An addiction is an addiction. Most think having an addiction is a habitual violation of substance abuse which raises health concerns, while draining morality. Addiction is defined as a state or a condition of being hooked to a particular activity, substance, or thing. Realize social media is an activity.
What social media gives us is everything we’ve ever wanted. What it allows is the ability to easily keep in touch with school mates, long lost friends, relatives and acquaintances.
You can do so instantaneously with a click of a button. No more trips to the post office or long distance phone calls. A smorgasbord of human needs, is fulfilled.
But like any other benefit of life, what social media has is a psychological cost to pay, most of them being intangible.
One residue, a fault that is the convenience of social media, is what a user eventually experiences is a decrease in subjective well-being.
My Inferior Life
It can make someone feel they’re failures in life, when compared to those more spectacular than they are. We humans are creatures of social comparison.
The need to ask whether. “Am I doing better or worse than my peers?” So what one does is checks out others, who are similar to them.
Social media provides a quick way of effortlessly stalking, engaging in social comparison. Just one glance at a newsfeed, allows you to see your friends “living” life more than you are.
Chronic users of social media, will then tend to believe others lead happier lives than they do, making them think life isn’t fair, or they’re cursed.
You Envy Their Success
Someone you know recently gets a promotion at work, gets married, had a baby, just bought a new car. They post photos of their honeymoon.
What you don’t secretly feel is the same happiness they do, but instead you feel envious of their success, their happy lives. One you can’t measure up to.
What’s found is there’s a negative psychological buildup, by passively following others on social media. Feelings of inferiority looms from skimming through their profiles.
It Leads To A False Consensus
Realize whatever you do on the Internet is tracked. Every keystroke you enter is recorded for retargeting.
Yet, even if you enter the same keyword search query in Google your friend does, what you’ll get are different results, based on your previous tendencies and behavior.
Social media has similar analytical functions, which determines the posts you see on your newsfeed, which may alter or distort your world view.
The posts are tailored to show you favorable recency biased results, based on what you like or believe.
Keeping Up With Those You Don’t Like
Social media allows you keep in touch with those you want to avoid. What curiosity does is allows you to stalk what your ex is doing, as social media discretely provides the perfect platform.
What you’re then secretly hoping for, is they’re as miserable as you are. Was that ambiguous post they recently posted directed at you? Are they now dating a former schoolmate?
These and other questions may often be better left unanswered, yet you pry on social media anyways.
What’s known is social media users who visits their former partner’s page, disrupts their emotional recovery process, causing higher levels of distress.
Then once you run into your ex in real life, because of your online surveillance, your viewpoint is distorted.
Causes Jealousy And Envy
Social media stalking doesn’t just apply to your ex, but extends to all your relationships. Why is she always “liking” everything he posts, but never “likes” my posts?
Checking up on your partner, your friend or foes timeline, can often lead to jealousy or unwarranted suspicion.
So what needs to be discussed with your partner, are the behavior you both consider safe and trustworthy, setting boundaries where you both feel comfortable.
Exposes Too Much Information
What’s available is information you might not want your potential employer to see. Such as how much you partied last Friday night.
What most will reveal is their “fun” side on their social media page, for all to see.
What’s often thought is these posts are safe from prying eyes, but that’s not always the case. What’s also known, is everyone has some type of social media presence.
Also, most popular social media sites, has now become a resource where potential employers will actively search for potential hires.
So if you’re on the job market, make sure you check your privacy settings, and restrict all the risqué content to “Friends Only,” if you’re not wanting to delete anything.
Yes It’s An Addiction
Society’s most traditional addictive substances include coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol. The most common of the millennial age is Internet addiction, especially its evil step child social media.
Social media addiction is rapidly generating traction, to the point where experts have now developed a social media addiction scale. A measurement of the degree of seriousness ones addiction is.
To measure this, participants were randomly texted over a period of time, on what they most craved at a particular moment.
What they found, was the Internet and social media usage was coveted the most, more than tobacco or alcohol.
The Good News Is…
Things aren’t all that bad however, as what research has revealed is social media decreases ones loneliness and boredom. It also allows the user to find and monitor their place in the world.
It keeps everyone up to date on the latest trends, while helping you keep in touch with one another.
Those who constantly posts their status updates, news, or memes, led to increased feelings of social connection, leading to lower levels of isolation.
Social media is similar to other technological breakthroughs, such as the invention of the automobile. It depends on how safe you drive, or how frequently you decide to go online.