The Negative Effects Of Social Media

Social media has become a part of our life, and no one can imagine living without it. Social media has grown a lot over the several years. Young individuals have always thought that social media is a marvelous piece of technology, but they never think about the negative effects of ‘like’ culture, which contributes to conformity and other negative consequences. The article, The Insidious Evils of ‘Like’ Culture, written by Neil Strauss, tells us about to what people can go to get more “likes.”

According to a recent study by IDC Research, 80% of smartphone users check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up each morning.

In the article, Liliana Escobar-Chaves and Craig Anderson focus on how youth are spending more time on social media and how that time spent of social media is causing them to bring negative effects to society. The authors go on to explain how the trends in increased social media use is increasing the health risks of obesity, smoking, drinking, unsafe sex and violence. The authors provide an in-depth look into each health risk and provide multiple facts and research studies to help support their claims. These research studies provide a clear and excellent understanding into how the increase in the use of social media can have a negative effect on the health risks they mentioned in the article.

Social media has started to take over the lives of young and old, but with that comes some negative effects. There was on average 1.32 billion daily users on Facebook in just June of 2017 (Company Info). This is the age of technology, were new websites or apps are being made to make it easier to talk to people. While it might be a good thing that we are now able to talk to someone across the country, or the world, in real time, it is the way that we are talking to people that is alarming. Social media and texting have changed the way younger people interact with others, our social skills, and the way we write in a very negative way.

As technology editing tools have become even more prevalent, many feel the need to excessively use photoshop before they share an image online. In a pervasive world where images of unrealistic standards fuel the media on how one should look, social media has one of the most significant impacts on body dissatisfaction in today’s society. Throughout the last decade, social media has become one of the most common and favored ways for people to communicate, connect, and share. Thus, there have been many debates and discussions on whether the media has a positive or a negative impact on the way an individual perceives him or herself. As the rapid growth of smartphone usage among adolescents and adults has increased, social media has become an essential part of one’s daily life. Today, when most adolescents and adults turn on their smartphones, often times, the first thing they will refer to is a social media site. It has become a place where they are exposed to news, images, and expectations. Often times, these images, ideals, and expectations are ingrained in their brain and bombarded with what is considered to be beautiful in today’s society. Moreover, these unrealistic standards will often lead to a form of comparison, influencing them to take extreme measures. Although social media serves as a platform where people can connect, communicate, and share, it has a negative impact on one’s body image, because it can lead to a lack of self confidence and severe health conditions.

Social Media is any website that allows social interaction between people, from everywhere in the world. Social Media is growing extremely fast throughout the entire world. Adults and teenagers are joining social media sites everyday such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. When Facebook first came about it was used for family and friends to stay connected while in different parts of the world. It is also a way for entrepreneurs and companies to market and promote their businesses. The introduction of social media has changed the world both negatively and positively.

In this day and age, it is not uncommon to walk down the street and see most people talking, texting, or looking at Facebook on a cell phone. Everywhere we look, social media is slowly…or maybe not so slowly…creeping in. Social media is pretty great when you think about it on the surface level. You can keep in touch with family members you don’t see often on Facebook, show your friends what you’re doing on vacation by posting pictures on Instagram, and even find your one true love on Tinder. While there are a lot of positive uses of social media, interpersonal communication is not one of them. It’s when you start to look deeper that you can quickly and easily see the negative side effects of social media.

In our world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media, we are connected with people more than ever before. One would think that we are interacting more socially and bringing people together regularly. However, with each passing generation, experts are learning the real implications of social platforms and how it is negatively affecting our social skills and mental health. According to Sherry Turkle, a social psychologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, people are more connected to one another than ever before in human history, thanks to internet-based social networking sites and text messaging. But they’re also more lonely and distant from one another in their unplugged lives.

Social media has led us to have fewer interactions with people in real life. Many people would rather use social media to communicate with their friends than they would in person, mostly because it makes the communication process easier. More people have become antisocial by spending too much time on social media, and studies show that people have less interest in interacting with other people in their age group and other age groups. Social media is not only decreasing the quality of interactions, but it is also drastically changed the amount of relationships that people have in person as well. Most people have a lack of interest in talking to one another while in person, and it’s been proven that 93% of communication is nonverbal. Cornell University did a study that found that people have a hard time distinguishing between meaningful relationships that they build in the real world and the numerous casual relationships built through social networking sites. Also, allowing social media to prevent you from experiencing genuine human experiences such as spending time with your family or spending time outdoors can be very unhealthy.

Technology is taking over the world, turning people into modern day zombies. It is getting more and more advanced, and as this virus is growing every day, more and more people are getting infected. There are numerous social media sites that are considered the “virus” such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and so on. This is what turns people into zombies. These websites may seem harmless, but can be very unhealthy for mental, physical, and social health.

Are you addicted to social media or technology? Recently in class we have discussed the technological advancement and social media usage impacting us in our society in both a positive and negative way. Teens in this generation who spend an average amount on their screen activates are more likely to be unhappy, have mental health issues, and less critical thinking skills.

Social media is a part of society as water is to life. Without the use of social media there would be a world of close friendships and face to face communication. “It’s estimated that by 2018, 2.44 billion people will be using social networks, up from 970,000 in 2010” (Guzman). Imagine not having social media to communicate with friends and family. Think about having to have a face to face conversation instead. “We use it for every part of our lives- in our personal relationships, for entertainment, at work and in our studies… every minute we collectively send more than 30 million messages on Facebook and almost 350,000 tweets” (Guzman). Social media is becoming an increasing problem throughout society, taking away face to face communication, effecting relationships, and causing a negative effect on mental health.

In this technological age, social media has become a vital part of communication between teenagers. Developing friendships is important for a child’s growth, but researchers are questioning if social medial is impeding communication skills are taking away the ability to communicate in real life. Teens are missing opportunities to witness how words and actions affect others to expose them to feelings such as empathy, as texting and online chatting keeps others at a safe distance. Social media can give us a false sense of belonging and connecting that is not build on real-life social exchanges. This makes it increasingly easy to lose oneself to cyberspace connections and replace these online interactions with the good old face to face

Social media is a part of society as water is to life. Without the use of social media there would be a world of close friendships and face to face communication. “It’s estimated that by 2018, 2.44 billion people will be using social networks, up from 970,000 in 2010” (Guzman). Imagine not having social media to communicate with friends and family. Think about having to have a face to face conversation instead. “We use it for every part of our lives- in our personal relationships, for entertainment, at work and in our studies… every minute we collectively send more than 30 million messages on Facebook and almost 350,000 tweets” (Guzman). Social media is becoming an increasing problem throughout society, taking away face to face communication, effecting relationships, and causing a negative effect on mental health.

I’ve learned that everything that glitters ain’t gold. In my middle school days I’ve experienced the negative effects of social media, Now when I say social media, I’m referring to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. By me being very active on social media I’ve been taunted, teased, threatened and harassed along with having low- self esteem and some suicidal thoughts . According to a recent study in the JAMA pediatrics, 23% of teens report they are or have been the target of cyberbullying . “A National survey of over 10,000 adolescents showed that 1 in 3 teens met criteria for an anxiety disorder. Severe anxiety, including panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias, afflicts 8.3% of all teens. 5% to 8% of U.S. teens attempt suicide yearly. According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, it states that 92% of teens use their smartphones to access social media daily while 24% say they access it almost constantly”. Even though some people believe social media opens up a large network, social media do have an negative effect on teens because it is one of the main reasons for Poor Academic Performance, It causes teens to have Emotional Implications and Limiting time spent on social media can reduce the chance of being Cyberbullied.