Do you use social media? There are so many social media platforms that can help connect with your friends, but are they really helping you? Although social media can help connect with people, people should limit their social media usage because it is addictive, can cause health problems, and can make you feel bad about yourself.
Social Media is Addictive
First, social media can be addictive. According to Social Media Addiction Statistics, “Internet and social media addictions affect 210 million people worldwide.” This just shows how social media can affect many people negatively. Once people start using social media, they cannot stop. This is because people want to watch more and more. Furthermore, What Makes Social Media So Addictive? says, “One thing that probably contributes to social media being so addictive is the role it played in the rise of the digital age. While social media was becoming popular, the internet also became more widely used, cheaper to access, and faster to load content.” Social media is so addictive because it is widely used, and everyone always wants to know the latest trends. Every day there are new trends and ideas, and using social media is the fastest way to get them. Because the internet is vastly utilized, people have easy access to all social media platforms. Although social media can teach you a lot about the latest trends, is it really worth using it?
Social Media Can Cause Health Problems
Second, social media can cause health problems. According to Cellular (Cell) Phones, Radiofrequency or “RF waves are different from stronger (ionizing) types of radiation such as x-rays, gamma rays, and ultraviolet (UV) rays. Ionizing radiation can break the chemical bonds in DNA, which might lead to cancer.” Radiation from cell phones can even create cancer. Using technology for too long can hurt your body. Because social media can get you addicted, there are possibilities that you are using it for too long, which can lead to cancer.
Social Media Hurts Feelings
Third, social media can cause mental health problems and make you feel bad about yourself. Social Media and Mental Health say, “However, multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts.” Social media can not only affect you physically but mentally too. This can cause people to change the way they are, which is really bad. This quote shows how social media can influence your thoughts and opinions. It influences you to be not the way you are.
Social Media Can Help Connect With Friends
Some people say that social media can help connect with friends. There are so many platforms that could help message friends and even call and FaceTime. Some of your friends are far away, and you cannot see them. Through social media, you can interact with friends during quarantine, and even if they are far away. Using Social Media says, “Roughly two thirds (67%) of social media users say that staying in touch with current friends and family members is a major reason they use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn; about half say they use these sites to reconnect with old friends.” Although social media is used to connect with people, this is still bad because through social media, there can be hurtful comments and messages, and you can learn, for example, negative language.
How to Be Safe on Social Media
Although social media can be really bad for you, people can still use screen time. Screen time is the amount of time you spend on an app. People can monitor that, and guardians can even put in passcodes after a certain amount of time so that you do not use the app for too long. Additionally, you have to be aware of what could happen and know that there are mean people out there. You can even ban sites that can be harmful. 9 Ways to Stay Safe on Social Media says, “Consider adjusting Facebook privacy settings to make your posts visible only to friends or friends of friends, rather than making them public.” You can even adjust the settings so that you are not public, and this can also be really helpful.
Social media is really harmful, and although you can still be safe on it, the risk and possibility of you getting harmed by it are so much greater than not using it at all. People should start considering the risks when using social media.