The Problems with Social Media

There are many problems with social media. Many of these issues are to do with the communication and things we see and hear online. It’s also the reason for a few mental health issues these days. I want to express my views on social media…

I use social media everyday. I see the things that are affecting people every day and all around me. Online. At school. In the newspaper. It’s a bit disappointing to know that this is the world we live in.

I went for a meal with my family and friends and they were reminiscing the good old days where they didn’t have any social media and, to be honest, I would much rather have lived in their world than my own. They didn’t have to worry about how they looked what people would think about them posting it online because there was no online.

And, don’t you think there are more important things in life? Earning good grades to get a good job when you grow up. With a good job, you get good money. With good money, you’re able to have the finer pleasures in life in life. For example, an expensive, flashy sports car, a humongous house. All these luxuries come with hard work and dedication. Not whether you look good on your latest Instagram post. Nobody is going to care about that in years to come. If you do the right things now then the world could possibly be much happier and healthier place, don’t you think?

The Pros if Using Social Media

• The ability to connect to people all over the world. This can be very beneficial because you might have family that don’t live anywhere near you and you will be able to connect with them whenever you want. I have a family that travel a lot and/or don’t and this keeps us all up to date on what each other is doing by seeing photos and being able to message them and ask them how they are.
• Easy and instant communication. You can communicate with people by giving them a phone call or sending them a message even you are busy. Pencilling in to meet up with people can be very time-consuming and there is also the fact that you could have different things going on different days which makes it harder to have the time to meet up. However, having a Skype call, phone call or conversation over WhatsApp can catch you both up on everything that’s been going on, while you do the things you need to do like work.

• Real time news and information discovery. Social media can keep you up to date on things that are happening all across the world. For example, if there was a terrorist attack or something serious like that, you would get all the updates and important information on social media about knowing what to do and where to go.
• Great opportunities for businesses. Small businesses/organisations can develop online. Because we spend so much of our time on social media it is easy to come across small websites and businesses that are trying to become a success.

• General fun and enjoyment. We tend to us social media to relax and when we are bored. It gives us something to do and use it to chill when we get home from a busy day at school or work. It can take our mind off the things happening in our own lives.
• Time passer. We use social media to pass time. For instance, when you have an appointment somewhere but you have to wait to be called you use the time to have a flick through Facebook and it will seem to make time go a lot quicker.

The Cons of Using Social Media

• It’s hard to keep up with. Let’s be honest, sometimes you struggle to get through everybody’s Instagram and Snapchat stories. It can just seem to take forever. When you follow to many people it can be hard keeping up with all the posts and stories. Just remember that it is okay if you don’t look at them. Don’t overload yourself with having to flick through everybody’s daily life.
• Privacy Issues. Privacy is a big thing within the social media world. Once you post something, it no longer fully belongs to you. Wether that be a comment of your opinion or a picture you think you look cute in. If you don’t want people to share it, comment on it or think it’s about them then you shouldn’t post it at all. Always keep in mind the term, ‘If you wouldn’t want your parents or grandparents to see it then no one should see it at all!’ Stick by this because I think most people can relate. It’s true in my opinion. My mum and I are very close and have no secrets so if it’s something I feel I wouldn’t want to tell her or wouldn’t like her to see then I wouldn’t share it!
• Social peer pressure and bullying. This mainly involves teens and young adults. The pressure of doing something such as keeping up with the latest trends can be stressful. This also links with cyber bullying because I kind of see it as, if you didn’t people could ask why and if you didn’t people could mock you for it. Like I said earlier, you start to worry about what other people would think. Things like this have more of an impact on social media then it does in school or work.
• Online interaction. This could be a substitute for offline interaction. It could cause us to be antisocial and not want to communicate with people in the real world. For example, when you are having a family meal and it is polite to give your full, undivided attention to the people around you and resist the urge to go and check your phone every five minutes. However, many people don’t care about etiquette any more.
• Distraction and procrastination. Your phone can throw you off whatever task you had been doing at the time. It can just take a long of your phone to distract you. It makes you prolong things rather than just getting them over and done with. For example, when you are studying or doing homework, you can get bored and decide to go on social media for a bit, but then you may end up thinking, ‘I’ll come back to it later’ and there for procrastinate things. What I would do when you are trying to do something important is turn your phone off or put it somewhere away from you.
• Sleep disruption. If you are one of those people who use your phone before you go to sleep at night then this one can possibly relate to you. It can keep you awake when you are trying to get to sleep because small amounts of artificial light from the screen can cause a delay in the Circadian Rhythm. When it’s time to sleep, our brains naturally release Melatonin, which allows us to ‘switch off’, however consuming all this new data (from social media) prevents us from doing so. Research has shown that the longer you spend on your phone before you sleep, the worse your sleep quality will be.

Not talking to people the way we used to

Communicating face to face rather than over text message and social media is a much better way of speaking to one another. By interacting with each other face to face means there can be no mixed messages. With texting, people can perceive the things you say in whichever way you choose to, even if you didn’t mean something the way they’re taking it. The tone of pitch of your voice in a one-on-one conversation to presents the way you mean something, and the person you’re talking to will also gather the way that it’s meant and not take offence and take it out of context or read what they want into it.

Your facial expressions also show the way you mean something. For example, if you are concerned and worried or happy and joking, the opposing person will know what you are generally feeling feeling by looking at your face. This doesn’t happen social media as the other person can’t see your face and thereon won’t know how you are actually implying something.