Over the past couple years’ social media has grown tremendously and has become a crucial component in people’s daily lives. But with the increasing use of social media also comes with the increase of side effects. Many people are beginning to fear that although social media provides us with multiple advantages, it also comes with many negative side effects. There have been multiple studies connecting the use of social media to increased anxiety and depression, attention disorders, as well as sleep disorders and the lack of certain communication skills. Though these effects may impact everyone differently, how we use social media and the amount of time that we use it has a great impact on our psychological state and due to our increased dependency and usage, these impacts may only get worse. It’s essential that we begin to realize that as the social media empire begins to grow, our excessive usage will continue to negatively affect our psychological state of mind. 

So many people have become addicted to their social media accounts resulting in a constant interruption in their train of thought only to check their phones. Although social media is a great way to share our ideas and expands our communication possibilities greatly, it is also reducing our ability to stay focused. In his Ted Talk, Dr. Cal Newport explains that a large amount of research can confirm that constantly breaking up your attention can permanently reduce your capacity to concentration. A few studies explored the results of social media addiction and found that frequent use of accounts such as Facebook, are associated with clinical symptoms of psychiatric disorders as well as impaired personal skills (Sriwilai and Charoensukmongkol). A study completed by non-profit Anxiety UK stated, “forty-five percent of responders said they feel ‘worried or uncomfortable’ when email and Facebook are inaccessible,” (Fitzgerald). Nicky Lidbetter, the CEO of the non-profit also stated, “These findings suggest that some may need to re-establish control over the technology they use, rather than being controlled by it,” (Fitzgerald). Without being able to have constant access to our social media, people start to become anxious almost as if they were going through withdrawal. In 2011 a group of scientist asked 12 volunteer arounds the world to stay away from all technology for 24 hours. The scientist “found that the participants began to develop symptoms typically seen in smokers attempting to give up,” (Donnelly). The majority of the volunteers were also unable to last the full 24 hours without demanding for their technology. People rely on social media every day whether it be to check the news or stay in contact with our friends. Social media has a strong hold on us and it is important that we take control of our social media rather that it take control on us. Though it may seem harmless, constantly using social media has a greater effect on our health than one may think. 

Sleep is a crucial part of our lives and too much or too little sleep can greatly affect how our bodies function. Getting enough sleep and waking up energized may almost feel impossible for some these days. Many people struggle with sleeping disorders such as insomnia which affects one’s ability to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night. Recent studies have shown that excessive use on our phones or using our phones before going to sleep is what is preventing us from falling asleep at night. Two hundred and ninety-eight people were polled by Salford Business School and two-thirds said that they found it difficult to relax or sleep after spending time on social media (Donnelly). “Research shows that the average young adult spends just over an hour of social media every single day and visits various social media accounts 30 times a week. And those who were the most frequent users of social media across were three times more likely than others to have trouble falling asleep. Similarly, those who spent the most time on social media on a daily basis were twice as likely to have sleeping problems,” (Chang). Due to the constant stimulation from the blue light emitted from our phones disrupts our circadian rhythms thus causing it to be difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. When we are unable to get a good amount of sleep, our bodies start to shut down being unable to function properly. A lack of sleep affects your central nervous system which impairs your ability to concentrate, your short term and long term memory, and makes you more susceptible to experience mood swings and impulsive behavior.  Without the appropriate amount of sleep one may experience other disorders such as depression.

Depression has become a very common disorder recently especially in adolescents and teenagers. Depression is a disorder that results in high activity in a part of our brain called the amygdala which is in control of certain emotions such as anger, pleasure, sorrow, and fear. Brian A. Primack, the director of the Center of Research on Media, Technology, and Health at the University of Pittsburgh conducted a survey examining the relationship between the use of social media and depression. Researchers found that “those who checked their social media most frequently were 2.7 times more likely to be depressed compared to those who checked less often. Those who spent the most amount of time of social media throughout the week had 1.7 times the likelihood of depression,” (Olson). Although social media may affect everyone differently, the results of this study show a correlation between the amount of time spent on social media and depression. When people are on social media they are exposed to “highly idealized representations of peers on social media elicits feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives,” (Chowdhry). By constantly seeing what others are doing in their life may leave one to feel like their lives aren’t as successful or important as others leaving them to feel depressed. “A study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology conducted by researchers at the University of Houston found that an increase in Facebook usage has a correlation with depressive symptoms and leads to a psychological phenomenon known as ‘social comparison,’” (Chowdhry). Social comparison is essentially states the determine our own worth and value by comparing ourselves to others. Many people who start to compare themselves to others may start to feel like everyone is happier than them and everyone is living a better life. By constantly comparing ourselves to others may degrade our self-worth and will typically lead to feelings of depression and anxiety. 

