With the onset of the digital era, social media has become an essential part of our daily lives. While there still exists a generation that does not use social media, the maximum number of people are engaged in some interaction with social media. The usage of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Twitter and many more has reached such a level that it has become addictive. Yes, that is right!
Social media, to some people, has become an addiction at this point. Many people can only survive a minute by checking their phones and opening a social media app. While using social media has its own pros, the downsides must be addressed at any point.
Thus we have listed some common points that indicate that your social media usage is eventually becoming unhealthy.
- You Feel Incomplete and Unaccomplished
The fact that you are using social media and seeing others post only the good parts of their lives can affect your happiness to a significant level. A leading university study states that your mental peace can be affected depending on your usage of social media. If you see posts about someone doing good and enjoying their life, it can have a severe mental toll as you feel unaccomplished and start underestimating yourself. The sudden rush of negative feelings about yourself and the other person is never good for mental health.
This is a common sighting, stating that you are letting social media dictate your feelings and decisions. The feeling of being incomplete only comes when you compare your life with those you see on social media.
- It is Reducing Physical Communication
Social media is reducing adequate socializing time in people’s lives, thus hampering physical communication means. Looking up posts online can help you pass your time, but proper socializing is needed. Now, if social media usage is reducing or hampering your physical socialization, it might be considered unhealthy. In that case, you should reconsider the time you spend behind scrolling through social media posts.
- Your Sleep Cycle is Getting Hampered
Losing sleep is a significant sign that your social media usage is significantly unhealthy for your body. If you cannot stop looking at it before going to bed or if you wake up in the middle of the night to check your phone, these signs indicate an unhealthy pattern. With lack of sleep due to social media, it can harm your day-to-day life processes and have an impact on your mental health as well.
- Your Self-Esteem is Taking a Toll
Social media is where your friends, celebrities and influencers post pictures and updates about their daily life. While nothing is wrong with posting or viewing such content, ensure that it does not take a toll on your self-esteem. This is a clear sign of unhealthy social media usage whereby you feel jealous, insecure or provoked by the content posted by other individuals.
Again, if you are under any mental or social health diagnosis and posts on social media are triggering negative thoughts, consider lowering your usage. This would, in turn, be beneficial for your mental health and peace.
- Social Media is Affecting Your Relationships
Social media does have a severe impact on your close relationships if used in the wrong manner. Be it your family, friends, partner or acquaintances; if they complain about you spending more time on social media than them, it is a sign that your usage is unhealthy. Suffering from relationships can be one of the worst impacts on your daily and social life. Hence, always check your use and control it whenever you or your close ones feel it is proving to be a problem in your daily life.
- You are Going Over Bounds
At times, an individual tends to go over their boundaries with excessive and unhealthy use of social media. If you are creeping into your ex-partner’s profile or stalking any other person, it is where you cross your limit. In another case, if someone has unfriended or blocked you from their friend list and has an abnormal impact on your life, it can be considered a harmful impact of social media.
- Overly Addicted to Checking the Phone
A significant negative effect of using too much social media can be an addiction. If you see yourself unable to take a break from it, even for a few hours or days, it is clear that you suffer from social media addiction. Unhealthy patterns against such matters start when you cannot ignore them or give them up, even for a few minutes.
An unhealthy sign shows that if you fear missing out on updates from social media even for a single day. This indicates that you practically live through social media and related updates. If you keep constantly checking or responding to posts, it is high time that you take a break and return to physical socializing.
- Using Social Media for Escaping from Problems
One of the significant impacts of unhealthy social media problems is that people tend to escape from their real-world problems and seek shelter through social media. Many doctors and institutes claim that this is a rising problem.
If you experience mental discomfort or issues, the best way to solve them is to fight them directly. But one harmful impact of social media is it does not allow you the time to sit with your problems. Consider taking a break from social media when you see such issues arise.
Conclusion
Like every other aspect of the digital era, even social media has pros and cons. While it is an excellent time-passing component and provides valuable information, it can also be equally deprecating to mental and physical health. Many studies in recent years have found that social media has more negative impacts than positive ones. However, the number of social media users has remained the same. Instead, they have significantly increased in the past few years. Thus sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp and many more have started catering to such mass usage accordingly.
