Social media has taken over the world. Media has people distracted, misinformed, and hurting one another. So why is everyone still using social media, is it an addiction? And if so, why are users so obsessed with checking social media constantly? For starters, the public has a need to always be informed about what is going on in the world. Whether that information is news in politics or government, or if a celebrity couple broke up; Media allows people to have constant connection with a click of a button. But is social media doing more damage than good?
“Studies have shown that social media can have a negative effect on your life satisfaction and subjective well-being.”
Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok allows users to comment on each others posts. Unfortunately, the majority of comments users will see are insults, controversial topics, and even threats. Too much exposure to negative comments and unrealistic filtered content on social media can lead to low self esteem, comparing themselves to others, and feeling unworthy. Social media is a way for users to portray their lives as exactly as they want others to see. For instance, posts of luxurious vacations, expensive cars, or a perfect realtionship with a partner. Social media shows the highlights of someones life, but not the behind the scenes of what is really going on.
If the negative comments and the fake portrayal of perfect life styles are not enough to quit social media, maybe thinking about the harm media has on personal health will.
“The light from our devices, particularly the blue hue is common, is disruptive to sleep in itself.”
The constant scrolling on social media can actually cause damage to eyesight and sleep patterns. Social media makes it hard to detach from our phones at night when its the time our body desperately needs its rest.
So is it time to finally delete social media for good?
References:
Hallgren, Ida. “Why You Should Delete Your Social Media Apps Today.” Medium, Change Your Mind Change Your Life, 4 May 2020, https://medium.com/change-your-mind/why-you-should-delete-your-social-media-apps-today-6ef86fd7db95.
“The Pros and Cons of Quitting Social Media.” SCL Health, https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2018/10/quitting-social-media/.
I enjoyed reading your post and it sparked a few thoughts of my own on this topic. I am currently in a Sociology class and a few weeks ago we were learning about social media and its effect’s on people. In that class, I learned at that social media makes people more depressed and more suicidal. The one statistic I remember that stood out to me the most was the percentage of teenage girls that become depressed because of instagram. I forget the exact number but it was very high. I do agree that social media has benefits and there are good things about it, but I know that it also has gotten out of hand in ways. In the article below, it talks about how social media impacts and takes a toll on teenagers.
reference
https://www.mvnews.org/is-social-media-taking-over-our-lives/
I think you made some very valid points in your post, but I also think it could benefit from a more inclusive perspective. Yes, social media has obviously had adverse effects on its consumers, and the world in general, but its climate is ever-improving and does pose some benefits that I think should be acknowledged.
In the current state of social media, I’ve found that there’ve been great (successful) pushes for more transparency and cultivating more supportive environments in online social spaces, and I think that it’s an important distinction to make to show that it’s not all bad; there’s an increasing number of nurturing environments online.
Social media has also provided people with the ability to be more social (through connectivity and interaction) and become and stay more informed (Khan, Swar, Lee 2014).
Social networks not only have given us a way to reconnect with old friends, maintain relationships, and form new ones, but it’s made us more active members in society. Through social media people are able to seek and give advice, knowledge, and support and just experience more interpersonal interactions in general; something that was especially crucial during quarantine. It gives people a way to stay connected with the world, through interactions and news. It’s been shown that reduced social media use also resulted in a decrease in people’s knowledge in accurate news (Alcott et al. 2020). Without social media, many people get their news through word of mouth; and we all know how that goes.
Overall, however, I think that we as a whole would benefit from, at the least, limited social media use because the cons are definitely still there and pronounced.
Sources:
Gohar Feroz Khan, Bobby Swar, Sang Kon Lee. “Social Media Risks and Benefits: A Public Sector Perspective – Gohar Feroz Khan, Bobby Swar, Sang Kon Lee, 2014.” SAGE Journals
Allcott, Hunt, et al. “The Welfare Effects of Social Media.” American Economic Review
Hi! I totally agree with some of the points that you’ve stated above, and from there I developed several thoughts on what will happen if we quit social media. Although this question looks simple and we need to just say should or should not, but it is also a pretty tricky question at the same time because we need to deepen and gather our thoughts before answering. While looking at the benefits of quitting social media, I totally agree with you that social media can interrupt our sleeping schedule. This is because most people have the habit of scrolling through social media before they sleep, and when they get addicted to it, the time for sleeping has already passed. If we quit social media, we can try something more relaxing such as mediations, or even reading books, spending time with families, etc. Apart from that, I think quitting social media can improve what we are thinking, and can brainstorm more. This is because when we are always on social media, we tend to follow what other thinks, or follow someone else’s idea, which makes you rely more on your own creativity and thoughts, instead of depending on others.
