The Causes And Negative Effects Of Social Media

Some people may wonder what effect social media has on people worldwide. Many people are using social media daily and because of that, they might not know the effects that can be lurking behind a screen and causing harm to their mental health. Social media has many negative effects on mental health. Some people could think that mental health and social media has no relation, when it does. It is a fast-growing issue with many “cause and effect” reasons behind it. Each cause needs to be recognized along with the effect it has on the people who use social media.

Social media has become a part of our life, and no one can imagine living without it. Social media has grown a lot over the several years. Young individuals have always thought that social media is a marvelous piece of technology, but they never think about the negative effects of ‘like’ culture, which contributes to conformity and other negative consequences. The article, The Insidious Evils of ‘Like’ Culture, written by Neil Strauss, tells us about to what people can go to get more “likes.”

According to a recent study by IDC Research, 80% of smartphone users check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up each morning.

In recent years, media has really had an impact on how people see the world. A technology driven society is emerging because people are hooked to their phones and social media handles. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with social media as a whole, there are definite issues with the credibility of the things shared on social media. Largely as a result of social media engagement, there has been a rise in both fake news and the use of click bait. Titles such as “Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Trump for president” and “WikiLeaks confirms Hillary sold weapons to ISIS… Then drops another bombshell” are some of the most influential fictional stories from 2016 (Hannah Ritchie). These are just two headlines of news stories

As of 2015, more than two billion people (30 percent of the world’s population) are active on social media. Since then social media’s number of active users has grown and is continuing to grow day by day. As the number of active users increases so does the number of addictions that occur from it. Different groups of people say social media is a good thing because it lets everyone stay in touch but there have been many different arguments and studies that prove that social media can be bad depending on how much society uses it. Social media addictions produce negative effects in a person's life such as ruined relationships, low self-esteem, and physical exhaustion.

Vulnerability. If there is one trait that all young people have in common, it is just that: vulnerability. They feel pressure, and judgment, from their peers and adults alike. It is a constant weight of self-doubt and self-criticism propped upon their shoulders. While this vulnerability has been prevalent in each generation of young people, it has been exponentially heightened in this day’s generation. Social media is having an incredibly harmful impact on young people. Social media has created a climate of criticism and torment and, consequently, young people are suffering. While there are many negative effects of social media, its most disturbing effects are threefold: it promotes impractical expectations, allows a platform for torment and harassment, and stunts the progression of adequate social skills among youths. Social media is absolutely detrimental to the mental well-being of young people.

The face of this century is wrapped around social media. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are the three most commonly used of social media websites. Mainly to share personal information or perhaps even view what one person is doing by simply uploading a video. There have been many scenarios and debates on whether social media is consuming our daily lives in a negative or positive way. Although the three of these apps are very popular, Twitter has been in the lead with their users by sharing over 500 million tweets per day. Even though those statistics may sound cool, Twitter has also been known to be the main cause of cyberbullying, relationship problems, and teen depression. Is it really that bad?

Social media has started to take over the lives of young and old, but with that comes some negative effects. There was on average 1.32 billion daily users on Facebook in just June of 2017 (Company Info). This is the age of technology, were new websites or apps are being made to make it easier to talk to people. While it might be a good thing that we are now able to talk to someone across the country, or the world, in real time, it is the way that we are talking to people that is alarming. Social media and texting have changed the way younger people interact with others, our social skills, and the way we write in a very negative way.

However, does that mean that social media has a negative effect, restricting children from forming strong bonds and relationships? Yes and no. Going deeper into the discussion, I was reminded of a video that I had come across from a TV show called ‘Adam Ruins Everything,’ a series based around debunking common misconceptions. In this video in particular, the host interviews Anne Curzan, a Professor of English at the University of Michigan, discussing how language has changed in culture because of the addition of texting. She explains that it is not that the grammar of texters is improper, it is only that it is different and everchanging. Nowadays, it is common knowledge that if someone ends their text in a period, then it means that they are angry. Curzan also explains that while parents and adults might believe that their children do not put grammar into consideration, text messages actually are thought over quite intentionally because text has almost become its own language; a “text language.” (BATORACLE) With that, Turkle also describes the use of images and memes with funny texts in group messages, saying that people should never let it replace empathetic face-to-face conversation. However, one must look at texting, instant messaging, and memes and pictures as just a different language from spoken English, bringing up emotions and phrases that can not be defined in typical spoken conversation. In fact, the use of slang, now used especially on social media, has always

