As we continue forward with technological advances, we often forget how these great feats can play a role in our own health. In particular social media has dominated in the past 10 years and its hard to find anyone who doesn’t have at least one of the big three accounts(Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). Although entertaining social media has many possible risks on our own mental health and stability. Today we will look at some of those risk and how to reasonably monitor its effects on our health.
Social Media Usage
Of the world’s population, it is estimated 2.1 billion people, which is about 1/3 of the world, have Internet access. Of the world’s regions, Internet usage is the highest in North America with an average close to 80%. Internet usage in the United States has grown from 44% to 77% in the past 10 years.
There are no Refs Online
On average the use of social media can start at the age of 13, but in some cases, children create accounts at earlier ages. A child can be easily influenced while their brains are still being developed and are easily impressionable causing the risk for children to be effected at a higher rate than adults. With no real supervision in order to protect these children from the things they read or see online, social media can be affecting their mental health in serious ways.
False Lifestyles
One risk of social media is the effect it has on our ideal life. People tend to only put the good on social media and avoid the lows of their life. When things like this happen children, teens, and even adults tend to compare lives to their followers, which can create a void in their perspective. This can lead to depression, envy, and even suicidal thoughts by not being able to compete with others lifestyles. This “only good lifestyles” can also influence someone’s behavior to only strive for materials and things that can make them more influential than another.
Laziness
On average American adults spend more than 11 hours per day consuming some type of media. Since media systems are only a phone app away this has increased our time spent being non-active. If a worse habit is developed this non-active lifestyle can lead to many health problems that could have been stopped by simply putting the phone down.
Biased Ideas on Social Media
Social media can also influence the morality of those who use it. With social media, many ideas and beliefs are expounded. Depending on your following base, ideas that may be foreign to you can be choppily explained or altered. Social media does not have a fact checker. Ideas, beliefs, and feelings can often lead to bias/false information or even construed faith.
Social media is a great place for enjoyment, but if not used properly can lead to health dangers. It is important as we continue to develop for the future, we properly educate the next generation. Thes next generation is bound to have more outlets and with that comes more risk.
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