When adequately utilized, social media provides immense benefits to people of all ages. However, many people, especially youths tend to misuse social media. They spend endless hours on social media platforms bingeing on other people’s lifestyle. For this and many other reasons, social media has a negative impact on them.
As you read on, you will discover how social media negatively affects youths. If you recognize any of these symptoms in your life, seek for help.
How many times do you find yourself sneaking around to scroll through your Facebook or Instagram feed while class is in session or during some other beneficial activity? When you use social media while doing your homework or classwork, your learning and performance reduces. Constant interruption has a bad effect on the brain.
You can’t imagine a life without social media—being away from social media for a day or even an hour is unthinkable to you. You are afraid of missing out on information or the next trending topic, so you spend an obscene amount of time on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and so on.
When internet addiction becomes a part of you, your personal development, school performance and mental health suffers for it.
If you already have a low self-esteem, spending too much time on social media can worsen your case. You start comparing yourself to the filtered beautiful pictures of celebrities on social media. You develop this desire to be as pretty, slim and rich like them. This can make you isolate yourself from the rest of the world, costing you valuable real life friendship.
Similar to the above point, Facebook depression is an emotional disorder associated with Facebook usage. When you are made to feel inferior to your social media counterparts, you tend to fall into a depression that’s commonly as a Facebook depression. You want to be accepted, fit in or stand out from your Facebook friends and this drives you towards this type of emotional disturbance.
Social media makes you sleep for less than 7 hours every night because you spend the time you should be sleeping, posting and sharing write-ups or pictures on social media. Which isn’t healthy because your sleeping habit affects your daily performance.