Negative Effects Of Social Media

It has become extremely common for an individual to sign into their Facebook account, and see a picture that they feel exposed a little too much. Check into their Instagram account, and regret letting everyone know what their location was. Feel uncomfortable, or bullied by a tweet that a person posted to their Twitter. Per Farheen’s article on negative effects of social media “participating in social media sites such as these can make you feel more connected” (Sagheer 1). It is not okay for individuals to feel victimized due to the negative effects of social media. Social media tends to distract, humiliate, and destroy one-self through entertainment. If people would donate more time to things more supplemental to their growth, and limit their use of social media, then maybe people would stop walking over the harm that social media presents to our community. Monitoring the time invested into social media will help eliminate most of the detriment, privacy issues, and bullying flowing through today’s society.

Social media can become an addiction and it can affect community and people differently. For example, I personally use social media as well and it affects me in many different ways. Over the past year, social media has grown to be a miracle in today world. Social media is something that most kids, teens, and adults use every day. Having people on the phone all the time is the disappointment and instead of talking face to face, they choose to text or using social media. Social media shows a huge role in today modern society. Social media influence us in many negative different ways and it is the major problem in my family and community. If people know how to use social media wisely they will make a better society. I personally use social media every day and it distracts me in many different ways but I would like to point out three thing that affects me, which are my health condition, education, and relationship with God. My doctor said, “sleep makes your memories stronger.” I trust what he said to me because when I sleep more I feel fresher than I sleep less. When I feel fresh I finished my homework done easily. In 2014, I did a presentation in our church about how social media effect on our health situation. I had spent too much time on research about it and it gave me so many reasonable statements. One thing that I found was, it leads us to increase neck pain because when we watch the phone while we sleep it hurt our neck and we keep doing it every day so it will outcome in a negative way in one day. “40% more likely to have tried cigarettes, two times more likely to have tried alcohol, 43% more likely to be binge drinkers, and 41%more likely to have used illicit drugs compared to their non-hyper-texting peers. In addition, these students are 55% more likely to have been in a physical fight.” (page-8) People should concern about their health, if they want to live longer they should stop doing drug and a physical fight. Social media associated with risky behavior because people are bullying through social media so it makes them angry easily.

In recent years, many people have noticed the increasing numbers of depression in teens, but are unaware that social media is a reason for this. For example, “Studies have shown the around-the-clock world of social media takes a mental and emotional toll on some young people. It has been linked to increased worrying and feelings of depression.” Depression not only causes low self esteem, but has health effects too. If we use social media less often, then we will experience less depression and less worrying. Staring at our devices all day stresses us out and makes us feel bad about ourselves. Spending time with friends in person rather than on social media can lessen worrying and feelings of depression. We can not let social media take control of our feelings, otherwise it will hurt our lives. Positive emotions come from positive experiences, and when we’re on our devices, we miss out. Social media is deteriorating our lives in numerous ways, but yet it is often ignored that it is harming us.

Have you ever been left upset or had the feeling of unacceptance due to using social media? Using any social media of any kind can negative effects on you, these can be, low self- esteem, bulling and your social skills.

Approximately 81% of the United States population is reported to use social media sites on daily bases (Statista). Social media is specific to websites and applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and the alike. Each of these social media sites have their own effect on different kinds of people. For instance, older people are more likely to use Facebook than Snapchat, where younger generation is more likely to use Snapchat and Instagram over Facebook. Many of these social media sites are created by individuals as a free enterprise economy; this means the individuals that created social media sites want people to use it in order to make money. Although some people might believe that using social networking sites increases cyberbullying and online predatory behaviors, in fact social networking sites only helps people increase connection with friends and improve life satisfaction.

Social media is dangerous. In other words, the advances of technical communication and networking have contributed to the declining mental health status of the American youth. As a matter of fact, it has been linked to body insecurities, depression, and addictive or obsessive thoughts and habits.

Researchers have shown an increase in body or self-dissatisfaction and the linkage with social media (add names). Social networking sites promote specific body ideals for men and women, thus creating the latest trend, which women will follow. A study showed how young women will “blindly follow a trend if it can provide them with the qualities they desire, such as attractiveness and popularity, while disregarding the consequences to their health” (Verma and Avgoulos 2004). The wide audience social media reaches have begun to negatively effect girls as young as 7 years of age by making them think their bodies are not normal (Grabe, Ward, and Hyde 2008). Grabe, Ward, and Hyde say the extreme cases of these young women have been linked to critical physical and mental problems, including different eating disorders, low self esteem, depression and obesity (2008).

The first thoughts that come to mind for many people regarding social media are quite unfavorable. Profiles on Facebook, tweets on Twitter, and photos on Instagram all tend to have a negative connotation because they are typically associated with isolation, narcissism, and mental illnesses. The impacts of social media are greatly determined by how a person uses it. While one person may lose themselves in the online world that social media creates, another may greatly benefit through meeting new people and learning about new topics, such as other cultures, political views, religions, etc., that can be introduced into their real lives outside of their online lives. Even though social media can be seen as a more disadvantageous contribution to society due to the loneliness and isolation it may cause, social media allows for a greater connection to the social and intellectual worlds. While social media provides a platform that amplifies social and intellectual isolation, it more importantly allows for people to connect to others and learn about different perspectives when used correctly.

