The 3 issues with Social Media you need to be aware of
Social media presence has grown enormously over the years. If anything, its presence became more obvious during the pandemic. Whilst all of us were stuck at home, social media, for some, was used as a gateway to a better reality. Due to this, many people will point to the advantages that social media brings when you ask them what they think about it. For others, social media can act as trigger for feelings of anxiety and loneliness.
Don’t get me wrong, I used to love winding down by scrolling through Instagram and musical.ly as a kid, but social media brings with it some grave effects. Cyber bullying for instance is a huge issue that affects individuals all over the world. Bullies will use the anonymity social media provides to bully and intimidate their victims. This has a domino effect on the victim by making them more prone to mental health disorders such as depression or PTSD. Unfortunately, cyber bullying is not the only consequence of using social media.
Issue #1: social media can trigger more sadness.
A study conducted in 2017 looked at the correlations between Perceived Social Isolation (PSI) and Social Media Use (SMU). Essentially, they found that the longer individuals spent on social media, the more isolated they perceived themselves to be. I found this to be quite ironic because our first instinct is to scroll through our social media platforms when we feel isolated and lonely. Often, we don’t realize that depending on social media to alleviate our feelings of loneliness and isolation can create a feedback loop and cause us to feel worse. Moreover, when we turn to our beloved platforms, we see all the photos that influencers and loved ones have posted. Whilst we may be happy for them, seeing how ‘perfect’ their lives seem to be causes us to feel worse since we compare our current state to their state of content. One study even found that we compare ourselves to others in two ways. We either think we are better off than them, or worse off. The study showed that comparing yourself to others in both directions can cause people to feel depressive symptoms.
Issue #2: social media can create a ruthless cycle of jealousy.
There was a study conducted in 2014 about Facebook that found that the platform can serve as a breeding ground for unenviable feelings. Social media can generate feelings of envy and jealousy. This is because seeing people that are happier or better off than us can cause us to retaliate. This can look like posting out of envy whilst hoping to outdo your friends and loved ones. This traps us in a vicious cycle that proves to be bad for our mental health. Additionally, we extend to equate the friends we have for real friends. This is harmful because we tend to substitute interaction held over social media, for face to-face interaction. Often, this can result in us feeling lonelier.
Issue #3: It can be addictive.
Social media has a reinforcing nature which is why it can be so addictive. Sometimes, people will continue using social media despite feeling terrible about it due to its unpredictable nature of social media. We keep going back to social media because of the rewards and outcomes we may get. We seek validation through the likes and comments we receive on our social platforms. However, this also has a negative effect because we are left ruminating on who liked and who didn’t like our posts. Doing this constantly keeps us hooked on social media and encourages us to come back to social media despite the feelings we reserve for it.
There may be advantages to social media, but it is important to be aware of all the issues that come with using social media. A lot of evidence has shown that social media can influence not only our mental health, but our physical health too. It is often worth embarking on a social media detox as there are many benefits you can reap from a social media cleanse.
