During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has played a crucial role in keeping people in touch with one another. Nevertheless, despite many benefits and useful applications, social media also brings about a great deal of problems. In fact, over 210 million people suffer from social media-induced addictions, 45% of people check their social media while sleeping, 50% of people use their social media while driving, 34% of young adults report experiencing FOMO when not connected to social media, and 43% of teenagers feel depressive if nobody likes their posts.
10 Most Negative Aspects of Social Media
Abusive use of social media may exacerbate psychological cravings and aggravate mental health issues. Let’s have a look at 10 most dangerous aspects of social media :
- Addiction – Social media addiction is characterized by an uncontrollable urge to log on to social media platforms, thus impairing other vital life areas.
- Isolation – Non-stop use of social media increases the feeling of loneliness and causes lack of motivation to engage in real-life social interactions.
- FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – Feeling that while using social media you are missing out on something more interesting and more important than what others are experiencing right now.
- Anxiety, stress, and depression – Excessive dependence on social media exacerbates mood disorders and worsens the symptoms of emotional instability.
- Emotional exhaustion – Compulsive social media use triggers social media fatigue, or the state of emotional, mental, or physical burnout.
- Low self-esteem – By offering comparison with others through ‘likes’, ‘shares’, and ‘dislikes’, social media increases your social sensitivity and reduces your self-esteem.
- Self-absorption – Constant sharing of your innermost thoughts and emotions on social media may result in unhealthy self-centeredness and cause a personality disorder.
- Self-harm – Dependence on social media increases the risk of deliberate self-harm behavior, including self-injury, self-loathing, and suicide.
- Unwanted contact – Refers to any communication on social media that makes you feel unsafe and uncomfortable, or leads you to unpleasant and confronting situations, such as cyberbullying, cyber harassment, cyber abuse, or cybercrime.
- Sleep deprivation – Due to the blue light emitted from phone screens and other gadgets, spending too much time on social media close to bedtime interferes with your healthy sleep hygiene and has a negative effect on the quantity and quality of your sleep.
