Lifestyle July 6, 2018
Stop looking down, it's time to look up.
Sometimes, we just need a break. After all, keeping your social media constantly updated is a workout.
And it’s definitely no secret that using social media comes with a number of negative effects. Technology has become so heavily integrated into our lives that it’s just so hard to turn off. But with the number of social media channels inundating today’s society, we really need to learn to unplug.
Here’s why.
Teenagers aren’t begging their parents to get a Facebook anymore. According to CNN Money, only 51 percent of teens use Facebook today, which has decreased 20 percent in the past three years. Now, YouTube snags the title as the most used social platform and Snapchat comes in second, according to the Pew Research Center.
So even though Facebook might not be the culprit for younger people anymore, the presence of other social media websites is shaping our society. And the number of platforms we can now access is rapidly growing.
The question now, is, how worried should we be?
Your health should always be your priority – physical, mental and emotional. And unfortunately, social media touches all these things.
For one, social media is addicting. Although experts haven’t been in total agreement that “internet addiction” is real, Forbes contributor Alice Walton, argues there is good evidence that internet and social media addiction can exist. In her article, she cites a Nottingham Trent University study explaining why “Facebook Addiction Disorder” is possible.
According to the authors, “addiction criteria, such as neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, escapism, mood modifying experiences, tolerance and concealing the addictive behavior, appear to be present in some people who use [social networks] excessively.”
This is no secret, as I’m sure you’ve caught yourself scrolling through cat videos at 2:00 a.m. without realizing how you even got there. The YouTube (or any social media platform, for that matter) black hole does exist. Through links, tags and algorithms, social media platforms have perfected ways to keep your short attention span on their site.
Think about how this affects your body. You are probably spending more time in your bed scrolling through your feed than you should. And while some people might even say they are two separate things that can’t be compared, it’s hard to deny that being online often means you’re indoors and not paying attention to your surroundings.
Outside of that, social media will also always lead to you constantly comparing yourself and your content to other people. With comparison comes frustration and even anger. And sadly, this could also lead to bullying.
Online bullying has become more prevalent in today’s society. A lot of online bullying stems from hate, jealousy and insecurity. Who has more followers, who gets the most likes, how do they get so many comments?
It’s not about kids getting slammed in lockers anymore, cyberbullying is about nasty comments, embarrassing photos and sometimes even more socially damaging things. “In short, the picture that’s emerged suggests that the Internet has made bullying both harder to escape and harder to identify,” wrote Maria Konnikova for The New York Times.
To make matters worse, “finsta’s,” a.k.a fake Instagrams, are now things, too. They can make cyberbullying even harder to spot because these accounts are typically private. Posts on these types of pages consist of funny or embarrassing photos posted for entertainment. Not only that, but online bullies are more removed from the subject. When you can insult someone without the consequence of seeing their reaction, it makes it easier to be hurtful.
“Wait, you’re not on Instagram?”
If your friends post a picture, they want to be able to tag you in it. If you go on vacation, you have to post that you are there. And if you don’t, what’s the point of even going? Pics or it didn’t happen, right?
Unfortunately, there’s also the stigma that you are “weird” if you do not have any social media. Nowadays, you become the outsider if you’re not participating with the online crowd. Obviously, that’s not the case, but people can surely make you feel that way.
These external pressures can build up within you and cause anxiety or unhealthy characteristics. It is important to not let this pressure get to you. If it does, this is a good sign you need to take a little hiatus from the Internet.
It is so easy to lose touch with reality if you are constantly looking down.
Just last week, a family of four with two young kids ate dinner next to me. Instead of spending time with each other, however, their two boys played video games on their iPhones with headphones in, completely tuned out. Parents are faced with raising their children in a social media engulfed world.
How often are you on your phone when you’re out to eat? How often do you stop your friends from eating because you need to snap a quick picture? Are you really in the moment?
“The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be,” said Alice Walton, Forbes contributor. Aside from feeling the pressure to constantly be updated on everyone’s lives, social media sets unreal expectations, especially for women, as to what you should look like, what you should wear, etc.
Having no social media, at least for a little while, might allow you to connect back to the real world.
Keep in mind, social media does have its benefits. It allows people all over the world to stay in touch with each other, no matter the distance. But our obsessions to our accounts have become a problem. If you are unsure of how much you are really checking your accounts – because 10 minutes every few hours can build up – there are apps that track your media time to get a real sense of how much you are using it, such as Reality Check. Maybe start there.
And once you take the first step, see how different you feel about yourself.