Yes, I absolutely agree that social media should be dropped entirely, or at the very least vastly reduce tracking and personalization, as well as implementing age restrictions that are not able to be easily faked. The Happiness Research Institute also found that “people on Facebook had trouble concentrating, felt less present and thought they were wasting their time at a higher rate than peers not using Facebook (SCL Health, 1).” On top of this, the classic argument about social media that always holds true is comparing yourself to others on social media. It is inevitable if you are on it enough, and can lead to some dangerous thought processes and has been proven to provoke mental illness and eating disorders. We should not allow this kind of technology near our children, and strongly consider severely restricting adult access as well.
https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2018/10/quitting-social-media/
With the development of technology, social media has become an essential tool for people to share information. But since the information and views people share have become more diverse, it is important that various regulations keep up with the times accordingly. Negative, meaningless comments do have an impact on people’s mental health. At the same time, we cannot ignore the convenience and positive thoughts that social media brings to people. The satisfaction, fulfillment and identity that comes from interacting and sharing with others is also essential to society and growth.
It is completely unrealistic to completely remove social media from modern life, and it is very difficult to do so. For all kinds of time-sensitive information, the speed of its dissemination is very important. So even without these social media, we can still get this information in some other way at a speed that corresponds to the productivity of the time.
I think it is more useful and efficient to find and solve problems from ourselves than to make adjustments by social media companies for some groups. For example, balancing the time spent on social media with the time spent on maintaining physical health, or improving social media habits.
This post poses a very interesting question about whether or not it is time to quit social media altogether. Personally, I believe that we need to take a step back from social media for a little while because it often has the ability to negatively affect peoples’ lives. Often times it can be detrimental to mental health. That being said, at this point in time is almost impossible to not use social media anymore since most of our lives revolve around it. For example, businesses use it as a way to get customers, and will suffer if we get rid of it. Even though it can have some negative effects, there are also plenty of positives like being able to connect with someone you haven’t seen in awhile. You may also be able to get better sleep because instead of sitting on the phone for hours before bed, you are able to actually get the rest the body needs. I think it needs to be a personal decision to decide how much you really need social media and if it is affecting you negatively, it might be time to make some changes.
Source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/parenting-neuroscience-perspective/202110/what-quitting-social-media-taught-me
Although this is simply a yes or no question, it can be hard to answer as it is easy to make a case for either argument. However, in my opinion, it is definitely time to quit social media, or at least limit our exposure to it. It is no secret to anyone anymore that exposure to social media can influence mood, self-esteem, sleep, and more in a very negative manner. In exchange for these damages, we are gifted the assurance that we are connected with friends, family, and random strangers. In my opinion, this is not a sacrifice worth making when there are other more useful and meaningful ways to stay connected with those who we care about. I know it can be tough for many people to quit social media, as it has engrained itself into our lifestyles and minds. But even though it feels like losing a part of yourself at first, there is no doubt that those who have become supposedly addicted to social media will feel better in hindsight knowing that they quit it.
https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2018/10/quitting-social-media/
I think your article makes a great point that social media affects eyesight due to the blue light emitted from the screen. Because we as a society have such an addiction to social media, it can be hard for all of us to put our phones away at night which can lead to worsened eyesight. We are addicted to social media because of the gratification we receive when we get likes on something or share something. Right before bed is when people tend to feel at their lowest and are looking for gratification which leads to them turning to their phone and social media. So yes, I believe that we should quit social media.
https://steverosephd.com/why-we-are-addicted-to-likes/
I think your article makes a great point that social media affects eyesight due to the blue light emitted from the screen. Because we as a society have such an addiction to social media, it can be hard for all of us to put our phones away at night which can lead to worsened eyesight. We are addicted to social media because of the gratification we receive when we get likes on something or share something. Right before bed is when people tend to feel at their lowest and are looking for gratification which leads to them turning to their phone and social media. So yes, I believe that we should quit social media.