In this day and age, media plays a gigantic role in the lives of everyone in society. Along with television, video games, movies, and the internet, social media plays a role in kids’ lives as well. As of 2017, 81 percent of people in the U.S. use or have a social media account, according to Statista, the Statistics Portal. However, this may not seem as great as one may think. Media has a large negative effect on the behavior, actions, and mindset of todays’ youth, portraying both male and females in a negative matter.

The use of social media by athletes is observed more and more every year; both collegiate and professional athletes have large platforms, and many athletes choose to use social media accounts to communicate messages to bring awareness to a certain organization, show support for other athletes and teams, or to persuade fans to buy a particular product. Uniquely enough, athletes can send nonverbal messages on social media with the use of Instagram; and in addition to positive impacts of social media platforms, there can be negative consequences for athletes.

Social networking is a primary source for influencing negative behaviors, especially egotism and relationship troubles. Social media gives people an opportunity for users to share content with their friends and followers. However, some people who post photos or videos of themselves online for international viewing become more narcissistic, and will constantly refer to themselves as being of a more higher standard than others. According to one online source, the author states some online communities have the potential for altering with a user’s mentality, and can render the mind to act more egotistical and reduce their focus on other situations (Derbyshire, 2011). The claim presented by Derbyshire demonstrates that a few social networking sites can do just about as much damage to a person’s behavior than being isolated from it. The amount of content posted online by an egotistical user raises the bar for them to only care about themselves rather than the wellbeing of others. A user’s attention span (as mentioned in the data) decreases drastically due to their constant attachment to a mobile device daily as again, the attention is only focused on them. It is mainly how this young brain develops; it becomes inconsistent the more time spent on these mobile platforms for potential virtual stardom. Besides the narcissism, social media can also be the result of modern-day relationship issues. In a 2017 study done by Deseret News and Brigham Young University, the research shows

Having social media in our upcoming generation has become one of the most popular sources of communication. Young teenagers growing up in today’s generation with social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have provided pictures and videos that have become the first thing people look at in the morning, and the last thing they see before bed. These pictures have provided unrealistic standards as to what is considered beautiful in today’s society. By establishing unattainable standards of beauty and bodily perfection, the media drive ordinary people to dissatisfaction with their body images. The dissatisfaction can results in resorts to drastic measures, and even disorders of behavior, as people try to achieve these unreachable goals.

Media has become more accessible and free of restrictions as time goes on. Media continues to grow and has become a major part of our everyday lives; especially, our exposure to social media. Young girls have better access than ever to ads, images, and videos that depict distorted body images. The effects of these images and people have had a negative effect on a lot of young girls' lives. Things such as social media are showing young women what they should look like, but those ideas are not realistic. Most of the thing girls see on a day-to-day basis are posed, edited, and altered to show what our society views as 'ideal' and 'average', when in fact it is the opposite. Young girls today are being exposed to more and more media of the same body type. Fashion and modeling industries have been rising in popularity. Young girls are seeing these models and wanting to be like them. They want their lives to look just like the models’ lives they see on their Instagrams. Many girls will become disappointed with their lives and bodies because they are not seen as the best. Young girls are also seeing Internet stars and celebrities who have this body type and they are being idealized as what is perfect. Young girls idolize them and want to be just like them. Exposing girls to overly sexualized media so early in their lives, and at such a vulnerable time, is very unhealthy for both their mental and physical state of minds. For many people it becomes an unhealthy situation and a

Without a doubt, one of the greatest developments contributing to human evolution is social media. Before the Internet and social media became popular, people used to communicate to others by using letters, pony express, telegraphs and telephones, which were either slower or expensive or impractical in many areas. But social media has successfully connected people around the globe together in the most efficient way ever. Social media allows people to communicate in real time for casual or business purposes. And it becomes the most convenient way to get a short summary of latest information in communities and around the world. Likewise, social media changes significantly the way people communicate and maintain relationships in current

As people use social networking sites more and more, psychological symptoms, such as social anxiety and depression, can begin to develop overtime. Feinstein’s research found that “depressed individuals also tend to engage in specific interpersonal behaviors, such as excessive reassurance seeking, that account for their greater likelihood of being rejected.”  Other social anxiety symptoms that can be triggered from excessive amounts of social networking include becoming less assertive, avoiding conflict, and expressing less emotion.  Results from Feinstein’s research also found that users directly felt a “depressed effect following interactions with romantic partners” and an “anxious effect following interactions with romantic partners” depending on how much time they spent on social media outside of their relationship.  Not only can the amount of time we spend on social networking affect us now, but it can also cause and make an individual more vulnerable to possible psychological problems in the future (Nauert).