Facebook? Closed. Instagram? Closed. Twitter? Closed. YouTube? Closed. Snapchat? Closed.
Hurrah!
It’s time to consider taking a break on FACEBOOK.
Why?
Simply put, we are living in the age of information chaos.
There is so much information available online. It’s nearly impossible to consume it all.
Some Stats about Facebook
Let me prove my point.
- 1.73 billion people use Facebook daily
- This figure transcends to 2.63 billion active users in a month
- 65% of people, under the age of 35, are simply addicted to Facebook
These are staggering numbers.
The Negative Effects of Social Media on Mental Health
Facebook is an addiction. And addiction leads to mental health issues. This is the reason experts often suggest that you need to take a break on Facebook and focus on the non-binary world around you.
On average, users spend close to an hour on Facebook. Such an extensive exposure to social media continues to affect the mental health of young adults and teenagers.
But the real question is: how social media has negatively influenced the mental health and social behavior of people.
Anxiety
Excessive use of social media can cause anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. Remember that humans are social animals. Human beings like to have face-to-face interaction. If you spend most of your time on social media platforms, you are at risk of suffering from anxiety. And anxiety triggers mental health problems.
Loneliness
If you are addicted to social media, you are bound to feel lonely. The University of Pennsylvania has published a research study that provides clear evidence that habitual use of social media platforms may increase the feeling of loneliness among youth.
Cyberbullying
The unprecedented rise in the number of cyberbullying cases in the USA is a testimony to the fact that social media can influence your physical and mental health. Once you become active on social media, you become vulnerable to threats that you receive from your family members, friends, and other colleagues. You are bound to face offensive comments, related to your body, caste, or religion. Such comments can hamper your mental health and can have detrimental effects on your mental well-being.
Inferiority Complex
Consider a scenario: You are active on Facebook, and suddenly you come across an image – of an expensive watch – shared by your friend. What you will think. You can’t buy the watch. You will be bogged down with a feeling of inferiority complex.
This is what happens – in most cases – when you are addicted to social media. It instills this negative feeling in you, and it continues to haunt you throughout your life. Be aware and take a break on Facebook.
Conclusion
The social media is here to stay. We cannot deny this fact. The careless use of social media has influenced our youth negatively. The addiction to social is so prevalent that we can’t live without it anymore.
All we can do to control the exposure of social media sites for our teenagers is to have regulations – parental guidance – in place, and force them to indulge in other healthy activities.