Social Media: A Friend Or Foe

The world is becoming fast-paced day by day and as we step further into time, everything around us is becoming digitalized. Among all these, social media is the new hype and all this is wrapped up and loaded in our smartphones. This happens to be the reason why most of us stay hooked to our mobiles, sometimes even all day long.

Social Media: A Friend Or Foe

We all stay tucked in our homes, but by using social media, we can step into a whole new different world with just a tap. A world where we can spend quality time with our friends and family and can even take a glimpse of the whole globe. The United States has been no exception to this, and as a matter of fact, around 72% of the population are avid users of social media platforms.

While undoubtedly, social media has revolutionized the primitive methods of interactions it also brings along exposure to a few downsides as well which extends up to even having an impact on our mental health. Little do we know, that the use of social media is closely associated with depression, feelings of loneliness, and anxiety. In a survey conducted in 2015, a fact came to light that left everyone astonished. On average a teenager in the United States spends up to 9 hours on social media platforms. While teenage is definitely our exploring stage where and how we spend our time should be monitored. Though, even after being aware of its downsides, people are still hooked to social media given the fact that they find it appealing and some even consider it as an escape from reality. This analysis by the Common Survey was backed by Canadian researchers in 2017.

It also added that people spending more than 2 hours a day on social media are prone to mental health issues. Moreover, such research is being carried out from time to time and more possible impacts of social media are coming forward. As per a study in 2019, social media is directly related to deprived sleep among people. They have started to face irregular sleep patterns and hence it affects their quality of life in the long run. Furthermore, social media brought along exposure to several other downsides as well which could potentially harm, one such thing is cyberbullying. Over the years, social media has become bloated with people all around the world and hence, among so much diversity, cyberbullies have come into action. According to a survey in 2020, there were around 6,000 such reported cases of cyberbullying let alone those that never came on record. Such an event can leave an emotional scar on an individual for the rest of their lives and damage their mental health to a great extent. Also, social media provides a space for people to spread hate and rumors.

Apart from issues concerning mental health, the impact of social media has also led to suicidal behavior and even suicides of many as inferred by researchers across the United States. In addition to this, social media helps some in portraying their lives as happening and this makes a large proportion of people have feelings of insecurity, disappointment, and envy. 

Though everything cannot have only negative impacts and social media being no exception comes bearing some positive factors as well. It helps maintain a bridge of communication among people. Also, it helps people to express their thoughts by extending themselves. Many artists that once used to be underrated owe their success to social media. Furthermore, it also helps educate people. For example, awareness among people regarding the LGBTQIA+ has been possible due to social media and it has also affected how people respond to it in a positive manner. To sum up, we can say that social media can affect us and our health only till we let it do so. We can use social media and still remain protected by its negative influences by limiting our use and by voicing our opinion if we observe any wrongdoing. While we do so, we can engage ourselves in some other activities and yield a fruitful experience out of our daily lives.

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