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It cannot be denied that social media plays an integral role in contemporary North American society. It is difficult to find people on public transit not engrossed in some sort of device, and children as early as five years old have more skill with technology than many adults do. The culture of social media is inescapable and pervasive. It not only serves to disseminate the values and lifestyle of "important" individuals, such as the Kardashians, but it also serves to inform society of what the ideal "self" is. Identities are created on social media, from popular beauty trends, new colloquialisms and even what music or art is worth attention. Social media informs people of who they should be, how they should look, and how they should present themselves to the world. I can only imagine that Emerson is rolling around in his grave (but don't go and check!) at the fact that society has become so reliant on other people and popular culture to define their own "self". His work, Self Reliance, extols the virtue of not conforming to popular opinion and looking inward to discover one's "self" Social Media has created a culture of passive and compliant acceptance of social norms, something that Emerson warns against. I imagine if he were alive today, he would not be tweeting, on vine or obsessing over new snapchat filters, but would instead suggest a complete departure from social media, something that would be very difficult in today's society, in order to look inward and actively search for the true "self" and to become self reliant.

I agree with the both of the statements above by Olivia and Kaylea. I believe with social media and its representation of the "self", it is easier to find other people with similar interests as yourself. Finding people with those similar interests means you "follow" them and they "follow" you back, and apparently more "followers" is equal to being well-liked, popular, and..."twitter/instagram/tumblr/etc. famous". In terms of representation of the "self", when people follow each other due to similar interests, does this mean they are following an alternate representation of themselves? Does it mean social media makes the "self" more self absorbed and fame hungry? With social media there is too much of a focus of being accepted into something that is superficial (i.e. retweets, likes, views, etc.) that will eventually fade away like myspace.

Although I agree about the extent in which social media influences society, Emerson's concept of "self-reliance" is questionable at times; it is definitely not a perfect philosophy. Ralph Emerson's idea of the how one should be basically uninfluenced by the world around them is really a nearly impossible feat. From the moment we are born, we are prone to the teachings and ideas of others and how the world works. His emphasis on individualism is one that can become greatly detrimental to society as it calls for every person to look inside themselves and come to conclusions based on their own beliefs and not consider the thoughts of others. If it were not for sharing opinions, trends, or discoveries and incorporating them to our lives, it would be unlikely for civilization to have come this far. Naturally, people are not meant to live in isolation but instead should be together and interact with each other in order to open our minds to new and different possibilities.
In regards to social media, we can clearly observe the spread of trends across the globe whether it be fashion, activism, or creative projects. Platforms like twitter and instagram were created to give people different forms of expression through summarized thoughts or documenting photos. If people have truly learned self-reliance, they will take the material of what they see over their timelines and incorporate it to their styles of expression in a way that better reflects them rather than being carbon copies of what they like to see. We cannot blame social media for supposedly imposing the "ideal self" and can only blame ourselves for succumbing to pressure of popularity. There has to be balance between the two because no individual will survive entirely on his own and no individual can survive by riding on the backs of others.
Social media can be extremely influential but it should not be seen as the culprit behind the loss of individuality. If individuality is such an important characteristic as people make it out to be then they should work harder on becoming happy with their unique qualities. A certain level of individuality is required but probably not to the extent of the Emersonian ideology.

Post 1: Response to Social Media from an Emersonian Perspective:
I feel as though that in our modern society, social media plays a large part in the way we live our lives. The idea of “self” seems to no longer be an integral part of living. In other words, we are beginning to rely more on technology rather than on ourselves. Social media has impacted the lives of many around the world regarding the way life should be lived. The "self" is no longer a quality that many will have, we are no longer self reliant because of the way technology simplifies our lives. The pace at which our brains are growing retains very little of how autonomy. Our evolution is being corrupted with the existence of social media and other technologies. When going to back to the notion of “self” and to use authors such as Emerson to say that we will no longer be able to transcend society's presumptions and create a personal, progressive relationship with spirituality and nature.

This is an incredibly interesting idea! Social media and more specifically, the millennial dependence on social media would definitely be contrary to Emerson’s belief of self-reliance, but I think we are missing the aspect of artistry here. Sure, there are tens of thousands of global ‘influencers’ who are spreading their love for hair care gummy bears because they are paid for it, but social media has also allowed more wholesome artists to share their works online and reach a larger audience. Granted, the concept of instagram itself, or the liking and the favouriting of other social network systems does encourage a sense of reliance on that interaction from others and therefore the system is faulted in Emerson’s perspective from the beginning. It’s really interesting to think about! I wonder what a modernized Emerson would be like.