How Social Media affects Happiness

Relationships are falling apart, the younger generation are dying, many are reaching out for help from this terrible addiction called social media. In today’s world the internet has grown to play a vital role in an individual’s life. Why are we so vulnerable, and want to feel the need to belong instead of enjoying life that is given to us? You can gaze around and notice that almost every young person as well as elderly have an electronic glued to their hand. A contributor who helps get the issue to the public is Dave Eggers “The Circle”. “The Circle” gives the audience a visual of how controlling and demanding social media is and how dangerous it could be on an individual through physical damage as well as psychological effects it processes.

Although social media has its perks as far as helping people receive jobs and stay connected to long distance family members and friends it also has a negative cycle. To help explain the cycle Stephanie Mihalas, a psychologist and clinical instructor in psychiatry sciences says, “Some people may spend time surfing Facebook to try and escape their depressive symptoms. However, social media can actually become a root of unhealthy emotions.” Mihalas also points out many negative outcomes such as, you become a victim of your own thoughts as you become less attuned with the outside world. You can also see others on social media living their lives and not as connected and the viewer becomes more depressed and can even harm themselves. Once you become part of the social media cycle you are vulnerable to social media OCD, espionage, strangers going on your page, can easily get bullied, romantic drama — your relationship can fall apart due to social media and is a growing issue every day.

Towards the end of the book “The Circle” when Mae is close to closing the circle, she is testing out their new product, and then the book gets intense, Mercer ends up committing suicide from not being able to escape the vicious cycle. It may be just a book but was Dave Eggers on to something crucial about to be seen? The important question is whether social medias influence poses a significant threat to the public and how it causes suicidal behavior. For the United States there are more than thirty-thousand suicide deaths that take place every year. “In the years of 2004 to 2010 survey studies indicated that lifetime cyberbullying victimization rates ranged from 20.8% to 40.6% and offending rates ranged from 11.5% to 20.1%.” (Ncbi) When looked into search engines people have seen that suicide topics are most searched in America and in Japan. The websites visited most was on what methods to take and how to make it seem natural. The internet was then made to form a suicide pact for people in Japan in 2000. Later it became a more common way of committing suicide with the rate at thirty-four suicides in 2003 then jumps to ninety-one in 2005.

It is very noticeable that when social media came to be a big part in peoples lives that it also took many lives away. Even if an individual does not make an attempt to suicide, they are still hurting the ones around them. In The Circle, Mae goes to visit her mom and dad and they are required to keep cameras in their home and record everything that goes on. Although, when she goes to visit it is quiet, they are not comfortable around her and her viewers or being watched, as if they are stuck or held against will. Having a phone glued to your hand is not only rude and it is ruining your relationships with your family and spouse you are wasting precious time all due to the fact of you wanting to snoop into other individuals lives. Not only does it affect dating relationships or family relationships it can affect friendships, and your work relationships. “Social media use shapes and is shaped by how individuals see their relationships, who they have relationships with, and how those relationships are formed, maintained, and ended.” (Wiley Library) It is sad when social media runs your life and who you communicate with, whether you do not get enough likes on a picture or on a status it should never be someone’s main priority. Many parents get drawn away from their child quality time. They are also making it to where predators can get information and a hold of an individual’s child.

In conclusion, everyone deserves their privacy. Even though you may have your profile on private there are hackers and you are setting yourself up to be vulnerable. Main methods to avoid the vicious social media cycle is to take time for yourself and relax, spend time with the family or spouse without a phone glued to your hand, and never post things on the internet that you would not want your mother or anyone to know about you. We need to take our lives back in control and drop social media and help others with the addiction that causes many fatal accidents and silent relationship ender. I believe Dave Eggers when creating The Circle saw into the internet and tried to warn everyone before it had gotten this bad, however when the internet grew people put books down and he was not in time to warn us. If you know someone with an addiction to social media or you know a relationship that is dying I recommend this book to be given. Do not get it wrong social media is good for keeping contact like previously stated, but there is a fine line between when you are trying to improve a situation and when it becomes an addiction and starts to take your happiness away and anxiety rises due to not enough likes or when an individual get bullied and commits suicide. No one deserves to be controlled or feel trapped especially by a non-important factor in their lives.