phenomena. Amidst these phenomena is the sad culture, where social media users comfortably express their mental concerns. This study is conducted to have a profound conclusion on Sad Culture as a phenomenon, using social influence theory to determine its cause of emergence. In addition, the meaning of the terminologies is discussed using appraisal theory. This study implements qualitative and content analysis research design. It is implemented by gathering the data from @mytherapistsays Instagram page and performing an in-depth content analysis. Upon conducting the research, it is concluded that Sad Culture is a type of cyberculture. It is formed due to the rapid development of ICT–social media in particular–and the rising number of mental illnesses in the US. It started as a trend, then grew massive due to conformity, a term under social influence theory defined as an act where the majority influences others to perform what is believed to be the norm. In @mytherapistsays Instagram account, ten appraisal items are found, comprising 10% positive and 90% negative items.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Al Fajri, B., Atmantika, Z. H., Adhitya, G. N. (2022). AN APPRAISAL ANALYSIS ON JOE BIDEN’S RHETORIC OF GUN CONTROL. Rubikon: Journal of Transnational American Studies, 9(2), 244-253. doi: https://doi.org/10.22146/rubikon.v9i2.77904
Andersen, J. C. & Coffey, D. (2018). U.S. ICT R&D Policy Report: The United States: ICT Leader or Laggard? Retrieved from https://www.tiaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/TIA-U-S-ICT-RD-Policy-Report.pdf
Barry, C. T., Sidoti, C. L., Briggs, S. M., Reiter, S. R., Lindsey, R. A. (2017). Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health from Adolescent and Parent Perspectives. Journal of Adolescence, 61, 1-11. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.08.005
Bell, D., Loader, B. D., Pleace, N., Schuler, D. (2004). Cyberculture: The Key Concepts. New York, NY: Routledge.
Bhandari, P. (2020). What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples. In Scribbr. Retrieved from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/qualitative-research
Bosamia, M. P. (2013). Positive and Negative Impacts of Information and Communication Technology in our Everyday Life. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325570282
Chateau, L. (2020). “Damn I Didn’t Know Y’all Was Sad? I Thought It Was Just Memes”: Irony, Memes and Risk in Internet Depression Culture. M/C Journal, 23(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.1654
Cherry, K. (2022). What is Conformity? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-conformity-2795889
Cialdini, R. B. & Goldstein, N. J. (2004). “Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity”. Annual Review of Psychology. 55(1), 591-621. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.142015
Dawkins, R. (1976). The Selfish Gene. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Drisko, J. W. & Maschi, T. (2016). Content Analysis. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Guntuku, S. C., Yaden, D. B. Kern, M. L., Ungar, L. H., Eichstaedt, J. C. (2017). Detecting Depression and Mental Illness on Social Media: an Integrative Review. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. 18, 43-49. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.07.005
Heinzen, T. E. & Goodfriend, W. (2018). Social Psychology. Canada: Sage Publications.
Herring, G. C. (2008). From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Hu, J. & Yu, R. (2021). The effects of ICT-based social media on adolescents' digital reading performance: A longitudinal study of PISA 2009, PISA 2012, PISA 2015 and PISA 2018. Computers and Education, 175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104342
Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., Young, J. (2018). No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10). doi: https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751
Industry Trends ICT 2022. (2022). In Atradius. Retrieved from https://group.atradius.com/publications/industry-trends/ict-industry-trends-global-overview-2022.
Joho, J. (2019). How being sad, depressed, and anxious online became trendy. Retrieved from https://mashable.com/article/anxiety-depression-social-media-sad-online
Kelman, H. C. (1958). Compliance, identification, and internalization: Three processes of attitude change. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2(1), 51-60. doi: 10.1177/002200275800200106
Kitchin, R (1998). Cyberspace: The World in the Wires. New York, NY: Wiley.
Koman, T. (2017). How the 23-Year-Old Meme Queens Behind @MyTherapistSays Blew Up Instagram. Retrieved from https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a10027576/lola-tash-nicole-argiris-mytherapistsays-blew-up-instagram/
Krippendorff, K. (2013) Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology (3rd ed). California, CA: Sage Publications.
Levine, J. M. (2020). Conformity. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/conformity
Lévy, P. (2001). Cyberculture. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Manikonda, L. & Choudhury, M. D. (2017). Modeling and Understanding Visual Attributes of Mental Health Disclosures in Social Media. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025932
Markey, J. F. (1926). A Redefinition of Social Phenomena: Giving a Basis for Comparative Sociology. American Journal of Sociology, 31(6), 721 - 856. doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/213987
Martin, J. R. & White, P.R.R. (2005). The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Martin, J. R. & White, P. R. R. (2005). The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mcleod, S. (2023). What Is Conformity? Definition, Types, Psychology Research. Retrieved from https://simplypsychology.org/conformity.htmlDOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/rubikon.v10i2.83832
Article Metrics
Abstract views : 3721 | views : 997Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2023 Rubikon : Journal of Transnational American Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.