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Impact of Social media
Impact of Social media
These days, most people have at least one social media account. It doesn’t matter what walk of life people are from, there is a networking site for everyone out there. People are more connected now than they have ever been.
It’s no surprise that social media addiction has become a problem. Social media provides so many things that people need these days – attention, entertainment, the ability to be someone else inconspicuously, an escape from reality, and more. It seems that this type of addiction provides many of the highs that drugs do.
Unfortunately, like drugs, social media has a major downside. For a long time, scientists observed behavior changes in people who have a social media addiction. Scientist’s research has confirmed the personality change – it seems people are more depressed when they constantly use social media.
Why is social media having such a negative effect on people’s mental health? When you look at social media on the surface, it seems like a wonderful advancement for society.
People can keep in touch with distant loved ones. They have quicker access to world news. They can be entertained by adorable cats. Social media even adds to the expansive selection of knowledge that people now hold in the palm of their hands.
One of the biggest problems with social media is that it is widely unregulated and people can put anything out there, even if it’s not true. This leads to many major problems that send a ripple effect throughout the entire world. Misinformed people tend to behave in ways that they would not otherwise do because of these lies.
The scary part of this is that these lies don’t just affect small things in people’s lives. They can upend governments, economies, and even militaries. Social media has become a powerful weapon, and unfortunately, any and everyone has access to it.
While most people use social media responsibly, it is the ones who use it irresponsibly that tend to make the most noise. This noise is attractive for both sides – everyone loves a bit of drama. In fact, it adds to the issue of social media addiction.
Social media isn’t all bad. Plenty of people use it in a healthy way. These are usually the people that do not have a problem with social media addiction.
Social media was never supposed to take the place of real, physical connections. It was simply supposed to connect people in ways that were innovative and exciting. The fact that social media addiction, as well as other mental conditions, are being exacerbated by people’s use of this technology may indicate that there are serious underlying mental health issues that have not been properly addressed on a mass scale before social media came along.
Unless mental health issues become a widescale public concern, social media may continue to have the wrong effect on people. Indeed, depression seems to be a trend among social media users that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression affects more than 264 million people globally. It’s already such a huge problem that it’s scary to think that social media is going to exponentially increase cases of depression.
There is no doubt that connecting with a long-lost friend has its perks. When used responsibly, it can be entertaining, and it can make people happy. It can be a great addition to anyone’s life.
However, too much of anything is bad. It’s like overeating, taking drugs, partying, or even working too much. The addiction takes you past the benefits and straight to mental health issues like depression. If you or someone you know has an addiction to social media, take the advice and seek help before it gets too bad.