Social media and your mental health

Social media is apart of everyone’s lives whether we want it too or not. Most people are on their phones daily checking up on their latest updates on Instagram and Facebook. With content being shared globally 24/7 the question is how much is it impacting our lives?

The connectivity of social media has improved the world in many ways. It has simplified the way we talk to each other. Instantly I can text my friend from Toronto or my brother in Australia and know they will receive it within seconds. It has also allowed us to communicate with brands and celebrities we may not have been given the opportunity to in the past. While these celebrities may not respond to our request it still lets us communicate with them such as Instagram live videos and forums such as AskMeAnything on reddit.

Social media can give us opportunities we may not have had otherwise. It allows us to showcase our skills and talents to the world and open doors we may not have known possible. Its easier to brand and promote things we do. This opportunity has resulted in many influencers and artists becoming well known in their field after filling their account with their work.

The negative effects of social media.

Social bullying has become a large part of daily lives. In the past kids were able to escape from the bullies by going home to their house. One of the many drawbacks of social media is the fact that the bullies can now follow them home. People have the ability to hide behind usernames and post their opinion on a topic or a person. It has become so much easier for people to gain access to people’s personal things such as photos and private information that is easy to use against the person.

Social media when used for the right thing can do a lot of good such as fundraising campaigns to help someone in need but it can also be a powerful weapon when used to bullied people.

Social media also creates a FOMO (Fear of missing out) affect. Most people find it hard to get through the day without checking their social medias. We have all become addicted to social media and two of the main things that keep us hooked is the dopamine it gives us and the FOMO affect.

Dopamine gives us little amounts of happiness whenever someone likes our pictures, sent a friend request or a message. This release of dopamine is harmful as it keeps us constantly yearning for likes. At the same time the fear of missing out is resulting us in we think if we don’t check social media regularly it will result in us missing out on something important. Because of these two reasons we stick to our phones in the street, on the bus, at the dinner table more importantly when we wake up and just before bed.

These negative affects result in sleep deprivation as we are up checking social medias constantly. It has also seen affects on younger women as they compare themselves to others. They tend to see and rate themselves based on the number of followers and likes the receive on post and a survey found that women who don’t receive enough likes on their social media feel as if their day has been ruined.

This constant comparing to one and other has also resulted in skewed relationship expectations. People only ever see the good side on social media and never the bad so its extremely easy for someone to feel as if their relationship isn’t enough and lacks something ‘special’.

One of the best ways to combat overuse of social media is use an app such as digital Wellbeing. It allows users to limit their social media to how many minutes a day and lets users go on sleep mode which turns their phone into a grey-scale colour which isn’t as appealing as the bright blue or red from social medias. Another way is deleting your social media apps for a weekend. This detox may be what you need to get out of your head and realize not everyone is as perfect as they seem.