Anxiety disorders are typically when one has a feeling of nervousness or unease about something. Anxiety, like depression, has also been linked as a result of excessive social media use. Due to the fact that many people tend to post their daily activities on Facebook or Instagram, many people may feel the sense of jealousy and anxiety due to the fact that they aren’t there. Although this anxiety can be caused from being away from our phones, it can also be caused by what we are doing on our social media. When people spend excessive time scrolling through sites like Facebook and Instagram, it can trigger a sense of loneliness and exclusion. When it comes to friendships, monitoring their activities may lead to feelings of exclusion thus resulting in an increase of social anxiety (Schatcher). When people see their friends or family doing things without them they start to experience FOMO, the fear of missing out. This FOMO can then turn into anxiety and the questioning of whether one is wanted or not. Studies showed “that Facebook increases people’s anxiety levels by making them feel inadequate and generating excess worry and stress,” (Maldonado). So many people who use social media are too focused on comparing themselves to their online friends, which is result stresses them out and therefore leads to anxiety. By constantly comparing our lives to others, we tend to minimizes the positives in our own lives. For a lot of people the goal on social media is to get the most likes on our profile pictures or to reach a certain number of followers on Instagram, but what happens when you don’t reach that number. From personal experience, it’s hard to control your anxiety when you’ve posted something 10 minutes ago and it only has two likes. Not only do we use social media for entertainment, but we also use it as a validation of our peer’s acceptance. But when we don’t receive that confirmation, everything can go down quickly when it comes to our self-esteem and general happiness. Dr. Cal Newport states that if you were to talk to a mental health counselor on a college campus along with the rise of social media of use came with an explosion of anxiety disordersa

Self-esteem plays a crucial role in our happiness and how we carry ourselves throughout life. With a higher self-esteem comes with more confidence and the power to be comfortable in your own. When it comes to using social media, self-esteem isn’t the easiest thing to hold on to. “A report by Mehdizadeh described the findings of a study in which 100 Facebook users at York University provided self-esteem and narcissistic personality self-reports. The results indicated that individuals with lower self-esteem are more active online in terms of having more self-promotional content on their SNS profiles,” (Pantic). People who spend more time on social media essentially have lower self-esteem but tend to promote themselves more to make it seem as though they are confident with themselves. DR. Emanuele states, “kids view social media through the lens of their own lives. They are likely to interpret images of peers having fun as confirmation that they are doing badly compared to their friends,” (Jacobson). Not only are people comparing their lives to their friends or peers, social media is also covered with unrealistic standards when it comes to promoting ads. Many people already feel insecure about how their own skin so when you add photos of size zero photo shopped models into the mix, many people start to think that they do not fit into the beauty standard, thus lowering their self-esteem. In his Ted Talk, Dr. Cal Newport states that his lives a genuinely better life by not using social media. Since he is not constantly comparing himself to others, he can live comfortably in his own skin and focus on what really matters in his life.

Another large issue that can be associated with social media is our ability to communicate with one another. Although social media provides us with the ability to communicate with each other online, this is greatly affecting how we communicate with each other face to face. “A study conducted for online casino Yazino found that one in four people spend more time socializing online, via sites such as Facebook and Twitter, than they do in person,” (Fowlkes). People are spending so much time on their phones that they no longer want to interact with people in person anymore. This study also stated that “even when there is an opportunity to see people face-to-face, on weekends for example, up to 11% of adults still prefer to stay at home and communicate on their devices instead,” (Fowlkes). When we talk to people face to face, information is shared through vocal and visual cues in the context of the situation (New York Behavioral Health). These nonverbal cues help us communicate and also helps when it comes to reacting in situations. When having face to face communication one would react differently than if they were communicating over the phone. Without these social cues, it is difficult to know how to act or react in certain situations which is crucial when it comes to communication. 

Although social media has become a huge part of our lives, it is important to know the negative effects that it is causing us as well as how to fix them. Its crucial that we start to limit our time spent on social media and protect our psychological health. By spending cutting ourselves off at a certain time every night a couple hours before bed will give us the better ability to fall asleep and get the 7-9 hours of sleep that our bodies need to properly function. Also by limiting our time on social media, we are more likely to stop comparing ourselves to everyone else and therefore we will be able to regain some confidence and self-esteem. We have to start focusing on our health and try to eliminate this social media addiction that so many of us are consumed in. Although social media expands are ability to community with people all over the world and helps share our lives with our friends and family, it is important that we limit our use of social media. 

As the social media empire continues to grow its crucial to be aware of the negative effects that it has on us. Many people don’t know how greatly the affects can impact their daily lives by just spending time on their phones. Multiple studies have shown that the more time to you spend on your social media, the more likely you can suffer from increased depression and anxiety, sleep disorders and even a lack of communication skills. By using less social media we can begin to led happier healthier lives. 
