Negative Effects On 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 platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are commonly used among the younger generations, but can the excessive use of these apps cause mayhem? According to a new study conducted by the Family Technology Education Non-Profit Group, teenagers are spending nearly 9 hours a day on social media. The excessive use of social media is a bad influence on adolescents because of the negative impacts it has. Social media can cause direct impacts to the mental health, safety, and lives of its users. Teenagers need to ensure that they are being cautious and responsible while using different social media networks.

Several studies show that social media can have a serious negative impact on an individual. A study by Forest & Wood (2012) shows a clear negative relationship between low-esteem users and their use of social media and how it jeopardizes their chances of creating meaningful relationships. Another study conducted by Pea et al (2012) show negative physical and emotional outcomes for young girls using social media. A study conducted by Lin et al. (2016) discusses how social media use is linked to depressive symptoms. Lastly, a study conducted by Verduyn et al. (2015) shows a negative relationship based on how users interact with social media leads to lower feelings of self-worth and emotional well-being. Social media is a staple of modern society and its use can have serious negative consequences. Making those effects apparent and understood by at risk individuals is imperative so they do not suffer damage unknowingly.

Social media is used daily and we spend too much time on it. Truong (2017), a Health News Writer for Refinery29 has said, Teen females that spend just 30 minutes or more on social media daily have a negative view about their body image. The photos posted on social media are unrealistic and make females feel bad about themselves. Social media like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter puts a lot of pressure on young females to look perfect and if they do not then they are not attractive. Some female teens will start a diet and even develop an eating disorder to look like the females in the media. Females teens spend too much time on social media causing them to have a negative view about their body image and we need to help them have a positive view about their bodies.

Social media is used as a tool to talk to loved ones and friends to make us feel close to them, but it has been shown that social media has the exact opposite effect. It's makes some people feel alone, while other people live it up in trash cans with their egos as big as Rockefeller’s network. Common sense seems to dictate that it would be smarter to not put so much value on one photo, but in the memories that those photos hold, but, nowadays people only care about the photos, not memories. Its result is a generation filled with young kids suffering with mental health problems.

Social media today is growing at very fast rates. The number of people joining social platforms to see what others are doing are astronomical, but with this this rise in social media usage, users are becoming more isolated. Social media distracts individuals from face-to-face interactions with friends, and makes having connections with new people harder to do. So much time out of someone's day is spent in social media. It is also causing more self-consciousness among its users. Social media today is becoming a bigger thing, but with all this, users are becoming isolated and distracted from real life, it makes users not connect with each other in real life, and with so much time spent in social media, people become shier and socially awkward.

This is an opinion article presenting the negative effects that social media has on society, to be published by Buzzfeed co, Buzzfeed co caters to a demographic that is predominantly educated females with left leaning political views, who are frequent social media users.

Online networking platforms are causing a growth issue in social and relationship growth. An issue that not only affects southerners, but the entire modern world. This is becoming more evident in younger generations who have never known life without it. It has become necessary to limit and control our usage of these online networking resources. There are a few statements that can be proven that lead to this necessity: social media can create unnecessary problems in people’s lives, there are people who resort to social media for things that they shouldn’t, there are people who use online dating for the wrong reasons and hurt others because of it, online dating and social media has become a go to thing for people, and there are online networking platforms that undermine face to face interactions. There are still good things that can come out of online networking platforms, but it is high time people recognized the importance of limiting and controlling their usage of these online networking resources.

Social Media today seems like it is always compared to a drug, a lot of people are addicted to it. Considering where technology is right now we aren’t addicted to Social Media, it just turns out to be our daily essential for information that we crave for. Technology has unlocked faster communication and the ability to spread information quickly. Which allows us to connect with the world and discover other people’s perspectives, creating a more diverse view and opinion of topics and information. In addition, not all information is truthful, especially the widespread of fabricated news, but with technology and social media a lot of people can fact check information instead of getting news from mainstream media outlets that alter news to acquire more revenue. And if Social Media is so bad, why does everyone still use it everyday?

In modern society, there are multiple types of social media to fit the needs and technological strengths of its user. These applications and web programs help people see their peers’ and idols’ lives and accomplishments firsthand. Companies use social media to promote their merchandise and sales. Family members can interact with younger relatives through video chatting applications, watching them grow up while living thousands of miles away. However, social media is not always the best tool for connecting people. Pre-teens and teenagers who refrain from using social media, specifically Instagram, are sheltered from cyberbullying, pedophilia, and unnecessary alcohol information, all of which may or may not be age-appropriate.

Social networking has revolutionized our world, but has aroused many difficulties. CNN says, “teens spend 9 hours a day...consuming media” and “girls spending about an hour and a half a day on social media and boys a little under an hour”. Teens are so caught up socializing with friends on Instagram or checking the feed, that they have forgotten how to properly talk to anyone they meet in public. Teens are having trouble distinguishing between a true friendship and a fake one. While social networking is easy, teens are having trouble balancing their “in person” conversations and online conversations. In addition, many teens find posts about events they weren’t invited to, causing a sense of exclusion. Pewinternet.org says, “the bulk of teens (42%) saying it happens occasionally and just 11% saying it happens frequently.” about finding post about uninvited events. Teens also have to think carefully about what they post, so they can get the best reaction from friends or a certain number of likes. This results in a vast waste of time and unnecessary stress pertaining to a simple matter.

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.

In the twenty-first century, social media plays an extensive part in most people’s lives. Instagram, Twitter, and many other social networks can cause adverse psychological harm and even lead to physical harm. Although many may argue that social media pertains to be useful, there prove to be more harmful aspects rather than helpful aspects of these media sites. These effects are not only psychological, but they may also be physical. Not only do social networks cause depression, anxiety, and cyberbullying, they also can result in decreased privacy and physical harm. By recognizing these harmful effects, it is possible to combat negative ramifications effectively.

Social interaction has always been an essential to the survival of the human race. Socializing makes it possible for people to fully function as human beings because through socialization individuals learn their roles in life, their culture's language, and form their personality (Sociology). In today’s society, media plays a powerful role in people’s lives. It provides people the ability to form broad connections through countless social media sites and apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Skype, Youtube, and Twitter. Therefore, media has been growing rapidly throughout the world and has become a part of our generation. As users increase, the debate over whether the use media give a negative or a positive influence on people’s lives increases. Nowadays, youth lives most of their lives on media networks. They share news, pictures, secrets, love, and hate through a single tap on the “post” button. Media has a positive impact on our generation, yet at the same time, it can lead to negative influences that affect our society. I agree that the overuse of media can negatively affect youth because it can lead to addiction and cyberbullying.

Our lives seem to be more and more consumed by technology as great advances in this area have continue to be made, especially when it comes to social media. Many researchers have begun to notice that depending on how much time individuals spend on these social media sites, they can negatively affect their daily lifestyle in very significant ways.  For example, social networking has become a huge distraction for students and it can affect their grades depending on how often they check their various accounts while doing class work.  Researchers have also come to find out that social media can contribute to the development of psychological symptoms