Social Media is absolutely double sided – it has both pros and cons. Social media disturbs our lifestyle, destroys our sleep pattern and more importantly it cuts through our confidence and self-esteem. Social Media sets fake standards and expectations that most of us can’t reach. Most importantly, seeing screen for longer times cause so many harms human eyes and a study shows that young adults who check social media more frequently and for more time, have greater sleep disturbances. One more problem with social media is spreading fake news. One needs to stop spreading information that they are not sure of. But it is important to know that so many things we do in our day to day life has pros and cons, though social media is easily addictive, it is definitely upon us to know the limit. Social media can be really helpful too. It helps us to connect with the people we love and it helps us know what is happening around the world. It helps us to expand our networks and makes our day to day life easier. Social Media would be really useful to everyone if it is made to be less addictive.
https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2018/10/quitting-social-media/
Social Media is absolutely double sided – it has both pros and cons. Social media disturbs our lifestyle, destroys our sleep pattern and more importantly it cuts through our confidence and self-esteem. Social Media sets fake standards and expectations that most of us can’t reach. Most importantly, seeing screen for longer times cause so many harms human eyes and a study shows that young adults who check social media more frequently and for more time, have greater sleep disturbances. One more problem with social media is spreading fake news. One needs to stop spreading information that they are not sure of. But it is important to know that so many things we do in our day to day life has pros and cons, though social media is easily addictive, it is definitely upon us to know the limit. Social media can be really helpful too. It helps us to connect with the people we love and it helps us know what is happening around the world. It helps us to expand our networks and makes our day to day life easier. Social Media would be really useful to everyone if it is made to be less addictive.
I definitely do not think we should get rid of social media altogether as it is very essential to many businesses. I do think there needs to be more responsible people online though. Many kids and young adults fill up their time on social media and want to be the most popular amongst their peers. This leads to more exposure so random strangers who also do not have to see these people in real life, they do not have to deal with in real life interactions. This makes it easier for cyberbullying to occur because there is not much people can do to stop it from happening.
On the other side, many businesses use social media for marketing and advertising purposes. This helps people with online shopping, and ways to see products before they get them. I also think for personal branding purposes, social media is a great place to show who you are and what you like. Meeting people is easier for jobs and even social communication for people who have social anxiety.
Overall I think there needs to be more regulation on the amount of time someone can use social media throughout the day or week. This will reduce time people spend on it and will make sure people do not get too caught up in the drama side of things.
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47135058#:~:text=Social%20media%3A%20How%20do%20other%20governments%20regulate%20it%3F,Australia.%20…%205%20Russia.%20…%206%20China.%20
I think that your post brings up an interesting discussion about the role that social media plays on the mental health of its users. While I definitely agree with you that social media has a lot of negatives, I don’t think that the discussion of whether or not we should get rid of it is that black and white. Social media allows us to share information about our lives and learn information about others at a rate that humanity has never seen before. As social media has become more and more integrated with our lives I don’t think that the vast majority of people are able to see the negative consequences that come with being able to share data on such a large scale.
Since we weren’t necessarily warned about these negative effects there’s been a huge learning curve when it comes to how to deal with them. I think a solution is possible where we can share positive things about our lives and connect with loved ones and not have all of the negative mental health consequences however I feel like we are far from it.
One solution I found while reading the article “Social media: How might it be regulated?” is to regulate the way that we consume and post to social media. In the article they talk about having some type of algorithm vet all posts and comments. While in theory that sounds like a good idea I feel like in practice it will be a disaster. I don’t feel like it’s time yet to totally do away with social media, however if we can’t find a solution sooner rather than later I my opinion might align a lot more with yours.
Citation:
Fox, Chris. “Social Media: How Might It Be Regulated?” BBC News, BBC, 12 Nov. 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54901083.
Indeed, in the 21st century, social media have become as indispensable as food and water. The emergence of social media is an inevitable result of the growth of data. It originally just used the Internet to help people better communicate and exchange information, just like telegrams, sending letters, flying pigeons to send books and so on. As we wait for the issue to emerge that we have to discuss, we cannot help but reflect on what has allowed social media to spiral out of control. At present, the most common phenomenon is the addictive mechanism of social software. I bet none of you is addicted to writing letters or sending telegrams, but staring at your phone watching scantily clad women dance all day in TiK-Tok is a common phenomenon. For this, you may have noticed that modern social software offers almost unlimited forms of information such as video. At the same time, because of the rapid development of the Internet, information has exploded so that we take in much more information each day than we produce it, which means we barely process it. This also explains why some people who try to learn on TiK-Tok find it difficult to learn because the following video overwrites the information stored in the brain for a short time with a very different style. In the long run, this will impair not only our judgment but also our memory. At the same time, a large amount of poorly studied and uncensored information can easily have incalculable psychological effects on its recipients, such as anxiety and depression. “Researchers have looked at general anxiety provoked by social media, characterised by feelings of restlessness and worry, and trouble sleeping and concentrating. A study published in the journal Computers and Human Behavior found that people who report using seven or more social media platforms were more than three times as likely as people using 0-2 platforms to have high levels of general anxiety symptoms.” (Brown, 2018) More and more psychological problems seem to be a trend, indicating that it is time for people to start to pay attention to the harm of the disorderly development of social media. So should we stop using social media? The answer is no because it is at the other extreme. However, the problems caused by social media must be properly solved so that that social media can coexist with people.
