Social media has it’s pros and cons. It’s a great way to keep people connected and stay in touch with their loved ones. However, it is also proving to negatively affect people’s well being and can lead to social media addiction. Oftentimes, we are all comparing ourselves to others on social media. We begin to think we’re inadequate for not reaching the same milestones as people our age, or we feel envy towards people who appear to be happy and living the life we want. These feelings cause internal judgements resulting in an increase in depression, anxiety, and poor self-esteem world wide.
From ‘FOMO’ to body image, we’re watching social media change the way humans interact and it’s harming our mental health.
The fear of missing out, or ‘FOMO’ is something many young adults are struggling with. Not being at every event or included in all the fun pictures is increasing anxiety around missing out on social events. FOMO is focused on sharing only the fun experiences and accomplishments achieved, creating a false reality of superficial happiness causing people to become addicted to social media. It’s cyclical: as we get sucked into FOMO, we continue our endless scrolling and feed into the narrative with our own posts for others to envy. It constantly forces users to be concerned more so about their appearance on social media rather than being present in the moment with their friends.
Social media is also one of the major contributing factors to poor body image. On social media we see influencers with the ‘ideal body’. We are trained to believe that if we don’t look like that, we are not beautiful. Constant ads for extreme weight loss show regularly without prompting on people’s pages. As a result, people are working to obtain an unrealistic perception of body image in order to feel good about themselves. Sadly, this can contribute to poor self-esteem, eating disorders, anxiety, and depression as people become fixated on their physical insecurities.
Let’s not forget the dangers of cyberbullying. The more popular your page is, the more likely you are to encounter internet “trolls” who post bullying comments. People encountering internet trolls regularly and engaging with them are more likely to feel insecure, unworthy, and judged frequently. The effects of cyberbullying increase an individual’s chances of anxiety, depression, and other stress related concerns. Studies have shown a direct link between cyberbullying and self-harm behaviors along with suicidal ideation.
Social media addiction can impact our daily life.
At times, we unconsciously open social media apps and scroll mindlessly, leading to social media addiction. We’re not even fully aware of the addictive behavior that can be triggering to our mental health. Unaware, we open the app and we see a post or video that makes us feel negatively about ourselves and affects the rest of our day. As social beings, we’re spending more time staring into our screens than making eye contact with others. Even when with friends, we’re checking our phones regularly and sharing things we saw on the internet with each other. Humans need physical contact and touch. Without it we’re likely to experience increases in loneliness and depression due to social media addiction.
Here are some ways to break the bond social media may have on you:
Take a break
If going cold turkey isn’t for you, set limits for how long you plan to spend on your laptop or phone, especially out of working/school hours. It’s important to take a break and step away physically so you don’t get caught in an endless scroll cycle.
Be selective with who you engage with online.
Go through your followers and actively unfollow those accounts that propagate these thoughts and feelings for you. If they don’t make you smile, don’t waste your precious time on them.
Find a community outside of social media.
Filling that time you would be on your phone with activities like reading a book, playing sports, spending time with family and friends requires your full attention and leaves you with less time to check your phone. It also gives us something to look forward to, and socialization is one key to being healthy and happy.
Turn off notifications
Don’t let your phone interrupt your real life, especially for a social update. Aside from being a general distraction, allowing notifications to catch your attention can decrease your productivity, effectiveness, and overall attention span.
Social media is a great way to keep people connected and stay in touch, but can also negatively affect people’s well-being. Re-evaluate how you use this medium and take back control of how it makes you feel. Happy scrolling!
“Don’t use social media to impress people; use it to impact people.” — Dave Willis, Producer
