THE NEGATIVE impact OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Many parents are concerned about how toddlers’ exposure to technology might effect their development. We know that our toddlers are rapidly developing new social and cognitive skills, and they don’t want hours spent hooked to an iPad to obstruct them. But adolescence is also a critical phase of rapid growth, and far too few of us are paying attention to how our adolescents’ use of technology, much more intense and intimate than a 3-year-old playing with dad’s iPhone affects them. In fact, experts are concerned that the social media and text messaging that have become so prevalent in adolescent life are increasing anxiety and reducing self-esteem.

Young people report that there may be solid grounds to be concerned. In a poll performed by the Royal Society for Public Health, 14-24 year olds in the United Kingdom were questioned how social media platforms affected their health and well-being. According to the study findings, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all raised feelings of despair, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness. Sites like Facebook and Instagram appear to amplify feelings that others are having more fun or enjoying better lives than you. The feeling that you’re missing out on some things might lower your self-esteem, cause worry, and drive you to use social media even more. This fear of missing out can drive you to pick up your phone every few minutes to check for updates, or to respond compulsively to each and every alert—even if it means risking your life while driving, skipping out on sleep, or choosing social media involvement above real-world relationships. According to a study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, excessive use of Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram enhances rather than lowers feelings of loneliness. In contrast, the study discovered that limiting your use of social media can help you feel less lonely and isolated, as well as increase your general wellbeing. Approximately 10% of kids report being bullied on social media, while many other users receive nasty comments. Twitter, for example, can be a hub for spreading harmful rumours, lies, and abuse that can cause long-lasting emotional scars. Sharing endless selfies and your deepest thoughts on social media can lead to an unhealthy self-centeredness and remove you from real-life friendships. Even if you are aware that the photographs you see on social media have been faked, they can nevertheless make you feel anxious about how you appear or what is going on in your own life. Similarly, we are all aware that others like to relate just the great aspects of their lives, rarely the terrible points that everyone goes through. But that doesn’t make you feel any less envious or dissatisfied when you’re going through a friend’s retouched images of their exotic beach vacation or reading about their fantastic new job promotion.

HOW TO CONTROL THIS ADDICTION– While 30 minutes a day may not be a realistic goal for many of us, we can still benefit from limiting our time on social media. For the majority of us, this means limiting our use of smartphones. You should use an app to track how much time you spend each day on social media. Then you can decide how much you want to cut it by. You can turn off your phone when you’re driving, in a meeting, at the gym, eating supper, spending time with offline friends, or playing with your children. Don’t bring your phone to the restroom & don’t bring your phone or tablet to bed with you, turn off devices and place them in another room to charge overnight. If you have a habit of checking your phone every few minutes, try restricting your checks to once every 15 minutes. Then every 30 minutes, then every hour. There are apps that might limit how much time you have access to your phone. Remove social networking apps from your phone and only use your tablet or computer to access Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. If you think this is too drastic, try removing one social media app at a time to see how much you really miss it. You can try to shift your focus on other activities like sports, studies and spending that time with you family. These are few steps you can try to limit the use of your phone.