Source:
Jessica Brown, “What the science suggests so far about the impact of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram on your mental well-being.”, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180104-is-social-media-bad-for-you-the-evidence-and-the-unknowns
I don’t believe it’s time to quit social media, but there are definitely downsides that can affect our mental health and productivity. I often find myself distracted when doing homework because of my phone and scrolling through social media. Social media is full of information and content that is helpful and interesting. However, it contains fake and edited images, false information, and content that can cause fomo or insecurities. Despite knowing how social media can affect my mental health, I still use it. 69% of adults and 81% of teens use social media. Those who don’t have social media are missing out in some way but they’re not overly disconnected. The reason most people post on social media is for validation. It helps to boost self-esteem and feel a sense of belonging. They crave that positive feedback. This is why it has become addictive. I believe taking a break from social media is a great thing for our young minds but getting rid of it altogether is not necessarily the solution.
https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health
I don’t believe it’s time to quit social media, but there are definitely downsides that can affect our mental health and productivity. I often find myself distracted when doing homework because of my phone and scrolling through social media. Social media is full of information and content that is helpful and interesting. However, it contains fake and edited images, false information, and content that can cause fomo or insecurities. Despite knowing how social media can affect my mental health, I still use it. 69% of adults and 81% of teens use social media. Those who don’t have social media are missing out in some way but they’re not overly disconnected. The reason most people post on social media is for validation. It helps to boost self-esteem and feel a sense of belonging. They crave that positive feedback. This is why it has become addictive. I believe taking a break from social media is a great thing for our young minds but getting rid of it altogether is not necessarily the solution.
obviously, the answer to this question is no. as we all know that social media has already been a part of people’s life. we can’t live without it. for example, people need to follow the main wave from social media. if we live without social media, once your friends want to talk about a piece of recent news, you will have no idea what she is talking about. the situation will be so awkward. it will totally affect your relationship. she may think that you guys are not the same kind of people, she may end the relationship with you. on the other hand, if we live without social media, we will get rid of society easily. for example, if someone quit the social media, and the only way he can know what’s happening recently is from the newspaper. as we all know that the newspaper may be less efficient than the social media, may broken news will be posted in the next day.
as a result, I think we should not quit social media, it has already been a good part of our life and we can’t live without it right now.
https://www.thehealthy.com/mental-health/quit-social-media/
I think social media can be a good thing but unfortunately it seems to have a lot of negative things associated with it. I find that social media personally affects my mental health the most because it makes everyone’s life seem perfect. Instagram tried to take away likes on the platform in an effort to help people’s mental health but there was still plenty of opportunity for comparison to others. Your post really resonated with me because I feel like I always go back and forth on deleting social media apps even just for a few days to get a break but if you do that, then you miss out on everything happening with the world. I think this poses a threat to people’s mental health because it makes them feel trapped.
https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health
Social Media has been a big thing in our society that we are in today. Kids growing up all have Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, things of that nature. But having it is not a big issue, the issue is how people are addicted to social media and how they react it. No matter what they do, either at work, in class, hanging out with friends, people go onto their phones to check out social media constantly to see if there is anything interesting happening. Like me, whenever I am doing homework, I have this constant urge to reach over to my phone and open the Instagram app to see what is happening and that is a really bad habit to have. Social Media is also a way that can harm you psychologically. If you post something online and people will comment negative things on it, how will you respond? For me, I will obviously get depressed and want to take the post down immediately before it gets too far.
Now on the other hand, taking social media right out of somebody’s life is definitely not a solution. People get so engage into social media it is like something they can’t have, if they lose it, they will probably go insane. Best thing to do is urge yourself to go onto social media less often and put what the priorities are first. If you get bored, sure, go on. But try to minimize as much as possible.
Source: Price-Mitchell, Marilyn, et al. “Teens Discuss Disadvantages of Social Networking.” Roots of Action, 2 Oct. 2020, https://www.rootsofaction.com/disadvantages-of-social-networking/.
