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.

Over the past decade social media has been used as an outlet for self-expression. Why do people use social media to express themselves? Social media have caused negative effects on self-expression. Social media can alter people’s thoughts and feelings. Social media reduces people’s urge to write down their thoughts because they feel they will be criticized by what they wrote. Social media have also decreased social skills over time. Social media can be used as a voice and it affects the way some people express themselves.

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.

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.

Before the era of social media, vacations got their meaning from the quality of the memories that were brought home; however, with technology and social media becoming increasingly more prevalent in today’s society, this is not the case anymore. With 76% of travelers posting their vacation pictures online through some social media platform, the “success” of a trip is now often defined by the number of “likes” that our posted photos receive (Frenaye). In this new culture of daily-life sharing, society has become addicted to the number of “likes” received; Consequently, there are unmistakable harmful psychological effects that develop in users of social media. Many travel photography accounts on social media, such as @MuradOsmann, create idealized lifestyles that negatively influence others’ self-perception and personal expectations due to frequent comparison to these professionally-edited images that display high economic status and perfect relationships.

Being a student, I guess the penetration rate about the social media for me is almost 100 percent. At least me and my friends use it every day. We probably used it to translate the words or chat with others. Even more, we use it for fun. Everyone use social media. Undisputed, social media is another way for us to keep communicating with each other. However, it could bring the negative and the positive effects for us. According to my personal experience, I think the social media is harmful for the students and It can bring a lot of negative effect for me.

How many hours a day do you think you spend using social media? Some people spend hours on hours of time on social media. When people spend so many hours on their phones and computers looking at social media it tends to make them lazy and anti-social. People end up getting addicted to social media and it affects their work performance, the employees would be on their phones looking at Facebook and other social media platforms instead of doing their work. Social media is also the reason for social standards, and people, mainly teenagers, think poorly of themselves and how they look to others. There are many negative effects of social media, it makes people hate the way they look, making teens lazy, and it also can hurt people’s chances of getting a job or keeping it.

Is too much anxiety and depression being created on the youth? What about the negative ways they view themselves? Can we relate this to the way social media is the reasoning's for the world’s problems and concerns? Social media can be classified as propaganda that is rapidly progressing. It is starting to impact so many lives that is affecting those negatively. From the way technology was brought to the world about 180 years ago, its’ use is becoming adapted through generations. Many are losing out on explorations learned as young children, due to being stuck on technology. Even though there are educational advantages for youth through technological developments, it more so promotes corruption.

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, etc., that can be introduced into their real lives outside of their online lives. Despite the fact that social media is often seen as a more disadvantageous contribution to society, it allows for a greater connection to the social and intellectual worlds. Social media, while it can sometimes lead to a sense of loneliness and isolation when used improperly, provides important connections to online communities and lays the foundation for intellectual questioning and diversity.

Social media plays a huge role in today’s society. As technology continues to advance social media does too. While social networking sites become more popular the age of users on the site becomes younger. Social media has been around for what seems like forever, but it has only been around for less than two decades, “SixDegree.com, which existed from 1997-2001, is considered the first social networking site because it allowed users to create personal spaces and connect with friends online” (ProCon.org). Since the first social media site was created, there has been multiple new ones created like, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and many other commonly used sites. “As of Sep. 2014, 51% of US adults use YouTube, 28% use Pinterest, 28% use LinkedIn, 26% use Instagram, and 23% use Twitter” (ProCon.org). When analyzing the amount of time people spend on social media there are shocking results, “‘According to a [December] 2012 Nielsen…Americans spent 74 billion minutes on social media via a home computer, 40.8 billion minutes via apps, and 5.7 billion minutes via mobile web browser for a total of 121.1 billion minutes on social networking sites’” (ProCon.org). The large amounts of time people spend on social media affects society and people around by taking away face to face communication skills, making relationships weaker, lowering mental health, and

Social media plays a huge role in today’s society. As technology continues to advance social media does too. While social networking sites become more popular the age of users on the site becomes younger. Social media has been around for what seems like forever, but it has only been around for less than two decades, “SixDegree.com, which existed from 1997-2001, is considered the first social networking site because it allowed users to create personal spaces and connect with friends online” (ProCon.org). Since the first social media site was created, there has been multiple new ones created like, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and many other commonly used sites. “As of Sep. 2014, 51% of US adults use YouTube, 28% use Pinterest, 28% use LinkedIn, 26% use Instagram, and 23% use Twitter” (ProCon.org). When analyzing the amount of time people spend on social media there are shocking results, “‘According to a [December] 2012 Nielsen…Americans spent 74 billion minutes on social media via a home computer, 40.8 billion minutes via apps, and 5.7 billion minutes via mobile web browser for a total of 121.1 billion minutes on social networking sites’” (ProCon.org). The large amounts of time people spend on social media affects society and people around by taking away face to face communication skills, making relationships weaker, lowering mental health, and increasing

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.