How Social Media Has Changed How We Relate

Social media platforms have changed how people communicate. It is now the norm to find everyone in a social gathering glued to his or her phones. While social media has brought with it better connectivity,it has changed how people communicate. Many brands are using the platform to promote brand visibility and boost their sales.

However, social media has also influenced the society negatively. Gone are the days when people would go for coffee dates, or meet new acquaintances in libraries. Nowadays people do not take the time to know each other better because almost everyone is focused on their phones.

This article explores ways that social media has influenced society negatively:

Depression and social anxiety

If you spend many hours online, you could be experiencing negative moods and social anxiety. Social media promotes comparisons where you follow people who are better off than you. Social media is as addictive as Ativan addiction and largely contributes to cases of depression. It has been reported that social media is becoming more addictive than cigarettes or alcohol. If you cannot live without regularly checking your social media pages for an hour, then you could be addicted to social media.

Many social media users would be filled with dread and even go into depression if their favorite social media accounts were closed forever. One of the reasons social media is so addictive is that people do not want to miss out. They want to fit in and be part of the crowd. The fear of missing out only makes your social anxiety worse. It creates anxiety because you always find people having more fun than you do.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is real when it comes to social media. For a long time, bullying was often associated with big guys terrorizing nerds and other small students. With social media, bullying takes a new form. You cannot see the person bullying you because they have fake accounts and most remain anonymous. Predators looking for victims have been on the rise online; this extends to cases of pedophiles looking for young children. In the worst case scenarios we have seen victims of cyberbullying committing suicide. As a parent, it is essential to monitor what people are doing online. Most of the cyber bullies begin by creating trust with the victims,and they can then entice them to play games.

Unrealistic life expectations

Social media has the adverse effect of promoting unrealistic life expectations. Many people who are addicted to social media follow their pop idols online. They are hooked to the lives of these pop stars. What many do not realize is that what is portrayed online is far from reality. Many people do not project their negatives but put up images that put them in good light.

Drop in self-esteem

Our self-esteem is at stake when we continuously stalk our favorite people online. Many people do not realize that what people post on Instagram or Facebook is often edited and shows only positives. Life has both good and bad times; when you compare your life with others, your self-esteem will be affected. A study conducted by the University of Copenhagen on people who suffered from Facebook envy. They were asked to abstain from Facebook for a week,and most of the participants said they felt satisfied with their lives after abstaining. Social media affects people negatively because it causes them to derive their self-worth based on how well we are doing when compared to others. What we do not realize that this kind of happiness is beyond our control.

Lack of Human Connection

It has become the norm that more young people are relating more to each other through various social media platforms as opposed to having real conversations with people. The fear of being left out causes social anxiety when you see people having fun at a party only to realize that you were not invited. Gone are the days when people would meet in the park and have normal conversations. This lack of human connection extends to relationships and marriages where partners spend more time online than having face-to-face conversations.

Distorted Memories

Social media keeps reminding us of the life we had in the past,and this distorts our current lives. For example, you have gone to this awesome beach, instead of having fun your focus is on getting the perfect photo to share with friends online. This leads to us not living in the moment. Instead of making the most of what we have we are more concerned about how people will perceive our fun moments. It also leads to situations where we are experiencing challenges in our lives,but we opt to share previous good moments. This leads to many people living a lie far from reality.

Sleep deprivation

Having a good night sleep is crucial for the normal functioning of our bodies. It is while we sleep that our bodies rest and repairs itself. To have that deep sleep that leaves you refreshed the following day, you need to keep off any distractions. Social media prevents us from having the best sleep. If you are trying to sleep while at the same time checking other people’s post, then your sleep will be interrupted. Our brains are also active if when we go to sleep because we have filled our minds with what other people are doing. It also aggravates our social anxiety. It has also been noted that the blue night that emanates from the phone suppresses melatonin which helps us when we are tired.

Conclusion

While social media is here to stay, we need to be aware of the time that we spend on various social media sites. You become an addict when you constantly check your connections every minute. Social media has changed how people communicate. When we always compare our lives with others, we develop social anxiety,and this further lowers our self-esteem. Social media has also contributed to feelings of sadness, loneliness, and depression. This is because you are very focused on the feelings of thousands of individuals. If depression sets in it is time you spend some time off social media.