The online medium to connect with people in an informal way is the Social Media. It can be your friends, relatives or even strangers.

You can communicate with anyone through this medium. It is not limited to chatting, voice messages or video calls only. The technology is advancing day by day and till now we have found a place for entertainment in The Social Media. People get a chance to showcase their talent through this media. It is accessible to all and easy to use. Even common people can gain popularity in a way; by using such platforms to entertain others’.

During high times of stress or tiredness, it serves a relaxation to people to engage on social media platforms. But is this truly helping out people ? Is it a good way to recover from stress and tension ? Are people using it the way it is meant to be ? These are some of the many questions that may come up in mind.

Now-a-days, people of all ages can be seen using social media for their own reasons but, it is becoming an addiction at the same time. Without needing it, people prefer using it. This has become an escape from the real world bringing us into a virtual reality where there are real people but communication is online, where there are real feelings but being shared through memes, where there is sadness but covered with fake smileys!

These so called “sources of happiness” are actually leading to bad mental health. Constant use of online media affects not only our eyes due to the screen reflections but, use of mobile phones affects the skin as well. You must have noticed fingers and thumb paining after using smart phones for a long time. The young generations are already using these far beyond what they need it for.

Everything should be consumed in accordance with its need. The mental health is being compromised while using these platforms without any such need. The flood of useless communications and interactions opened while using social media apps puts an impact on the mind of a person. You don’t need to know everything that happens on that platform; it is not mandatory to be aligned with the ongoing trends of social media which is nothing but some stuff created by a random person going viral due to its impact! Also, there is peer pressure-You join such platforms because your friends enjoy being there, active all the time. It can also be that you started it for some work but may end up scrolling content of no use.

These practices grow into addiction and affects the brain making it slow while working. A social media addict can be observed struggling with work. It’s because of disturbance created by the useless (and fake) content in the brain. People make fun of these facts and enjoy being destructed by them. This is however, a serious issue.

So much of mixed content and videos disturb the mind. Although you might enjoy them in the first place but gradually you start using them in an undefined manner. People use it when they are bored or too lazy to work. This affects physical strength besides affecting mental health of a person. And it is not only the case of children but adults as well. There is already work requirements of phones that the focus should be to reduce extra usage for the sake of healthy mind and body. Unfortunately, people understand things but don’t follow them.

Social media is not only a medium of exchange of thoughts and skills but fraud also takes place via the internet. Surely it is beneficial to use but only when you use it productively. Growing business or setting up a new venture, etc. are good to use social media for. And that also should be done carefully. There are no less cases of fraud through social media. It gives rise to crimes as well and these are some more of the reasons for decreasing mental health; when people see such news, they are hurt mentally and many even fear its usage. Personal information often gets leaked. There exist people who keep an eye on the users and target them by various techniques. Getting such fake/fraud calls or messages puts a person in tension and stress. In order to get famous, people apply various ideas to grow on social platforms, often risking their info in unsafe hands.

Therefore, social media should be used with precaution and not more than what is required. If it is a stress-reliever for you, use it, but only to an extent. Control your mind from flickering towards wrong directions and never exchange your data on such platforms.

There are people who find it difficult to manage their usage of social media for entertainment. Here are a few ways to self- control–

• Find something interesting–Make yourself busy with some other work so that you don’t get time for this.
• Read books- Make a habit of reading books or magazines, journals, etc. so that you get engaging and useful content.
• Listen fun music– Listen to music which activates your mind and you no longer need any other entertainment.
• Set a target– Close your accounts on such platforms and set a target of not opening them for a number of days. Increase the limit gradually to help control yourself.
• Add something valuable– If you are a lot addicted to using your smart phone, then add an app that will teach you something new( related to learning or improving a skill, etc.) and Use it instead of social media.