A majority of people use social media on a daily basis to create and share information. Normally, users use web-based technologies to access social media. This may be done on a laptop, tablet computer or smartphone. During communication, for instance, users create interactive platforms in which communities meet virtually. While this may sound to be good, it may surprise you that social media is a burden to society. This is because it has created more disadvantages than advantages. Researchers now say that social media is more addictive than cigarettes or alcohol. Discussed here below are a few of the negative impacts of social media. (Benjamin & Thompson 2013).
False Sense of Connection
Social media has substituted real-life interactions with virtual communication, thereby creating a false sense of connection. As we know it, real relationships are built when people interact physically. Many people today are not willing to move out of their comfortable homes to go and meet with their friends. One of the reasons for doing this is that they are trying to avoid the stress that is usually associated with travelling, especially over long distances. Also, individuals who choose to meet virtually say that it is quick. From my point of perspective, these reasons weigh less when compared to the false connection created (Ronald, & Stephen H. (2013).
Virtual interaction has promoted casual relationships instead of meaningful relationships. This explains why many marriages today do not last. Research shows that couples that meet online are more likely to divorce than those that attend physically. The main reason given by this research is that individuals who meet virtually take their relationship for granted. On the contrary, the study explains that individuals who match their partners physically take their afterwards relationship seriously. The false connections, in this case, make individuals live in an imaginary world of their own. This kind of life is not different to drug users who hallucinate (William & Britton, 2014).
Poor Grammar and Spelling Mistakes
A majority of social media users never mind about their grammar and spelling mistakes when using written communication. What matters to them is to make the receiver of the message understand the intended message. It is surprising that recipients of the messages are okay with communication that has poor grammar and spelling mistakes. Psychologists say that a healthy individual will always react to abnormality when it occurs. What this implies is that many of the social media users are abnormal. This is because they are still okay with strange messages sent to them (Garrison, R. L. (2015).
The habit of communicating using poor grammar and spelling mistakes has been transferred to class. It is for this reason that many students have been performing poorly in school. What happens is these particular students use the same grammar that they commonly use and commit spelling mistakes always thinking that their professors will not mind. One more reason for poor performance in school is the use of slang language when doing an examination. The source of this slang language is usually social media where students have developed a habit of using it (Michael, T. H. 2015).
Poor Sleep Quality
Research now shows that individuals who use such electronics as smartphones and laptops to access social network sites are more likely to have low-quality sleep. This is because of the light that flashes on the face as the individuals are using these gadgets. Health experts advise people to stay away from screens for at least two hours before sleeping. According to them, this will allow the brain to relax after a tiresome day. What normally happens is that whenever an individual uses social media, his brain is alert all the time. It will not rest until usage is stopped. (Benjamin & Thompson 2013).
Poor sleep quality is also because addicted social media users sleep less than 8 hours in a day. It is better for teenagers today to chat with their friends in the late hours than to sleep early and have quality sleep. Surprisingly, most of them log into social media platforms immediately after they wake up in the morning. According to recent research, individuals who do not get quality sleep are more likely to be stressed when compared to those who get quality sleep. The quality of sleep is, in most cases, determined by the duration of sleep (William & Britton, 2014).
Infringement of Privacy Rights
Social media users have to provide their personal information before they can be allowed to use it. In most cases, users provide accurate information to the social media platforms. This is dangerous to the privacy of the user because online cybercriminals can see it. For example, it is easier to know the email of an individual who is on Facebook. All you need to do is go to his profile and view his or her contact information. Hackers can use such information as this to access the bank account of a user. Infringement of privacy also happens when friends discuss the problems of their colleagues online (Ronald, & Stephen H. (2013).
Inability to Think Independently
Most social media users rely on the advice given by their friends on social media, which prevents them from thinking independently. What normally happens is that individuals share the problems they are facing with their friends on social media. Upon sharing, friends begin giving their advice on how their colleagues should tackle the problem. The individual who shared the question then goes ahead to pick the information that appears to be correct according to his judgment. While this may seem right, it may surprise you to know that it is wrong because each time the individual faces a problem, he cannot think for himself (Garrison, R. L. (2015).
Teenagers trust successful individuals on social media that they do not believe in themselves. This especially applies to those teenagers who belong to the same online communities as their admired celebrities. For this particular group of teenagers, all they do is send a text message to the individual that they respect the most. The successful individual then replies to the news with a solution to the problem. What the teenagers fail to understand is that the person they admire could be wrong, just like any other person. The fact that he is successful does not mean he or she is ever right (Michael, T. H. 2015).
Decreased Productivity
Individuals who spend more time on social media accomplish less when compared to those who spend less time on social media. It is for this reason that most business organizations have decided to come up with rules for poor performance due to social media usage. For example, in the company that my mother works for, five employees were last week retrenched for eating company time. My mother explained to me that this measure was taken after the five employees had refused to change their behaviour of using social media. It could be possible that the five employees were unable to break since they were addicted (William & Britton, 2014).
More work time is wasted on following comments on posts that have been shared on social media. This happens typically when an individual who shared the post becomes curious to know the comments of individual friends. Time wastage increases when the comments being posted are funny. What happens typically is that funny comments make the individual who posted the post on social media to be more interested. In the process of following the comments, an individual may forget the work that he was doing. There have been reports of employees not wholly doing their jobs due to this kind of foolishness (Benjamin & Thompson 2013).
Cyber Bullying
Cyberbullying occurs when individuals are harassed through such ways as making sexual remarks or issuing threats. Let’s say that a beautiful young girl has posted her image on social media. Immediately after posting, her friends will begin commenting on the displayed image. Some friends will make good remarks, while others will make bad remarks. In this particular case, it can be said that friends who post bad comments harassed the girl. The same argument applies to social media users who decide to issue threats to a fellow friend for holding different views on such sensitive topics as politics (Michael, T. H. 2015).
Cyberbullying can also occur when an individual reveals personal information about the victim or posts hate speech that is aimed to target a particular group. Just last month, for instance, a friend of mine posted a comment on social media asking another friend of mine if his new boyfriend had accepted to adopt the child that was born out of wedlock. This annoyed my friend so much that she almost committed suicide. The reason for all this annoyance is that this is a secret she has kept for a very long time. It is something that she never wished to be exposed (Ronald, & Stephen H. (2013).
Increases Personal Expenses
The cost of using social media is determined by the duration which an individual spends on social media. What this means is that individuals who spend more time on social media are more likely to spend more money than those who spend less time on social media. As research has come to find out, individuals who spend much of their money on social media are more likely to forgo such basic human needs as food. Also, the cost of using social media is determined by the number of items that an individual downloads. Individuals who download more things end up spending more money (Garrison, R. L. (2015).
Increased personal expenses could also be a result of impulsive buying of online items. This is because many business organizations have turned to online platforms to advertise their goods and services. Business organizations use modern technology to modify images of their products so that they can be more appealing to social media users. It is for this reason that most of the social media users fall victim to this particular trap. Individuals who are attracted to many goods and services end up spending more. Many businesses have perfected this game to the extent that it is difficult for buyers not to notice the products and services being advertised (Benjamin & Thompson 2013).
Work Cited
Benjamin, J., & Thompson Gale. (2013). Negative Effects on Social Media. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Garrison, R. L. (2015). Unhelpful Effects on Social Media. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Pub.
Michael, T. H. (2015). Negative Effects on Social Media: New York: Wiley.
Ronald, T., & Stephen H. (2013). Harmful Effects on Social Media. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
William, I., & Britton, C. (2014). Negative Effects on Social Media. Harlow, England: Pearson.