Many students walk around campus with their eyes on their phones checking up on the new trends or pop culture. Is social media affecting college students in a negative way? Yes, their grades drop, become less focused in their daily lives, and social media can make someone less social. When do you see a full classroom with no people on their phone for the whole duration of the class? The answer to that is rare to never happening. Freedom is a huge reason for the amount of people on social media.

In this technological age, social media has become a vital part of communication between teenagers. Developing friendships is important for a child’s growth, but researchers are questioning if social medial is impeding communication skills are taking away the ability to communicate in real life. Teens are missing opportunities to witness how words and actions affect others to expose them to feelings such as empathy, as texting and online chatting keeps others at a safe distance. Social media can give us a false sense of belonging and connecting that is not build on real-life social exchanges. This makes it increasingly easy to lose oneself to cyberspace connections and replace these online interactions with the good old face to face

Social media is a part of society as water is to life. Without the use of social media there would be a world of close friendships and face to face communication. “It’s estimated that by 2018, 2.44 billion people will be using social networks, up from 970,000 in 2010” (Guzman). Imagine not having social media to communicate with friends and family. Think about having to have a face to face conversation instead. “We use it for every part of our lives- in our personal relationships, for entertainment, at work and in our studies… every minute we collectively send more than 30 million messages on Facebook and almost 350,000 tweets” (Guzman). Social media is becoming an increasing problem throughout society, taking away face to face communication, effecting relationships, and causing a negative effect on mental health.

Being a student, I think the penetration rate about the social media for me is almost 100 percent. At least me and my friends use it every day. We probably used it for translator the words or chat with others. Even more we use it for fun. Everyone use social media. Undisputed, social media is another way for us to keep communicate with each other. However, it could bring the negative and the positive effects. According to my personal experience, I think the negative effects on social media is much more than the positive effects.

Social Media, we all have some form of it. The Definition of social media is “forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)” according to Merriam Webster. From teenagers with apps like Instagram and Snapchat to adults with Linkedin and Facebook. Social media is not exactly great and it has a very negative effect on society. Not only is it infecting our minds through our phones but it can even evoke dreadful situations and feelings. From the horrible feeling of “FOMO,” procrastination, and the terror of getting cyberbullied anonymously. Is social media doing more harm than good? The answer is yes. There are many facts and studies that show the effects of social media on people of all ages. Around 43 percent of teenages have been bullied online, this may or may not be anonymous. With hundreds of new social media apps coming out every month, such as Miitomo , Musical.ly, Peach and Vidku and even more powerful updates of the apps we already use and know, is the “wonderful” world of social media going to get bigger and bigger until it takes over our lives and for good? It’s slippery slope from here.

Young adolescents effect on social news is negative because they have become dependent on their transportable gadgets. For example, “41% say they are “addicted” to their mobile devices, and 36% say they sometimes wish they could go back to a time when there was no Facebook” (Teens View Their Digital Lives, 2013, p.1). This suggests that teens know that they are becoming addicted to their devices, but they are not doing anything to change it. Wishing that Facebook was not there does not solve the underlying problem that kids need to get off their phones and meet people in real life instead from social news. According to Kaiser Family Foundation, “Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 spend on average 7 1/2 hours a day using some sort of electronic device, from smart phones to MP3 players to computers” (Stout, 2010, p. 2). This proves that kids spend so much time on the electronic devices that they are becoming dependent on them. Most of that time it isn't from learning games only from social networking and worrying about how many followers they have. Social media has been becoming a problem with young adolescents spending 7 and ½ hour is not good for their health and well-beings. In addition to time spent on the computer's, teens are having problems with friendships.