Social media has turned from a positive thing to an Addiction.
Addiction simply means a compulsive behavior that leads to negative effects and in this case, social media addiction is referring to someone who has a compulsive use of social media. For example, people who constantly check updates on Facebook and Instagram or “stalking” other people for hours.
From spending too much time in consuming all the entertainment on social networks to the constant urge to put up pictures of what you’re wearing, what you’re eating to where you are going for the vacations, to the obsession of creating a picture perfect life on social media, the constant need of being liked, followed and fame is getting all crazy!
However, it is difficult to tell if so
A lot of people talk about how social media causes addiction. They talk about how the ramifications it has for things like mental health.
I think this is an interesting topic. There’s an argument out there that millennials are addicted to their phones, and it’s affecting their lives at home and at work.
But the question is, what’s the alternative?
If you take that person who’s addicted to social media and place them in a similar environment 20 years ago, would they be addicted to television? Would they be addicted to video games? Would they be addicted to the radio?
In 2019 there are plenty of kids who spend all day on social media at the expense of other areas of their lives, but years ago, they likely would’ve spent that time consuming the “entertainment” of that generation. Nothing would’ve changed, except the medium.
Anyhow! research shows us that social media is “Addictive”. Studies show that all the retweets, Instagram feeds and Facebook likes have affected our brain’s reward area. Social media interaction is like syringing dopamine straight into the system. It is taking a toll on people’s lives at an alarming rate. People are losing their jobs, losing their relationships, students aren’t paying enough attention to their studies, and even in some extreme cases, it has caused accidental death of many people.
A recent study also shows that there is a link between social media addiction and negative mental health effects, for e.g When you make a beautiful salad for lunch, what is more important? Eating the salad or sharing your photo on social media? With the popularity of Instagram, the visual aspect of food has become much more important than the practical one.
Another sign that social media dependence has reached dangerous dimensions in our lives is the feeling of jealousy. With the constant access to media, we are now able to follow people on their trips to exotic places, festivals, events. The ability to pick and choose what we share has opened the floodgates to creating online personas. Subconsciously we know that we only see a small fraction of reality online, however, we often choose to ignore that fact and start comparing our lives to them which causes insecurity amongst ourselves. Therefore, if your friends’ celebrations, gifts, homes, cars, wives and even body measurements have begun to cause jealousy, then your addiction has reached a serious high.
Therefore, if you are spending your time making everything just to share on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, it’s time for you to take a step back and evaluate yourself.
Use social media carefully and don’t make it the most important and exigent thing in your life, enjoy the advantages of social media but live a life outside of it too.
