By- Mariyam
In this world, we are all a little lost some spiritually, some technologically, and some quite literally.
The 21st Century is referred to as the Age of Information Technology or the Silicon Age, there have been unprecedented technological innovations. When this technological era started, the entire world was predicting what else could be invented and how our lives could be made easier and better. But as several technological advancements have been made, the world is now starting to see its adverse effects, especially on our mental health.
The invention of social media has been the biggest contributor to the decline of our mental health. As apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, X, etc. have been developed, our lives have become intertwined with the ‘reel’ world and disconnected from the real world. Social media was invented so that communication can be made easier for people all around the world where we could post about our lives among our friends, family, and even the world. But this led people to post extravagant and unrealistic lifestyles which set unreal standards, people started exaggerating their lives and showed the world their lavish lifestyles which may or may not be true. Thus, social media has become a fake world where people show off materialistic wealth.
In the world of social media, some people catfish others to scam them. These people either hack existing accounts of users or create fake ones with fake or stolen images. The statistic “One in five internet users say they have been the victim of a catfish” indicates that approximately 20% of individuals who use the internet have experienced being deceived by someone pretending to be another person online, known as being “catfished.” Having your identity or pictures stolen is another situation that leads to a tremendous amount of stress among social media users.
Another huge problem that people are dealing with on social media is cyberbullying and harassment. Previously, bullying was confined to online platforms, but now bullies can harass you at any time. India tops the global list for online bullying, with over one-third of its children experiencing harassment on the internet. According to NCRB data, the number of cybercrimes grew by 63.48% from 2018 to 2019. The effects of bullying have serious and lasting impacts on our mental health and wellbeing. Bullying can cause feelings of rejection, isolation, and low self-esteem, and several individuals develop depression and anxiety as a result. In certain instances, it may escalate into Acute Stress Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Research has shown that being a victim of bullying can lead to longer-term impacts including interpersonal and sexual violence, substance use, poor social functioning, and poor performance. Even witnessing bullying can impact one’s well-being.
Social media doesn’t just have harmful effects from its use, it also tends to be highly addictive. This addiction can disrupt many of our life’s activities and it has only been promoted with the invention of short-form content such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. People with a social media addiction can’t seem to focus on anything else. All they can think about is scrolling through the tremendous amount of content available to consume online. Numerous studies have demonstrated a link between extensive social media usage, particularly platforms like Facebook, and increased mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression, along with a deterioration in long-term well-being (Eraslan-Capan, 2015; Hong, Huang, Lin & Chiu, 2014; Malik & Khan, 2015; Marino et al., 2017; Pantic, 2014; Shakya & Christakis, 2017; Toker & Baturay, 2016). Research focusing on social media addiction predominantly addresses Facebook addiction (e.g., Andreassen, Torsheim, Brunborg, & Pallesen, 2012; Hong et al., 2014; Koc & Gulyagci, 2013). Furthermore, evidence suggests that social media addiction, especially Facebook addiction, adversely affects academic performance (Huang, 2014; Nida, 2018).
On average, individuals spend two hours and 27 minutes daily on social media. It is estimated that 210 million people globally suffer from social media addiction. More than half of drivers acknowledge using social media while driving. Excessive social media usage among children and teenagers can alter their brain development. Thus, strategies should be followed to curb this addiction before it causes too much harm. We could deal with this addiction in several ways:
We could delete the apps that we spend unnecessary amounts of time on. We could also stay away from our phones as much as possible. This is especially helpful if you can’t even see our phone. As the saying goes out of Sight, out of mind.
We could also enable the ‘focus mode’ that’s available on our phones nowadays. It’s basically a ‘Do not disturb’ sign but instead of your room, it’s your phone.
We could also find hobbies outside of social media that we find interesting or challenging. Such hobbies can be great as they are an escape from social media and also a way for us to engage ourselves, relax and it gives us a sense of accomplishment.
There are several apps available that lock your phone for a certain amount of time to prevent you from using your phone too much.
But all these strategies are useless if you don’t have self-control. One of the best ways that we could deal with social media addiction is by practicing self-control. Self-control is frequently described as a mechanism that facilitates the reactive suppression of harmful impulses (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998; Tangney et al., 2004). Recent theories of self-control challenge this perspective, suggesting instead that self-control can involve proactively selecting or altering situations to diminish unwanted impulses (Duckworth, 2011; Duckworth, Gendler, & Gross, 2016; Duckworth & Kern, 2011; Duckworth, Milkman, & Laibson, 2018; Duckworth, White, Matteucci, Shearer, & Gross, 2016; Fujita, 2011; Galla & Duckworth, 2015).
References:
https://medium.com/@gpccio/21-century-is-the-era-of-technology-4956d5c86671
https://thebossmagazine.com/21st-century-inventions/
https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Technology-And-Mental-Health-Essay-FJZ87DYWBG
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/cyberbullying-stats
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372724976_The_Growing_Threat_of_Cyberbullying_in_India
https://med.uth.edu/psychiatry/2021/03/12/the-impact-of-bullying-on-mental-health/
https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/11562/10369
https://www.coursehero.com/file/71475422/Social-media-addictionpdf/