One of the primary concerns with social media is how competitive these apps are for our attention. The model in which social media companies make money arguably is the root of all these problems. For years, companies have been making money by selling us things. Social media was different. From the start, they couldn’t convince people to pay for their platforms, it was too new. But now, society has expectations that things on the internet, including social media platforms are free. Realistically, they are not free. Social media companies make money by selling us, our attention and our data, to advertisers. They use psychological hacks to persuade users to give away their attention, so much so, that we’ve reached a point where its unconscious decisions to do so.
Interestingly, many problems come from us giving away this attention. University of Michigan analyzed studies, finding that over the decade of the rise of social media, there had been a 40 percent drop in empathy among college students. The erosion of our attention is related strongly to the erosion of our moral attention. This means that because we’re so used to giving away our attention to social media companies, we’ve lost the ability to choose where our attention goes. Morally, we should give our full attention to people when we have social interactions. But Pew found that 89% of people said in their last social interaction, they took out their phone to give their attention elsewhere. This decreases empathetic connection to people we are talking to. Another example of moral attention is when a bystander witnesses an event, they’re more likely to take their phone out to record for social media than to offer help to someone who is suffering. Social media has also brought traumatic events right within our eyes, many even right between lighthearted content, decreasing the shock factor when we witness these events ourselves. Human decency and empathy are being eroded by social media. Beyond the effects it has on individuals, when the morality of nearly everyone is being wrecked, the moral ways in which society interacts with each other are at stake.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22585287/technology-smartphones-gmail-attention-morality
Social media means a lot of different things and can also do a lot of different things. So much good has been accomplished through the use of social media, from shedding light on things that otherwise would have gone unseen, to uniting groups of people from all over the world. With that being said, there’s also a lot of harm done by social media as well.
A study done by the International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering states, “The addictive piece of the online networking is awful and can exasperate individual lives also. It can likewise squander individual’s time that could have been used by profitable tasks and exercises”. With the addiction to social media comes a laundry list of mental health complications, as well as the overall abuse of time. Also, over the past few years, social media has also been the cause of mass amounts of misinformation, especially relating to social unrest and political opinions.
Overall, social media, when used properly and for good, is an asset that shouldn’t be underappreciated. With that being said, it is hard to regulate and unlikely that it can do more good than bad and I think there’s has to be something done about it. Conclusively, I think rather than social media staying the way it is, or even being quit, I think it needs to be improved. From elimination of misinformation, to putting a stop to cyber harassment, it has to be fixed.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Waseem-Akram-19/publication/323903323_A_Study_on_Positive_and_Negative_Effects_of_Social_Media_on_Society/links/5ab1c064a6fdcc1bc0bfefef/A-Study-on-Positive-and-Negative-Effects-of-Social-Media-on-Society.pdf
I do not think that it is time to quit social media entirely but I do think we should reduce our use of it. Social media allows us to interact with friends from long distances, engage in our hobbies, learn new things, and much more. I have started working out due to social media and obtained lots of valuable knowledge about it. While many positives can be attributed to social media, I do agree with your point that parts of it have become toxic as well as very addictive. Many people are often arguing and leaving hateful messages for each other. Social media also spikes our dopamine levels briefly which contributes to the addictiveness of it. Some things I have personally done to combat this have been setting my phone out of reach while working on assignments and designating a time at which I am no longer allowed to use social media for the night.
Source:
https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/social-media-addiction/#:~:text=Due%20to%20the%20effect%20that,when%20taking%20an%20addictive%20substance.
Despite Social media problems it can be used for a lot of good as well. Social media can affect benefits businesses, celebrities, and individuals alike.
Social media can help a new business spread its name quickly, effectively, and cheaply. A majority of businesses these days use social media to get to their specific audience and can humanize their brand to appeal to more people. Social media is free so a company or business doesn’t have to pay for advertising that can be a major hurdle for smaller businesses. Lastly, social media is effective because they have algorithms that would share your business with people that probably would be most interested in it.
Social media can be very helpful for individuals and celebrities for very similar reasons. Social media can help someone who wants to become famous. It always them to build an online profile and gain a group of followers that can grow. Social media can also be helpful as another means of communication to people from smaller or different platforms. Also, for individuals, it can keep them up to date with the latest trends for entertainment and can help them keep up to date with what is happening in the world from disaster to elections. Lastly, social media can be used to increase a following.
