Social Media As The Cause Of Unhappiness

In the article, Twenge talks about how spending the majority of you time on your phone, alone, rather than hanging out with people, you become more depressed. The amount of time teens have been doing screen activities like social media on your phone, vs non screen activities like hanging out with friends have gone up in recent years. Teens that participate in more non screen activities have shown to be generally more happy and less depressed than those who spend more time doing screen activities. Teens feeling lonely spiked in 2013 saying they feel they had been left out of things and wish they had better friends. I think that because of social media you often feel left out of activities that your friends are doing without you making you feel like they are bad friends and overall making you more depressed. “For all their power to link kids day and night, social media also exacerbate the age-old teen concern about being left out.”

As social animals we need to have relationships to be happy. With social media most would believe that we are becoming a happier society. That is becoming far from the truth in fact, the suicide rate has been going up, and depression has become an epidemic. This has happened because we really don’t have true relationships like we used to. Markham, a writer from Time states “At least two studies have followed people over time and showed that heavy social media use came

In American author and psychologist, Jean Twenge’s article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Twenge argues that smartphones have seriously taken a toll on Millennials. She claims that smartphones are wreaking havoc on Millennials’ mental health, as this generation is apparently “safer than ever” physically, they are “seriously unhappy” with life in general (Twenge 4). According to Twenge, children who see their friends on social media more than they do face-to-face feel lonely and excluded. I feel that with a majority of my generation, this is accurate to an extent. Many fights and arguments between younger people stem from Instagram and Snapchat posts. For example, innovations like the SnapMap now allow people to view their friends’ locations. Various viral memes, a humorous image, video, etc. copied and spread rapidly throughout the Internet,

According to the article entitled “ The Good and Bad of Social Media” by Jason Howie, “ They have looked particularly at its effects on human emotion and relationship. Some studies show that using social media can cause depression.” The usage of the media doesn't just slow you down but can slowly shut your real life down. Therefore social media ends up hitting you from left to right or any possible way it has. The mindset of always wanting to be on it can destroy your life routines, makes you put up with things you shouldn’t put up with. Sometimes, people end up getting bullying and killed for some unnecessary things they do on the media. Furthermore, Howie writes “ We expect more from technology and less from one another. More and more, we desire technologies that provide a false idea of a relationship.” We depend on the media to give us the answers instead of asking our surroundings and communicating with them. We always believe what media tells us and whether it's false or not, we use it believing it's better than our own knowledge. Our privacy isn’t privacy because media after media we end up in a random page which can get our information in just one

Our society has evolved very much over time. The technology, has impacted it greatly. With technology in our lives, we find ourselves ‘glued’ to our electronics. Now, the question is, what does social media provide us? In Wu’s article, he states, “The devices we use change the way we live much faster than any contest among genes.” Meaning, we rely on these devices to make us happy, and resort to them when we are bored. Similarly, in Castells article, he says, “Media often report that intense use of the Internet increases the risk of isolation, alienation, and withdrawal from society.” However, the article also says that social media has actually “increased sociability, civic engagement, and the intensity of family and friendship relationships, in all cultures.” Answering the question, we actually get something out of using social media. We are allowed to communicate with

Isolation caused by social media can also create depression of the mind. In Molly Edmonds’ article “What are the effects of isolation on the mind?” a researcher, John Cacioppo, at the University of Chicago states, “20 percent of all people are unhappy because of social isolation at any given moment.” It is proven that social isolation has a major impact on emotions. Having numerous so-called “friends” on social media may cause certain people to feel popular and content. However, reality kicks in making one realize they are lonely as a result of not having real friends. According to Molly Edmonds, loneliness often leads to stress, which is a risk factor for many conditions in its own right. Technology often takes up so much of one’s life that they actually forget about the world they live in. People often realize how lonely they are after taking a break from technology, which causes stress and confusion. Since technology is now taking the place of human interaction, isolation will become a common problem among

The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. Many people would agree that social media leads to isolation, depression, and anxiety. Social Media impacts people in many ways; some are good, but some are very bad. Using social media to communicate is extremely convenient, unfortunately, more people are developing social anxiety because we are learning to comunicate through a screen from a young age. Also, seeing people posting about all the good in their lives can lead you to compare yourself to others. Most importantly, increased exposure of bullying through the internet contributes to high risk of depression. Generally, social media has more bad effects on our mental health than good ones.

