There is something so wonderfully enjoyable about receiving a “like” or a “retweet”. When we look down at our very powerful smartphones and find that we have received one of these digital treats, it can be intoxicating. Still, many experts are starting to rethink social media entirely, and they wonder if in fact we are actually causing ourselves more harm than good by having accounts on these types of sites.
Losing Sleep
Sleep is an essential human function, and yet many of us complain that we do not get enough of it. Perhaps if we were less concerned with what was going on in the social media world, and more focused on getting more sleep, these problems would work themselves out.
Not only do a lot of us check our social media right before bed (a really bad idea), but thought about what is happening on social media keep a lot of us tossing and turning at night. We cannot simply let it go for the fear of missing out (FOMO).
Body Image Problems
There is a real and profound impact on girls in particular in terms of their self-esteem and how much they use social media. Always looking at the perfectly taken pictures of others can make us feel less secure about our own bodies and appearance.
While body image problems are the most common, obviously viewing social media too frequently can also make us envious of our friends and family’s wealth or class or status or just about anything else. It is something that really can have a long-term toll on how we see ourselves and our position in life. The psychological damage is legitimate, and anyone who has yet to face these kind of challenges ought to consider themselves lucky.
Loss Of Ability To Communicate In The Real World
One of the saddest experiences that many of us face when we use social media too much is a loss of the ability to communicate as effectively when we are out in the real world. We tend to get caught behind our screens and simply do not have the chance to communicate with others like we used to. Not only does social media take up some of the time that we otherwise would have spent socializing, but we have to admit that it sometimes makes us less social adept in the first place.
Dil Bole Oberoi
