“Why was I given a birth like this while others look quite gorgeous? They are so talented while I am good-for-nothing. They have high incomes and go on their vacations frequently, and I am alone here struggling just for a poorly-paid job.”
You have had thoughts like that, haven't you? Especially when it comes to others’ success posted on social media platforms, their elegant pics, and the occasions when they receive big compliments in public.
👥Drowning in low self-esteem does not just originate from social media. However, one of the reasons behind not appreciating your hard work and comparing yourself with others is the prevalence of social networking sites like Facebook, which makes it all too easy to observe the lives of strangers.
📱Hence, we, Study Diary, are going to be sharing about what kind of adversities social media have on you, whether you are addicted to social media, along with the ways to avoid toxic situations in this era where we cannot survive without using it, and the measures to cut down on extreme amount of screen time. So please read carefully.
Translation By @Hilton
Graphics By Glory
"How does social media affect our lives?"
As "Medication if applied well, harm if applied amiss.", several serious consequences can be followed to the way you use social media.
1. Short Attention Span 📉
If you cannot focus on your studies for a bit long, you need to evaluate that you are in excessive use of your mobile phone. The more you surf the Net while studying, the less your concentration ability.
2. Blue Light Emission 👁
Individuals’ screen time has been soaring due to social platforms. Digital materials such as phones, tablets, laptops, etc. propagate intense, visible, and short light waves called Blue Light, the same as from the sun, which is harmful to our eyes, causing smarting, aching, discomforting, and even sight loss if you are in contact with these beams of light for hours. Moreover, Blue Light can disturb melatonin hormone production which helps you to sleep. That is why you should stay away from your phone just before bed.
3. Excessive time of Sedentary 👩💻
When you spend too much time on social platforms, you will tend to be more inactive and sedentary which can lead to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
4. Relationships 👨👩👧👦 👨❤️👨 👩❤️👩
Real-life relationships can be negatively affected by social media. They can even be involved in cases ranging from awkward communication at family dinners to complicated love affairs to some extent.
5. Wastage of time 🕰
You might not want to meditate for five minutes, but you may enjoy taking half an hour to watch short videos of rolling glass bottles from the top of the stairs on Facebook. Although it does not matter for a while, watching them on a daily basis results in unnecessary time loss.
6. Misinformation 🚫 📰
It is pretty easy to get information on social platforms, and the same thing is true for misinformation. Fake information in fields such as social issues, healthcare, religion, politics, economics, etc. is being spread day after day, and it is quite difficult to convince which is right and which is wrong.
7. Ability to shape your thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes 🤔
Social media can change the way you think and behave, starting from wake-up time to bedtime. These changes can be either a good one or a bad one. However, critical thinking will be scaled down if you only follow others’ opinions.
8. Impulse purchases 🛍
This means buying unneeded things online just because you fancy them.
9. Privacy 🔒
"If something is free, you're the product." You do not need to pay to use social apps, but you are being subjected to social media as a product. For instance, if you want to eat something with your friends, food advertisements will be on your account the next day. This is because Facebook collaborates with advertising businesses depending on your interests, locations, and which posts you give Like and Love reactions to the most. Digital platform companies like Facebook earn part of their profits in this way. It is not guaranteed that your personal information on these platforms is completely secure.
🔑In addition, if you do not have the basic knowledge of cyber security to protect your accounts, information leakage can easily occur due to external factors.
"Social Media & Mental Health"
TW // Suicide
Social media intertwines with various psychological factors like depression, anxiety, body image issues, low self-esteem, social pressure, etc.
👥 The majority of social media profiles are filled with photos edited repeatedly, and the most heavenly moments they want to highlight. When you see those kinds of posts, you are likely to compare yourself in normal times, thinking “Why doesn’t my body be like that? Why can’t I achieve what they achieve?”.
You can also find beauty standard commercials like “This is called True Beauty!”. Watching those ridiculous, impractical things can provoke depression and insecurities. Then thoughts of “I must be pretty, I must not eat anything to lose weight.” come out in your head, and eventually, body image issues and your mental conditions will suffer.
💻 Besides, paying attention to how many Likes you get, and who gave you reactions, is such a human nature. When you do not reach your expected interaction or when a low-followed influencer gets more Likes than you, you may become anxious and jealous. You may also want to delete your posts at such times. Such mindsets and behaviors lower your self-esteem but increase your anxiety level. Certain social media platforms contain a feature that does not allow others to see the number of Likes because of the above concerns.
😨Fear of missing out (FOMO)
FOMO is an abbreviation for Fear Of Missing Out, which refers to the fear of overlooking where and what your friends are doing and missing popular trends and social gatherings. This is also a kind of anxiety, and frequent use of your phone, awkwardness, etc. are the signs of FOMO.
🗣Cyberbullying
Personal attacks, bullying, and offensive language, either because of sensitive posts or appearances, living standards, sexual orientations, are common cases on social media.
If you are a victim of them, you may experience mental illness, and at worst, commit suicide.
