Social media is everywhere in our world, with about 59% of the world’s population using at least one platform as of this July, according to a statistic from Kepios published for DataReportal.com.
Look around and ask yourself, “Who do you know uses social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? And why do they use these types of platforms?”
The most common answer would be friends or even family. And the reasons for using these types of platforms range from reaching out to friends and family members near and far to even sillier reasons such as getting into arguments over political views.
However, social media can be a double-edged sword, especially in the terms that people use it.
According to 20 Pros and Cons of Social Media Use written by Jon Patrick Hatcher for Success.com on Dec. 6, 2017, one problem that comes hand-in-hand with social media use is that it exacerbates feelings of disconnect and puts children at higher risk for anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders and even suicide.
So what would seem like a harmless post teasing a girl about how stupid her hair is for coloring it pink or how fat she looks wearing that black and white polka dot dress or even calling a guy a homophobic slur because he recently came out as gay, is really a post that damages their self-esteem and puts them at risk for harmful behaviors.
Another problem that comes with social media is that using social media too much can cause an addiction, according to 5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media for Students | Drawbacks & Benefits of Social Media for Students written by Mishal Roomi for Hitechwhizz on May 31, 2021.
So if an individual were to spend all of their time browsing through Twitter or TikTok finding the latest videos to watch to keep themselves entertained, they’re not really doing themselves any favors. They’re building up on their addiction to social media, and just like with drinking and smoking, it’s hard to quit once you start.
Being addicted to social media can be so bad to where you may even forget to spend time with your family and friends, causing personal relationships with them to become strained.
The last major problem that comes with social media usage is that it brings out unrealistic expectations.
7 Negative Effects of Social Media on People and Users written by Ben Stegner for Make Use Of on July 29, 2022 explains that a majority of social media platforms have one thing in common, and that is lack of authenticity. For example, someone who becomes an Instagram influencer or a YouTuber who has millions of followers online may not be who they say they are.
And this is the same thing with Facebook users along with TikTok users: They bring out this ridiculous belief that a person’s self-worth is based on how many followers they have, or how beautiful this one girl looks, and therefore, all women must have nice faces with certain breast sizes.
One should not base themselves and their self-worth based on how many pictures one posts of themselves, their food, their pet, their family, or the number of followers that they have. Because in the end, the only people who really will stay with you until the end are the people who you eventually know well enough to where you’ve met them in real life.
