Nowadays, social networking sites have become an integral part of our day to day life as they provide communication and entertainment possibilities. However, studies have shown that the frequent and obsessive use of social media affects our mental health by decreasing subjective well-being, self-esteem, and increased psychological stress. This blog aims to study the effects of social media on our emotional health.

1. Social media create addiction disorder

• Social media users are happy to receive positive reinforcement for their updates in the form of “likes” and “comments,” which motivates them to engage and update more in social networking sites and thus lead to eagerly waiting for the responses from their network.
• Frequent social media users share everything they do offline through social media to prove themselves important and relevant.
• Social media engagement is harder to resist than tobacco and leads to a state of neglect of personal life, mental depression, aggressiveness, and behavioral disorders. [1] [2]

2. Social media users compare themselves with their network

• A frequent social media user shares the exciting adventures, amazing dates, and other achievements through their social media platforms to feel themselves and to show others that they have a perfect life. However, they are embarrassed and ashamed to share their dissatisfied side of their life.
• On the other hand, the viewers who see the happy moments compare their lives with others without realizing the fact that people share only their best moments in the social media, which causes detrimental results to their mental health.
• Social media comparison triggers the feeling of jealousy and reduces the life satisfaction and moment to moment happiness over time.
• Social media users experience a negative emotional experience called FOMO (Feeling Of Missing Out) during or after viewing and comparing others’ social media updates. [3] [4]

3. Social media act as a comfortable zone

• Most of the users are aware that social media is not a feel-good place. However, we consistently visit our social network for many hours and many times in a day to avoid or suppress our unpleasant emotions. [5] [6]

4. Social media make us restless

• The excessive use of social media decreases one’s ability to concentrate and increases fatigue and stress.
• Most of the social media users have difficulty to relax when they are unable to use their social media accounts.
• The frequent use of social media during the day and night affects our sleeping habit,   which results in irregular or disordered sleeping patterns. [7]

5. Social media give rise to cyberbullying and online harassment

• Conveying embarrassing and conflicting information about another person is becoming a significant threat to social media users in the form of cyberbullying and online harassment.
• According to reports, cyberbullying can happen to any online person, and can cause profound psychosocial results including depression, social isolation, feelings of anxiety, and, suicide affinity. [8] [9] [10]

6. Social media increase the feeling of loneliness

• Researchers reported that those who use social media frequently experience more social isolation due to the lack of face-to-face interaction. The number of social network connections doesn’t necessarily tell us that one leads a perfect social life. [11]
• Social media influence one’s sense of social belonging, engagement with others and fulfilling relationships.
• The feeling of loneliness diagnosed as a mental health disorder, which requires real social support. [12] [13]

Read next: What are the warning signs that you are addicted to social media sites? 

References

[1] Brenda K. Wiederhold, Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking, 21, 2018, 279-280.

[2] Ariel Shensa et al., American Journal of Health Behavior, 42, 2018, 116-128.

[3] Claire A. Wolniewicz et al., Psychiatry Research, 262, 2018, 618-623.

[4] Holly Scott et al., Journal of Adolescence, 68, 2018, 61-65.

[5] Dian A. de Vries et al., Media Psychology, 21, 2018, 222-245.

[6] Jie Du et al., Computers in Human Behavior, 84, 2018, 68-75.

[7] David Amerland, The social media mind, NewLine Publishing, 2012.

[8] Megan L. Ranney et al., Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2018, 3329-3338.

[9] Jennifer D. Shapka et al., Child development, 89, 2017.

[10] Agnes Zsila et al., International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 16, 2018, 466-479.

[11] David N. Cavallo et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 43, 2012, 527-532.

[12] Sarah Jensen, Sociology Senior Theses, 2018.

[13] Aaron Bryant, Honors Senior Capstone Projects, 2018.