🚫 Self-isolation & loneliness
When a desolate person tries to make friends online, he may, with a fortune, find genuine friendship, but sometimes, he may even feel more isolated because he will hardly talk to anyone else in real life, and his present relationships will break apart when he is desperately trying to have an online friendship. Plus, as social networking sites entertain you as always, you might mistakenly believe it is okay to stay without meaningful relationships or to hide in a room doing online browsing with pleasure, heading to self-isolation.
As one can get connections from around the globe through virtual communication, he will gradually distance himself from important people in his life. The absence of significant relationships in your physical world can greatly affect you starting from lacking someone to open up your emotions during the depression to serious mental health issues.
"Are you addicted to social media?"
📱🤩Web-based social apps were intentionally designed for users to get addicted. Human brains release a reward chemical called dopamine which is related to happiness, especially when you get lots of Likes, when you interact with your friends online, when your crush gives your story reactions, and when you see something new to you. The more interaction, the more pleasure, and the more addiction, then trapped in this eternal cycle with the inability to escape.
Symptoms of Social Media Addiction are described below.
◾️ No sooner had you got up in the morning than you surf social media platforms before any stuff.
◾️ You check your social media accounts very often while studying or working.
◾️ You fail to take your burdens, work in a hurry by deadlines, and cannot finish your homework on time.
◾️ You may feel anxious or uncomfortable thinking “What’s happening on Facebook? Are there any new followers to my account on Instagram?’, particularly when you are not online.
◾️ In spite of nothing special about your account profile, you cannot help checking it.
◾️ You are always eager to use social platforms, leaving aside your hobbies. (For instance, in leisure time, you are more prone to spend time on your phone so easily rather than to play your guitar.)
◾️ Whenever you are upset, you just directly run your social media apps just to comfort yourself, and you never think of other ways to make you relaxed.
◾️ You take hours to edit one post and think about whether you should post it or not, even if it is just a negligible post, then check it again and again after you post it.
◾️ Even though you do not have any important, new ones to post, you, at least, try to post something occasionally.
◾️ Oftentimes, when you are with your family, you seldom engage in their conversations, instead, you find yourself using the Net or craving for browsing.
❗️Certain symptoms of Social Media Addiction are mentioned above. However, if these sorts of things happen to you, it does not mean you are addicted, or people with addiction always behave like above. We are just sharing its feasible symptoms to evaluate yourself.
"How do we apply social media beneficially without being toxic?"
❗️Not social media is full of miserable things. However, it can turn out to be a poison not because you are using it, but because you are being used. Social networking sites can be used as a search engine for your interested communities where you belong to, get in contact with educated individuals who can give you satisfying answers about academia and classes. Moreover, you can keep in touch with your family when you are in a distant place, and you can use it to get the information you want quickly and effortlessly. Numerous advantages exist like above.
Study Diary will be sharing several tips not to depend on social media exceedingly, and not to be a toxic one for you.
1. Never run your phone while charging
This is the simplest and most inconspicuous way to restrict spending time on social platforms. Please try not to touch your phone while charging except for incoming calls.
2. Limit the usage of social media apps
Most mobile phones consist of app timers to limit your screen time. You can have it through settings, but the point is not to click on the ‘add time’ button when it is up.
3. Social Media detox
In this method, you have to deactivate your social media accounts, refraining from the use of them for a certain period. It is deadly hard for those who are addicted, but you become more refreshed, and more punctual at bedtime and lunchtime when you get used to it. You should practise them regularly for its promising advantages.
4. Use social media on your laptop instead of on your phone. If you do not have a laptop, use it through websites.
Since phones are easy to pick up and use at any time, social media is used more on them. If it is only available on your laptop, the screen time will be truly reduced as it is not very convenient to take it out with you. Please try to use social media in the website version, and delete those apps on your phone if there is no laptop. You will not spend much time on that as it is not as comfortable as apps to use.
5. Block/unfollow/mute content you do not like, not to engage them.
You feel annoyed when someone gossips about something you like, a book, a celebrity, or whatever, without any acceptable reason, don’t you? At that time, you interrupt their conversation or write comments under their post. This kind of action results in getting upset like putting worthless stuff in your head. The best way to solve this problem is to block that person who posted unfavorable content, for peace of mind.
6. If possible, use an alarm clock instead of a phone alarm to wake you up. Stay away from your phone at bedtime.
When you set the alarm on your phone, you need to tap ‘stop’ not to continue ringing when you wake up. Then your hand automatically goes to social media apps, hindering you for an hour from getting up. Everybody may have an experience of it. Thus, build a habit of taking your burdens without procrastination, so that you do not stick to your phone immediately after bed. Like the saying “Make a good start to ensure a happy ending.”, you will be full of energy to start your day only if you wake up pleasantly.
Social media is a tool that can bring you lots of benefits if you use it well, but can be risky if you do so wrong. We encourage you to be cautious with everything you do. We will be sharing another topic essential in life in the coming week. So please do not forget to Like and follow our page, Study Diary. Stay tuned, everyone!❤️
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