The Negative Impact Of Social Media
Introduction
Many people have become hooked to using social media. It has become an integral part of their life. Their addiction to social media is so much that they can’t imagine their life without it. This indicates that they have become a victim of social networking.
Without appropriate use, social media cause a variety of safety and health consequences on physical and mental levels. Let us uncover the dark side of social media and find out how it is bad for you. If you relate to most of these symptoms, then it could be the right time to stop using this platform altogether.
Anxiety and Depression
People who spend more time on social networking sites experience fluctuations in mood, poor mental health, that includes depression and anxiety. It can even cause psychological distress in a person.
People are in a constant race to prove themselves superior to others in terms of appearance, talents, money, recognition, followers, etc. This makes them restless and unsatisfied. Comparison with the ones who are superior to you can make you feel inferior or jealous. It can even lead to depression. This happens when you don’t use social media in the right spirit.
Cyberbullying
Another important disadvantage of social media is seen in terms of cyberbullying. Nowadays, cases of anonymous bullying online are very common. It not just negatively affects only children, but also adults. More and more people are being harassed online.
Social media is one of the liberal networking platforms where anyone can put across their opinions freely. Some people use this right to do damage to the reputation of others. This can lead to detrimental effects such as stress, defamation, and anger in the person.
In a few cases, it has also been seen that such cyberattacks result in deep mental scars on people. It can even compel a person to commit suicide. Thus, to prevent becoming prey of cyberbullying, it becomes very important to take measures to save your dignity.
Fear of missing the fun and attention
This is another commonly observed negative impact of social media. This fear is a type of anxiety that makes you scared of losing out on a favorable emotion or experience that someone else is getting.
This fear is continuously fueled by engaging in social media. The more one uses social networking websites, the more they will want to have fun that others are having right now. Almost everyone on social media wants to have more friends and followers on their list. When they fail to create the desired impact, it leads to fear in them.
False relationships
Social media is seen to form impractical expectations of friendships and life. Social networks such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram contribute to this cause. These platforms lack online authenticity. You can find millions of people on these networks that belong to different backgrounds. Social media websites do not perform any sort of background check on them.
They can pretend to be genuine people and gain your trust and can cause harm in the future. There have been many such incidences in the past. This shows that a person has to be very careful when making new friends on social media.
Irregular Sleep
Spending a major portion of the time in social media leads to addiction in a person. Endless checking and replying to posts and comments even at bedtime deteriorates their sleep. This is reflected in the form of irregular and poor-quality sleep. When you are deprived of a sound sleep, then various physical and mental health issues start to emerge.
Not just your productivity, concentration, and mental peace is reduced, but you also become susceptible to various severe mental disorders such as sleep apnea, depression, etc.
Impacts their offline relationships
The world of social media addicts is confined to a small digital box. They are detached and aloof from real life and the ones that surround them. Such addiction saps their energy away from physical activity, offline relationships, and work. In this way, addiction to social media harms the mental health of a person.
Their socializing is limited to adding friends and sharing information. When seen in the long term, these effects diminish the behavioral and communication skills of people. One should note that social media is not an alternative to live interactions.
Conclusion
Use of social media can serve as an advantage or disadvantage, based on the way how the user uses it. When it is used judiciously, it comes to as an advantage, but when it is used extensively or without any purpose/leisure, then it leads to a disadvantage.
