How does social media effect mental health?

The social media effect has become a boon as well as a threat for the world today. The immense level of reach and connectivity that you can gain from social media is commendable. Many surveys have been conducted for research works to deduce the amount of effective social media has on mental health. Researches also find out the reasons for it. Heavy usage of social media sites is a cause of countless series of mental diseases. Apart from these, there are innumerable positive effects of social media.

Positive effects of social media

Interaction between people and communities virtually is the sole purpose of social media. The benefits of using social media are as follows.

1. People can update themselves with current news : News spreads and reaches like wildfire through the social media sites.
2. Connect with family members and relatives : Sometimes because of relatives staying far away, it becomes difficult to check up on them. Through social media, you can get updates on their status and how they are going on with their lives. Users can chat with them as well.
3. Find new friends and connections : Nowadays, people resort to social media to make new friends and connections. It connects you to the whole world. So, finding new people becomes easier.
4. Social media has become one of the best platforms to showcase your talents. Thousands of people around the globe use it to show their creations. You can portray any talent like dance, song, paintings and handicrafts.
5. A way to create small businesses : There are many who use social media to sell and buy products. Some small online stores sell their products through social media.
6. Advertisement is a major function of social media : Almost every business big or small advertises their products or services in social media. It attracts a lot of crowds as well.
7. It is a great medium to ask for help : You can ask for mental support as well as financial support through social media.
8. Get knowledge or get introduced to new innovations : Social media can introduce you to many innovations beyond your imagination.
   So, it is evident that social media solves a lot of problems for everyone. 

Negative effects of social media

Everything has a negative side to it. Social media also has many negative effects along with positive ones.

1. Using social media can become an addiction for children and teens. With so many contents to view, they might spend hours on social media.
2. Affects the timing of work. Often social media can delay important work for people.
3. People spend more time socializing on social media rather than spend quality time with family and friends.
4. Anxiety and many mental and psychological effects can be seen by the use of social media.

Create forms with #1 Online Form Builder: Fynzo Survey

Effect of social media on mental health

1. Social media forms a sense of insecurity in the minds of adolescents and young adults. The unrealistic high standards set by social media influencers affect the minds of people. They seek to become like those influencers. They start copying every style and habit. This harms the self-esteem of the youth. There is constant stress in their minds as to how to become like them or are they doing enough.
2. Portrays negative and extreme beauty standards. Through social media, people get to know the world. Skinny women with fair skin with a definite body shape are considered to be beautiful. The youth also get influenced by this. They do not understand that nobody shape or skin color is “ideal”. Everyone is unique in their own way. But the youngsters sought to become skinny at the cost of harming their own health.
3. More and more people fall victim to cyberbullying. This happens especially with influencers and celebrities. Cyberbullying comes in between the person’s motivation for success and creativity. Many people enjoy demeaning others’ achievements. This can cause depression and self-consciousness.
4. Using social media also at times becomes an unhealthy escape to problems. In other words, this is also procrastination. School and college students neglect lengthy pending works and use social media as an escape to those. This is an unhealthy attachment. In this way, every time a person faces a challenging situation, he resolves to procrastination via social media. This delays work and also decreases productivity.
5. Social media is also the source of anxiety, stress, and depression. All this again increases the use of social media for the victims. So, the users are easily caught in a vicious cycle. Social media is a breeding ground for stress and anxiety but people seek refuge there themselves to get rid of those. So, the process continues.

Conclusion

Both the positive and negative effects of social media are worth noticing. It is up to the users to cleverly use them so as to gain the total benefit as well as not get trapped in it. If you have more to share, let us know in the comments.