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.

As of 2015, more than two billion people (30 percent of the world’s population) are active on social media. Since then social media’s number of active users has grown and is continuing to grow day by day. As the number of active users increases so does the number of addictions that occur from it. Different groups of people say social media is a good thing because it lets everyone stay in touch but there have been many different arguments and studies that prove that social media can be bad depending on how much society uses it. Social media addictions produce negative effects in a person's life such as ruined relationships, low self-esteem, and physical exhaustion.

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 the previous few decades, technology and the creation of social media sites have taken a great part in the lives of people. The internet particularly began to develop in the early 2000’s into a prominent use within professional companies and personal use. Myspace and Facebook began the launch of early social media sites. Most children growing up in the early 2000’s did not have a prominent engagement in social media. However, times have changed. Technology has snuck its way into nearly every part of people’s lives, including those growing up. But, the internet and social media do not always have beneficial effects. Social media creates lasting problems for teenagers.

“People are spending 1 out of every 7 minutes on Facebook when online. Facebook users typically are spending 10.5 billion minutes (almost 20,000 years) on the social network. And, that’s excluding mobile devices.” This clearly demonstrates the problem with our society, the ease at which we fall blindly into the influence of our surroundings, in specific social media. According to Merriam-Webster, social media is “forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and micro blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)”. Social Media platforms have become such a powerful and dominating advancement to human culture, that as a society we have become oblivious to its ramifications. Social media has impacted us negatively through the obstruction of our social capabilities, and is destructive to an individual’s mental health/behavior. This detriment can be therefore prevented if we become aware of these consequences, and continue to progress with a depth in comprehension, allowing for the control of ones growth.

In modern times, there has been increase in the usage of social media in communication. The platform such as Twitter and Facebook has been employed in marketing, where marketers target the users of the social media. Through the social media, individuals have been in a position to reach a high number of friends and family members.

My phone buzzes during class, is it worth getting it taken away then wait five minutes till class is over? This is the burden that technology holds on young adults. The phones ,tablets and computers becoming more advanced making them harder to shy away from making our lives more depend on all the technology in our lives.

Social media is globally recognized as a phenomenon that has taken over the internet. Some view social media as a counterproductive platform that will lead to societal disintegration. Others think it empowers users and can positively transform the world. Social media is handy and highly relevant, however, many common flaws are associated with the use of social media, ranging from wasting time to compromisation of privacy. Some of the reasons why social media has harmful effects on today’s youth are: everyday social media lowers a teenagers self confidence, teens today are more focused on social media than their school work, and online predators are all over social media simply looking for their next victim. Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter can cause teens to fall into these negative situations and the social media situation needs to change.

With the development of technology, the social media has become an obbligato part of our life. In the 19th century, people still used the newspapers as their main source of information about their city; in the 20th century, with the popularity of electricity, people started to listen to radio and watch television to know the event of their country; in the 21st century, computers and mobile phones gradually become popular, people enjoy the convenience and comfort of internet. However, does the social media usually give people a positive impact? Just like Allcott and Gentzkow said, “American democracy has been repeatedly buffeted by changes in media technology.” (211) Social Media creates a negative effect on today’s world by influencing the presidential election, disrupting politics, and controlling the business. Some people use social media to spread rumors and satisfy an own personal desire, and the biggest and the nearest effect of our daily life is the 2016 presidential election of the United States.

Social Media: good, bad, or ugly? Millennials would say that social media is beneficial, entertaining, and provides valuable information to young adolescents. Some older people love social media, though some would argue that social media has a negative effect on society and is the source of distorted information, miscommunication, and failure in relationships. What happened to one on one conversations with colleagues or activities that included running, going outside, or even just sightseeing? The relationships between people have been disrupted due to social media's negative effect on the idea of a healthy relationship; False expectations, mental health issues, and lack of communication prevent strong relationships to begin and grow.

Peter Drucker is best known for being the Father of Modern Management, as well as being the author of several books and articles about innovation, entrepreneurship and strategies for dealing with the world. Drucker once said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said” (Drucker). Social Media has an had enormous effect on the world today. Everyday people are posting cruel comments and inappropriate posts about others without thinking about the effect it can have on that person. Although these sites provide us with easier ways of connecting with the world, they also have a negative impact on how people can view themselves. Social media sites such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram cause negativity all over the world today.

People no longer stop by a friend’s house and get together around a table for lunch, when they can meet and chat with their friends online all throughout the day. Too often at parties and get-togethers, guests are attached to their smartphones texting, rather than truly interacting with the people around them. People nowadays are opting for online dating applications over face-to-face conversations and meetings. From all these transformations, it is evident that even though social media appear to have eased our lives, it has in fact made it more complex by ruining our ability to have relationships by robbing us of our precious time spent with our loved ones, interpersonal communication skills, and mental well-being.

When someone talks about social media people hear a wide platform where one can express himself by sharing his life experiences and his opinions about anything online. Social media is taking over the world, and it is changing how people see the world. Social media such as Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter or Instagram, was made to connect people, but nothing is separating people as social media. Before social media, people used to have physical friends and now all they have is online friends. It is so sad how depression, low self-esteem, obesity and anti-social are increasing a day by a day in our lives due to the social media. Social media is negatively impacting our society.