In addition, big corporations have power to control our digital experience and foster conformity. The ideas that circulate the internet can foster a negative notion of self-esteem and image. At the end of the day, we have to realize that technology has some of its benefits but it also adheres ramifications. We have to be wary of the benefits and the harmful effects that play in our life. We also have to be aware of the effect that technology has on others, such as having a phone out during a conversation aiding ill-mannerism. Technology connects us in many ways but it also distances us. It creates dissonance when we are having a face-to-face interactions and the other person is distracted because of their phone. Superficially, we know a lot about one another through social media but we actually don't know the in depth story. There are many bad information out there and that sometimes messes with our sense of judgement. Through the many facets of social media, we express ourselves differently in variety of platforms. This can affect the sense of self and the real identity of yourself. The web can be a chaotic place with masses of information but with that comes the responsibility of finding the right information and reaping the

Social media is the term that is used to refer to applications and websites that allow people to interact and stay connected (Nations, 2016). Although, the creation of social networking sites is relatively recent, it has rapidly become a prominent part of billions of people’s lives worldwide. For example, between 2012 and 2016 the number of monthly active Facebook users increased by 83% (Statista, 2016). As a result, investigating the effects of social media on people’s psychological wellbeing has become a popular area of research. However, the combination of findings from these studies are inconclusive as to whether social media has a negative or a positive impact on our psychological wellbeing and because social media is so widely used this is an important question to address. Huppert (2009) stated that “Psychological wellbeing is about lives going well. It is the combination of feeling good and functioning effectively” (p. 137). This essay will focus on Facebook, in particular, as it’s the most widely used social network and has over 1.5 billion monthly active users (Smith, 2016). It will discuss research that has investigated the effects of Facebook on life satisfaction, academic performance and psychiatric disorders which are all related to psychological wellbeing. It will conclude that research mostly suggests that social media, in particular Facebook, is harmful to our psychological wellbeing.

Social media has connected us in unimaginable ways, and introduced us to a world much larger than our humble backyards. Nowadays, nearly everyone has a Facebook, an Instagram, or a Twitter account. Grandparents, teenagers, children, and even some pets are a part of one social network or another. While websites like Facebook are great for sharing pictures, stories, and interests, but they are also capable of raising awareness about important issues that may have been overlooked. Recently, the overuse of Facebook was thought to promote negative psychology well-being, including depression and loneliness. It 's safe to say that the world has become hopelessly addicted to social media. Plenty of people can 't make it through the day or in extreme cases a few hours without popping on their computers or scrolling through their smart phones to check the newsfeed on Facebook. As Stephen Marche says in his article, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?”, Facebook makes us miserable and lonely. In fact, even though there is evidence showing that we 're more detached or lonely than ever because given Facebook is about social relationships; however, the site also offers an extraordinary number of ways to connect with others. This is just a taste of what Facebook can do, and with a huge number of people utilizing them, its possibilities are only growing. Facebook does not replace real human relationship or create loneliness, but it does not exterminate it either. It all depends on ones usage.

Even further, Adam Piore of the online magazine, Nautilus, claims that social media improves social relationships by creating new mediums of communication. Though there is polarization in how social media affects users’ ability to achieve happy lives, the rise of social media refutes Sonja Lyubomirsky’s perspective on happiness, which attributes happiness to primarily a person’s genetics. The effects that social media has on users’ happiness, depending on the choices of the users, demonstrate that Lyubomirsky underestimates the effects that circumstances and personal choices have on happiness.

Throughout recent years, social media has expanded exponentially. Following this expansion came several conductions of studies focusing on its impact, growth, and effects on the human body and mind. The topics that sparked my interests were primarily its effects and impact. The growing issue was (and still is) that millennials, or young people from today ranging from ages 15-25, seem to be hooked on their smart devices 24/7, connected to a virtual world and disconnected from the real one. Although social media has many positive impacts, such as staying in touch with relatives and old friends, it also has many negative impacts.

Using social media disturbs make deep relationship with others. When they are using social media we do not need to move a lot. It is okay just to stay. We do not need to active a lot. As a result, it leads naturally mental and physical disorders.

Social media seems to be one of the many hot topics of discussion recently, and consequently many people have the false sense of security that they have a profound knowledge on how it affects the health of the teenage population. A sedentary lifestyle, decreased sleep, as well as other physical health conditions seem to come to mind when one links health and social media. However, there is a much bigger problem that can go unnoticed because it can be impossible to see: the impact it has on mental and emotional health. These branches of health are just as important, and even arguably more important than physical health is. Social media can be utilized to connect with distant friends and express oneself; however, teenagers should refrain from the overuse of social media due to its detrimental effects on their mental and emotional health.

As technology progress, humans evolve to the advanced technology and enhance our lives via technology. We connect to our families, friends and others through social media such as Facebook. Social media takes up a huge part in our lives. Social media infest us with information that are relevant and irrelevant to us. Marry Marrow wrote, “It was Facebook that changed the face of e-communication; in fact, it was the first electronic social media” (para 1). She assumes that Facebook is playing a huge role in electronic communication. In the journalist Maria Konnikova, “How Facebook makes us unhappy?”, Konnikova divulges many aspects of people on social media through researching and experience, and finds how social makes us unhappy. I agree with Konnikova findings after reading her article. In addition, she concludes that if you are engaged, active, and creative you will not sorrowful on Social media, however if you are passively browsing and defuse to engage, you will be depressed.