The Struggle With Logging Off
At this point in time in our society, I think a majority can come to a collective agreement on the detrimental damage social media has caused. The mental toll social media has taken on young individuals is devastating. Many would argue just step away from the computer, log off, delete your socials. It can be hard to tell a young adult in this tech-savvy world to simply delete their account. When the whole world seems to be online, it can be hard to tear yourself away from the internet. Many have the fear of missing out, wanting to stay updated on the latest news, wanting to keep up with loved ones. The list goes on for some, and as the years go by, the world seems to be more dependent on the ever growing technology and media. To keep it short and sweet, logging off is not the simple solution it used to be. Everyone and everything seems to be connected in some way to the internet and media. To top it all off, social media itself and being on it is incredibly addicting. Young kids and adults are unable to break themselves away from their phones or Ipads.
The Unfiltered Truth
One of the main concerns of the dark effects of social media is the damage it has, and is continuing to do to young adults and teenagers. There is a strong correlation between the rise of depression and anxiety in young teens/ adults and the usage of social media. More reports of depression and anxiety diagnoses are being reported in the past few years than in the past decade, and an unfortunate increase in suicides. Tik Tok has taken the young generation of adults and teens by storm, and with it, it brought its own set of problems. Tik Tok continues to depict a delusional fantasy of perfectionism, mental illness, wealth, fake news, and many more. You name it and the black claws of Tik Tok have reached it. Of course Tik Tok is your own personalized for you page of new insecurities, worries, unrealistic expectations and an occasional cat video. It is also important to acknowledge that Tik Tok and social media isn’t always the devil, there are perks to these social media platforms as well. In this blog however we aren’t nit picking the few good things about social media, rather we are calling out the bad. Fortunately enough for the sake of this blog, there are many things to call out. Over two-thirds of Americans acknowledged and reported that social media has had an overall negative affect on society. The most affected of our society are young adults and teenagers. The future leaders of our society are being tortured at the hands of unrealistic expectations, societal pressure to be perfect and successful, and the never ending development of social media/technology. Over 90% of teenagers have some type of social media, and children as young as seven are already having access to the internet. With some even having access to apps such as Instagram and Tik Tok, which are not recommended for those under thirteen.
The Other Negative Effects of Social Media
The most apparent issue of social media on young individuals is the effect on their mental health, however there are several other negative effects of social media that do not get discussed enough. The use of social media has led to a large increase of reduced face-to-face interactions. Social media has almost had a hermit effect, despite social being in the name. The increase of the use of social media has led to a steady decrease of in-person interaction, since many young adults are reliant on online interaction to fill their social battery. Many individuals these days would rather choose to flip through Facebook and Twitter for hours, then put down their phone and hang out with their friends and family. Another negative effect of social media that we do not typically think of as an issue is how the increased use of social media often leads to the increased cravings for attention. So what does this exactly mean? There are a few ways this phenomenon can be explained. Once you become an avid user of social media, the thrill of beating your last post in likes or views becomes almost an addiction. What shall get me more likes next time? What should I do for this week's video to gain more traction? I need to do something bigger this time, my views and likes have been down. We call this these days “clout chasing.” Clout seems to be one hell of a drug these days, and teenagers and young adults are always looking for their next high. With some individuals, they will do anything for “clout” and that is a potentially very dangerous human being to be around. Many have found themselves behind bars trying to pull off these dangerous stunts for a few hundred views. With that, social media can also distract you from attaining or chasing your life goals. It is easy to go on a form of media with the intention to read only a couple posts, but we are all familiar with a couple posts turning into a couple hours and hundreds of posts later. This can cause you to push back important projects, events, interviews, whatever your life course has set out for you at the moment. It is important to remember it is okay to put the phone down for a few hours. Human connection is not what it used to be, and the beauty of communicating with others is being lost in the web pages of the internet.
Data Protected: Or Unprotected?
One of the last and most important topics regarding the negative effects of social media is the concern of ignorance of individuals posting with seeming no idea of the risk of exposing your life and your privacy to all online. Many aren’t quick to think about the deeper issues that may come with posting something as simple as a picture of a family gathering in front of Grandma's house. To the innocent and fair moral individuals, this action is harmless, as is viewing the post on your own timeline as you scroll. Unfortunately for our society, we live in a sick world, and social media has seemed to give the creeps an open door to unfathomable thoughts and actions. Criminals have been keeping up to date on social media, just not how average individuals seem to be though. There are many ways crimes can be committed with the use and incorporation of social media. Your identity could be stolen, all your information can be doxxed online for anyone to have access to, you can potentially be stalked, and there are scammers in every corner of the web waiting to steal your money and information. The list of potential crimes that can personally be committed against you is a very long one that seems to grow by the years. It is important to monitor what you post online, and especially monitor your young ones. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the damage that social media has caused and the access it has given to the most disgusting individuals of our society. While social media can be a fun outlet to end your day, it is important to know all the risks when engaging online. Tread lightly and carefully when managing the dark roads of the internet.
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/you-should-aware-these-10-effects-social-media-you.html
The online conditioning social media is doing with our youth is extremely concerning. My friends have younger siblings who I cannot understand because they talk with this strange online lingo. I feel like people are getting too used to talking like they're logged in. That, and the dangerous role social media is playing in young men's minds today with this whole "Alpha Male" nonsense is such a terrible, disturbed phenomenon all because of social media.
It's horrifying to know that there are bad aspects to social media, and personally have seen how even family members use what people post on Facebook as a weapon. They use it to bring up the subject to other family or friends to start drama between each other, and for that reason I no longer post. I will say though I will forever continue to scroll on TikTok and check out comments on a funny video.
I never knew there were so many negative side effects to social media, it really is affecting our youth. I feel bad for the youth of America, when I was a kid I never needed an iPad or iPhone.
Great post! You bring up a big point on how social media can impact one's need for attention, to the point that they will do extreme things for social media. Not only that, but they will also allow things to happen just to take a video of it on social media. While having video evidence is important, I noticed that bystanders are willing to allow horrible things, such as people getting hurt or humiliated, just to post them online. When something happens, there is always will be people around taking videos, but not many people help.
You make such a great point with the lack of face-to-face interaction nowadays because of technology. If you think about it teens would probably actually be on their phones rather than talking to each other at school events (dances or fundraisers) now. We should find ways to limit our use of technology so we could get back to the way it used to be.