Today, social networks have had a great impact on society. Post, comment and track the whereabouts of our friends and family and even strangers we don’t know but find funny or associate with in some way.
With social networks comes this idea that each person needs to be in a certain phase of their life at a specific moment, when in reality, as much as we forget, people’s lives follow their own pace. It’s important to remember that many people post their happy moments on social media, not the sad ones, because the sad moments are not what other people want to see.
Not everything on social media is a given, but sadly, many people have forgotten that.
It’s easy to get lost in a sea of information about other people’s lives. You might be reading the news and see someone who just got engaged or had a baby, and you might feel like you need to be there too! Or maybe you’re looking at photos of someone else’s vacations to exotic places and you start to feel like your life isn’t as exciting as theirs.
But here’s the thing: everyone experiences different things at different times. Some people have children who are small or early in life; others wait up to 30 years or more (or nothing at all). Some couples get married right out of college; others may wait 20 years before getting married (or never getting married). And some people live in big cities, while others prefer small towns.
Here are ways social media can affect your mental health.
Its addicting: While many would disagree that internet and social media addiction are one thing, there is evidence that both exist. according to a studying In an analysis carried out by Nottingham Trent University, they found that people tend to experience a sort of withdrawal from social media.
According to Swansea University, when people stop using nets, they experience minor physiological effects.
Guarantees feelings of sadness: one studying carried out years ago found that Facebook was related to less happiness and satisfaction with life, thus creating the idea that the more we use social networks, the less happy we will be.
Other studying concluded that networks are linked to greater feelings of social isolation. By looking at how many people used social networking sites like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc., they found that the more time people spent on these apps, the more they perceived themselves to be socially isolated.
Being socially isolated is one of the worst things we can experience physically and mentally.
The comparison is not mentally healthy: many of the reasons why people feel socially isolated from social media are due to the “comparison factor”. This means people rely on comparing themselves to others as they scroll through their social media and judge themselves for not measuring up.
ONE studying showed that people who are on social media tend to compare posts in an “up” or “down” direction. They feel that they are living better or worse than their friends and the people they follow.
O studying it also showed that both upward and downward directions of thinking made people feel worse because it made them feel bad from both angles.
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Jealousy: It’s normal to feel jealous when we see people on vacation or when they see they have a new puppy or a new car, something social media has in abundance. It’s an open space to share all the good things that happen in someone’s life. However, studies have shown that networking triggers feelings of jealousy.
According to ACADEMY research, “the magnitude of incidents of envy that occur on Facebook alone is staggering, providing evidence that Facebook provides a breeding ground for feelings of envy.” They go on to say that feeling jealous can be a vicious cycle.
Body image: While some of us might enjoy the fun and silly filters that social media has, it can be detrimental to our mental health. People believe that there is an unspoken rule that in order to post or even be on social media you have to be and look perfect when that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Social media is all about having fun and connecting with friends and family, but over the years it has become a competition about who looks the best, who has the best life, and so much more.
As stated above, comparison and jealousy are common feelings among social media users. Because of this, people believe that they need to look a certain way to get a lot of likes and followers, which can be dangerous for their health and safety.
We sometimes forget that not all of our followers are our friends, and while it’s normal to follow and have followers, you might not know it.
By Health Fitness Revolution. Article in English