The Negative Impacts of Social Media
The Negative Impacts of Social Media 1. π§ Mental Health and Well-being These are the most personal and widely studied negative impacts: Increased Anxiety and Depression: Excessive use, particularly among adolescents and young adults, is strongly correlated with increased symptoms of anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Social Comparison and Low Self-Esteem: Users primarily post "highlight reels" of their lives, leading others to constantly and unfavorably compare their own reality to these idealized, filtered, and often unrealistic online personas. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): The constant stream of others' activities fuels the anxiety that one is missing out on important social events or better experiences, leading to compulsive checking. Addictive Design: Platforms are engineered using behavioral science to maximize time spent scrolling (time-on-site) through features like likes, notifications, and unpredictable content feeds, triggering a dopamine-driven feedback l...