Source:https://sproutsocial.com/insights/benefits-of-social-media/
I’m choosing to focus on the perks that could come with quitting social media or at least taking a break from it. If one were to not have the constant worry of checking their status on social media platforms, they would have plenty of time to get other things done and way faster. You wouldn’t stop doing your homework to take “a break” for 2 hours. You would also feel less stressed because you would no longer be comparing yourself to others and their ‘perfect lives’ that they’re trying to portray. When people go out, they choose to post only the crazy and fun moments not the fact that they’re sitting on their phone checking social media the whole time. You would also be able to strengthen face-to-face interactions. We find it so easy to type a negative comment while we’re hiding behind a screen, but know that it would be nearly impossible to say something if were standing face-to-face with that same person. It’s time to man up and take a break from social media to really live the lives we were meant to.
Source: https://www.thehealthy.com/mental-health/quit-social-media/
Your post stuck out to me because I recently just ended a social media cleanse that I was doing in connection to Mental Health. I can definitely say a lot of things you mentioned like the effect social media has on our life satisfaction is true. Social Media leaves room for people to constantly compare themselves and how their life is going to people they see online and even worse it’s people they’ve probably never met before. I can honestly say that I was 100% more satisfied with the life I was living when not being filled with false pictures of how my life should look like or could look like if I did XYZ.
I belive people are addicted to social media because of the quickness of it. You can see almost everything that you are interested in in a matter of seconds because of the algorithm that has learned about you. Being able to connect with anyone and everyone even if you don’t have their contact information is also a plus when using social media.
When I was on my break it was definitely hard to stay in contact with people that I wouldn’t speak with on a daily basis or only communicated with via Instagram. Also you are able to get many opportunities of pitching yourself through the main outlets of social media. So I can understand why people can not let it go but definitely suggest for everyone to take that cleanse and see how it affects them!
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/social-media-and-mental-health
Your post stuck out to me because I recently just ended a social media cleanse that I was doing in connection to Mental Health. I can definitely say a lot of things you mentioned like the effect social media has on our life satisfaction is true. Social Media leaves room for people to constantly compare themselves and how their life is going to people they see online and even worse it’s people they’ve probably never met before. I can honestly say that I was 100% more satisfied with the life I was living when not being filled with false pictures of how my life should look like or could look like if I did XYZ.
I belive people are addicted to social media because of the quickness of it. You can see almost everything that you are interested in in a matter of seconds because of the algorithm that has learned about you. Being able to connect with anyone and everyone even if you don’t have their contact information is also a plus when using social media.
When I was on my break it was definitely hard to stay in contact with people that I wouldn’t speak with on a daily basis or only communicated with via Instagram. Also you are able to get many opportunities of pitching yourself through the main outlets of social media. So I can understand why people can not let it go but definitely suggest for everyone to take that cleanse and see how it affects them!
I can understand both the pros and cons that social media can have on our mental and physical health. It can be a place to connect with others and share your life with people you love which can make you happy and welcomed. It can also be a place where you see only the good parts of people’s lives and this ingenuity of social media is what can become very harmful for people’s mentalities. Like all things in life, social media has pros and cons and requires balance in order to be a part of the social media community while still maintaining good mental and physical health.
Despite the negative effects of social media, platforms such as Instagram can have good benefits. For me personally, social media, Instagram specifically, has helped me a lot. I am on the gymnastics team here at Penn State and social media is part to thank for that. While I was in the recruiting process, I posted videos about my gymnastics on Instagram. Using Instagram, I was able to showcase myself to collegiate programs through the country. Without social media, I would mostly likely not be attending Penn State right now. I think social media can be very helpful if used in the right way.
Hi! your post really stuck out to me as I am cuurently doing research on the harms of social media; specifically Tiktok for another one of my classes. I definitley think social media is a double sided swod as its a very good resource and when used effectivley and in moderation its a marevlous thing that allows us to connect with people all over the world and keep ourselves informed. However, it is also really bad for our mental health as multiple studies have confirmed. Social media has the power to create large movements weather good or bad. I think if we can find a way to prevent misinformation on social media and also work towards making it less addictive that would be beneficial to all consumers. While researching this topic I have come across many interesting articles about the algorithms social media apps use to keep us engaged. The specific one I attached below talks about Tiktoks for you page and how it is literally designed to keep users scrolling and addicted because the lomger we spend on the apps the more money the companies make. I wish I could say ye we should quit social media because I do think times were probobly calmer and less mental illness and addiction was spread without it. However, I dont realistically see that happening as we all love peering into each others lives and use social media constantly.
Source:
https://medium.com/dataseries/how-tiktok-is-addictive-1e53dec10867