HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS YOU
Social media is both a curse and a blessing, a double-edged sword. The good news is, how you use it defines its advantage and disadvantage over your life—you decide. Social media has positive and negative effects in all aspects of our lives and has reshaped our world into one that is more connected. It has also become a power tool for companies and individuals who understand how to use it to reach more people and entice them to buy into the product and lifestyle that consumers see on their feed. “Social media gurus” and “influencers” are now top jobs that offer great rewards for those who can work the magic of their social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to name a few. Are we now better off with these social platforms at hand, or, as an individual or a society, have we become worse? Let’s look at some of the positive and negative effects it has on our lives. Human Relationships Social media has a positive affect in our lives by easily connecting us with people no matter the place or time. When used with the best intentions, it can enrich your life and bring you closer to loved ones or people from your past. On the other side of the coin, it can also lead to people spending less time talking to the people they are with and more time looking at their phones. Real human connection may be lost since you aren’t talking to people anymore to know how they are doing; instead, you check online.
Self-Esteem
Social media has reduced people’s worth into the number of likes, shares, and dislikes they receive. Other people’s approval, or disapproval, has now become a measurement of your worth as a person. “Facebook envy” is now even a real thing, so named by a study made by the University of Copenhagen. The study shows how many people develop feelings of self-doubt or jealously when scrolling through other people’s perfectly curated Facebook timeline or Instagram feed, while those who stay away from it feel more satisfied with their lives. Information Connecting to social media gives you quick access to current events real time, but this does not mean that the information is true or accurate. Fake news is all over social media. Because of how easy it is to share to the world, one false article may be shared a thousand times over with no regulation, review, or fact-checking—and unsuspecting users will just fall for it hook, line, and sinker. We can’t deny its addictive nature, so we must remind ourselves daily to use it in moderation. If used in the right way, social media can greatly improve your life. When you use it too much or rely on it to define you or your life, it may end in tears. As with any moral conundrum, the choice of how much you’re using or not using social media is in your hands. Read the full article