In this article, we talk about How Does Social Media Addiction Destroy Human Life?. Nowadays, social media trend around us is overhyped. Everyone is so indulged in their social media accounts that they are gradually becoming disconnected from the real world around them. Social media is not only wasting their time by keeping them glued but also giving them some serious mental health problems. Youths and teenagers are more affected by their social media accounts.
We call it social media addiction (SMA), though social media is or may not be problematic for many, still, it is certainly doing a lot of harm to many youngsters and even youths. And if you are not aware of this, read this article till the end and learn how social media addiction destroys human life.
#1. It Causes Depression and Anxiety
Maybe this sounds unbelievable to you but this is a harsh truth. Those who are chronic social media users, report poor mental health including symptoms of anxiety and depression.
And it is not hard to see or find the reason behind users’ poor mental health. It is known to all of us that social media only shows us the best and most well-selected parts of people’s life. And when people see this on their social media home feeds, they then start to compare their lives with the ones they scroll through on their feeds.
They do not realize that what they are seeing on their social media is not the actual reality and the ones whose posts they are seeing, are not at all having it all together in their lives.
We have to understand that competition and comparison will always prevent us from being happy and will keep us focused on the things that we are lacking in our lives, which will further lead us toward some psychological problems.
#2. Cyberbullying
This is another thing that is on the rise, these days – cyberbullying. Before social media and the internet, there was no such thing called ‘cyberbullying,’ and bullying was limited to face-to-face only.
The Meta Platforms – Facebook and Instagram are the top contributors to cyberbullying. Earlier, these two platforms were generally used to make or meet new friends but nowadays, these platforms have become toxic as more and more people are either joining The Bully Gang or becoming victims of cyberbullying or experiencing such things online.
The desire to get external validation makes you get no good results and it is something that is not worth it. An example of seeking external validation would be the teenage girls who post their selfies on their Instagram account with the hashtag #rateme or #hotornot expecting to get positive or good comments and then end up being bullied in the comment section with some filthy and negative comments.
#3. People Get Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
This phenomenon, FOMO, is becoming more popular day by day as the use of social media is increasing at a fast pace. This is one of the negative effects of social media on human life and our society as a whole.
As you can guess by its name only, FOMO is a kind of fear of missing out on a positive event or experience in another’s life. For instance, you keep checking your social media feed if one or some of your friends had a great day together but didn’t include you or you missed attending it because of other responsibilities that you have or had at that time, you frequently open and check your WhatsApp to see if your friends have invited you for a party or something sort of that, etc.
And this fear is fueled by your constant use of social media because the increased use of social media is the root cause of FOMO.
#4. People Set Unrealistic Expectations
As we all heard that popular phrase, “everything that glitters, is not gold,” the same goes for social media posts on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or whatever the platform is.
People post the best and curated parts of their lives on social media but things are not the way they seem. We can never know what is beneath the surface of a social media post with which we are comparing ourselves or our lives.
The person you see smiling on a Facebook post with their loved ones may be living in stress in their real life, or the person you see having fun and partying with their friends is contemplating suicide for the past few days inside their head, or maybe they have posted just to get some likes and comments so that they can get the external validation they are seeking. Who knows? No one!
And we think that they are living a happy life because this is what we assume, based on what they have posted online.
#5. It Makes Your Sleep Pattern Unhealthy
Spending too much time on social media can make you an insomniac, and your sleep pattern gets ruined with the excessive use of social media.
Lack of proper sleep is one of the top reasons for anxiety disorder. Several studies show that heavy use of social media effects negatively on our sleep quality.
Remember, it is never just “5-10 minutes only,” you will not even realize when you have spent two and a half hours or even more than that scrolling through reels on your Instagram account or reacting Haha on memes on Facebook.
Your sleep and mental well-being are way more important than anything, always keep this in your mind and prioritize your sleep. Do not let the algorithms trick you, trap you, and make you sacrifice your precious sleeping time.
If you also stay up late in the night and scroll through your social media instead of sleeping, I would suggest you reduce your usage of social media, or at least do not use it till late in the night. Else, you might also get addicted to social media and end up compromising your mental health.
Conclusion
As the usage of social media continues to rise at a fast pace, all of us need to understand the damage to our mental health it is causing us. We need to reduce the time that we spent on our social media profiles so that we do not get affected by the same before it is too late to do anything.
Hope this article will help you to understand how social media addiction destroys human life and knowing this you will take care of your social media using habits.
