“Severing the String” (2021-2022)

Before I received the prompt for this essay, I had already begun to formulate a few of my primary arguments. It was my first semester at NYU, and I had just watched the Netflix docudrama, The Social Dilemma. The film provided vivid warnings about the dangers of social media, drawing on the testimonies of former industry insiders and experts. These messages felt particularly timely, as the contentious 2020 election was fast approaching, with levels of social media vitriol reaching all-time highs. On a more personal level, I was grappling with the effects of social media on my own mental health. Reading Jia Tolentino’s essay, “The I in the Internet,” in my Writing the Essay class brought many of these thoughts to the forefront of my mind. Coalescing them into a coherent essay, however, proved to be more challenging than I had expected. This essay prompt required that the multiple sources I used to elaborate on Tolentino’s essay be in conversation with each other, a concept that I struggled to grasp. I was forced to find more nuanced ways to explore different texts’ relationships with one another, rather than simply say which ones I agreed with over the others. This became increasingly challenging as more texts were introduced, concluding with The Social Dilemma itself. As I went through more and more drafts, I had to attend to my tendency to ramble, keeping my work concise and clear. By the time I reached the conclusion, the issues that the texts had raised felt far too wide-reading to be wrapped up neatly. The reality is that I still don’t have any real solution to these problems, and have no interest in offering platitudes. I don’t consider my own writing to be successful because it reaches a particular goal or checks a box; rather, my best writing comes when I am able to fully translate my thought process, however meandering, onto the page. 

Sylvie Moran (CAS ’24) studies English at the College of Arts and Science, and spends the majority of her days reading or writing. Stuck at home in Piedmont, California during quarantine, she watched as her entire social circle’s relationship with social media began to change. As she grew increasingly concerned about the impacts of social media usage on her self-perception, she channeled these thoughts into the second essay she wrote for her Writing the Essay class. In her free time, Tyler enjoys writing short stories and screenplays, hunting for vintage clothes, and cooking with her girlfriend. After a year of blended learning, she hopes that her upcoming sophomore year will present many opportunities for both academic and personal growth.