We’ve all heard about social media in one way or another, primarily through our companions using it. For starters, social media is a way of sharing information, whether that be photos, videos, etc. and is found on websites and apps. The main purpose of social media is to expressively communicate with others online, instead of meeting them directly. You can basically share anything (often what’s on the top of your mind). It’s gained a massive surge in popularity since 2013 and that raises the main question which is a talking point among those who have wondered about how the platforms can impact us. How exactly does social media impact us? How can it alter our moods and behaviors? Does it make you generally happier? These are some of the questions that one may wonder when looking at social media. While there are common moods and behaviors that you can state, everyone, experiences them in different ways. Today, I want to take a look into how exactly social media can impact you and what the reasons behind it are. While it may not seem like too much of a difference at first glance, social platforms are different altogether from regular messaging apps. This is because social media promotes a handful of conversations, while a messaging app is for one on one conversations as well as group conversations. Social media users feel the need to show themselves to others and can often lead to then being concerned about how they appear. The main objective of social media is to gain popularity in any way possible, not always but often that always comes first before considering what you are doing by posting a message online. One study out of the University of Pittsburgh found a correlation between time spent scrolling through social media apps and negative body image feedback. Those who had spent more time on social media had 2.2 times the risk of reporting eating and body image concerns, compared to their peers who spent less time on social media. The participants who spent the most time on social media had 2.6 times the risk. Dr. Lund, a child and adolescent psychologist at Sanford Health claims that when teens have an unrealistic image of others (a post for instance on social media) they feel as if they’re not having positive/as good things happen to them. Most of the time, that’s not the case as what really happens online doesn’t have to be realistic. Others can post images online which can ruin one’s mood to feel as if they aren’t as good as them for any reason. While social media can have an impact on how we look at ourselves, it can also have an impact psychologically. That comes in the form of addiction, which we can associate with social media if it becomes an essential part of our lives in a way that we cannot last without it. For a large majority of teens, social media can affect teens because of how easy it is to get addicted. This is primarily due to the sensation that comes with looking for likes on the platform. With social media, you can constantly update others on what you are doing. This includes walking, eating, and what you are wearing. Social media is widely accessible due to the fact that it is right on our phones and we can go anywhere with it. A reason why social media is so popular is because of how accessible it is. The process itself is so easy to do on a regular basis. To get onto social media, you just pick up your phone, head over to a social media app, and browse through. The accessibility of this tool is what makes it so popular, and this along with how easy it is to obtain a phone. As a result of social media being widely available on all fronts, it can cause a problem when we sleep. If we cannot set limits for managing our time on social media, then it will ultimately affect our sleep as well. A study conducted by the Journal of Youth Studies viewed 900 teens between the ages of 12-15 and found that social media does, in fact, have an effect on their sleep. The students revealed that they were less happy on average than those who almost always wake up during the night and log onto social media. Lastly, it showed that teens that did not log onto social media platforms were less likely to have their sleep-deprived from them. Particularly so, since teens require more sleep than adults. There are often more ways that social media can cause sleep deprivation than one may initially think. This includes factors such as how well you are doing mentally at school. Although not necessarily the case, depending on which school you go to and the enforcement to avoid phone use: you are more likely to use your phone outside of school hours rather than at school itself. Teenagers can also have a tough time going from social media to bed if they find themselves engaged in the platform. Another process can start if your routine activities are disrupted due to social media notifications. We obviously don’t want to find ourselves with any of the issues listed above as a result of social media. Therefore, it would be a good idea to shift to good habits while using the platforms/find alternatives to not be addicted easily. Social media is a way for us to communicate online through images, videos, and text. However, the actions that we perform on social media tend to be different from those that we may perform in person. When we do not realize what we are saying on social media, write online without realizing that we are getting engaged in conversations that we have no idea about. You feel the need to continue. Hence, where addiction to social media starts and once you start scrolling too much it’s quite hard to get out of it. Once you gain an addiction towards social media then you start to worry about what others may think of you. As a result of worrying about what others think of you, you may try to change your appearance by gaining/reducing weight or editing photos in a way that it doesn’t resemble you, etc. However, you can’t let the negative thoughts of others affect you and stop you from performing an action in a reasonable and appropriate way. Since electronics (especially phones) are so easily accessible, one can find themselves using them for long periods of time which will eventually hurt their sleep during a time when it is crucial. Maintaining good habits such as keeping track of your social media time will eventually help in the long run.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment