Effects of Social Media
Effects of Social Media
“We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it” -Eric Qualman
Just throughout my eighteen years of existence, social media has turned from nothing into everything. It’s become normal for us to check social media all day — from the minute we wake up till our eyes doze off at night.
Growing up as a child I didn’t care much about my health and it wasn’t till high school when I realized I needed to change multiple things in my life to make me become happier. I started watching health gurus on youtube to learn new things that I could do to improve my lifestyle. One of the tips I always came across was to limit the time on my phone.
Eventually, I started to leave my phone on “do not disturb” in the morning and decreased my screen time throughout my days. The disconnection made me feel more connected with my day and left me in a better mood. This is when I started to wonder… Why does social media, video games, and other technological activities make us feel the way we do? How can we use social media to benefit us? How could social media deteriorate us?
Undeveloped Minds
Imagine all the things people would think of doing if they weren’t glued to their phones. Technology has become our “entertainment” when we get bored, but is that a good thing?
In New York Times article, Let Children Get Bored Again, Pamela Paul describes the significance of boredom children should persevere through, instead of resulting to playing video games or scrolling through social media to fill their time. Paul explains a quote from the book Where’d You go Bernadette of a mother telling her daughter the benefits of turning away from the phone gives; she mentions , “You are bored… Well, it only going to get more boring. The sooner you learn it’s on you to make life interesting, the better of you’ll be.”
As technology advanced and has turned into children’s pastimes, they don’t understand how to entertain themselves without devices. Our brains is the only tool we have to develop how to make life interesting, and that can only come from getting off our phones when we think we are bored. Children should be forced to be bored in order to let their mind wander to their wildest imagination or become motivated to do something productive. Technology doesn’t allow children to get bored anymore and doesn’t let their mind develop self-discipline, focus, or self-regulation. We think that all these technological advancements are bringing us forward, but they just might be holding our brains back. What makes it even scarier is that this isn’t the full extent of the negative risk of our well being.
Mental Health
The vulnerable stage that adolescents are in allow social media to get in their head. It is easy for them to use it in negative ways and ultimately cause mental issues.
In Julia Jacobs recent New York Times article, Instagram Bans Graphic Images of Self-Harm After Teenager’s Suicide, explains the impact Instagram had on a 14-year-old girl’s suicide and the platform’s actions to decrease images that could encourage self-harm. As the girl’s dad argues how social media affected her suicide, he said, “Some of that content seemed quite positive… But some of that content is shocking in that it encourages self-harm, it links self harm to suicide.”
So if a teen is reaching out to social media for help, coming onto these platforms could have unexpected material that damages the mind even more. The fact that social media platforms have to be altered because it contributed to a girl’s suicide, shows the extent of the effects. We can’t stop teenagers from going on social media and no matter what is blocked, there will always be posts that will affect one another. Alongside teenagers, adults too could get saddened by comparing themselves with their friends’ posts. It’s hard to tell what we could ban off our feeds to scroll without depression, but we should be aware of how we feel after going through these apps.
The Controversy
Social media can do damage to our brains, but when used more responsibly, it can be a helpful tool. Some people go on social media to stay connected with friends and family that don’t live around them. Others use it to learn new things or connect with strangers to gain inspiration (Carey). There has been a lot of negative effects that social media has brought to us, but we need to figure out a way everyone can use it without injury.
Why Does This Matter?
There are pros and cons for using social media and we should identify which actions are good and bad. Being a teenager, I understand the obsession with social media. I know what it’s like to be lost scrolling for hours and comparing myself with my peers. But I can also understand the benefits of social media. I work on taking advantage of these platforms to stay connected with my friends and family who live miles away from me and follow up with health pages. In an era of fast technological advancements, we should be taking over technology instead of letting it take over us.
References
Paul, Pamela. “Let Children Get Bored Again.” The New York Times, The New York Times,2 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/opinion/sunday/children-bored.html.
Carey, Benedict. “This Is Your Brain Off Facebook.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/health/facebook-psychology-health.html.
Jacobs, Julia. “ Instagram Bans Graphic Images of Self-Harm After Teenager’s Suicide.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/technology/instagram-self-harm-ban.html.
