Rengganis Rizka Prasanti Social media has become an integral part of our lives. It is estimated that in 2023, 61.4% of the global population, or around 4.95 billion people worldwide, are social media users.
It was created to build and enhance our social connection, but instead of connection, social media use can lead to the opposite. When you spend too much time on social media, you end up feeling drained, hard to focus, and maybe a little bit lonely.
To understand why this happens, let’s dive into the science of excessive social media use and its effects on our health.
The Downsides of Social Media
As with any other excessive use of new technology, too much social networking site (SNS) use can lead to a number of health issues, mental and physical.
For example, there have been numerous studies on social media addiction (Griffiths, Kuss & Demetrovics, 2014; Hou et al., 2019; Sun & Zhang, 2021) with signs similar to other forms of addiction.
When social media use becomes an addiction to someone, it will occupy most of their daily activities and hinder the other aspects of their life, such as work and relationships.
Studies also show that social media can lower our self-esteem (Hou et al., 2019; Midgley et al., 2021).
People are more likely to share positive experiences than negative ones on social media, and frequently comparing ourselves with others on social media will lower our mood and self-esteem.
Social Media and Isolation
You may be wondering now: How does a technology that was created for social connection and staying in touch with others end up doing the exact opposite?
One study among young adults in the United States shows that with increased social media usage, people are more likely to feel isolated and lonely (Primack et al., 2017).
Excessive SNS use makes us grow distant from the people around us, and in the cases of addiction, even straining our real-life relationships (Griffiths, Kuss & Demetrovics, 2014).
At the same time, the interactions we gain from social media are not enough to replace the support we could have gained from the people around us.
Engagement such as likes and short replies cannot supplement the support we gain from real-life relationships, and many people find it difficult to turn online relationships into real-life connections.
Another factor is comparison, which will happen more often as we use social media more. By comparing ourselves to others and how they present their social lives on social media, we may end up feeling lonelier and more isolated.
How Do We Prevent That?
Social isolation is no simple matter. It’s known to reduce physical and mental well-being, worsen sleep quality (Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2014), and even lead to disorders such as anxiety and depression.
To prevent our social media use from becoming excessive, social support from people closest to us is essential. Allocate more time to reconnect and build meaningful interactions offline with your friends and those closest to you.
Taking the first step to create the boundary for your social media use may not be easy. Sometimes we only need someone who’ll listen to our story without judgment to have the courage to reach out.
Talk to us today on HelloReyo.
References:
Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Social relationships and health: The toxic effects of perceived social isolation. Social and personality psychology compass, 8(2), 58-72.
Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., & Demetrovics, Z. (2014). Social networking addiction: An overview of preliminary findings. Behavioral addictions, 119-141.
Hou, Y., Xiong, D., Jiang, T., Song, L., & Wang, Q. (2019). Social media addiction: Its impact, mediation, and intervention. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 13(1), article 4. http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2019-1-4
Midgley, C., Thai, S., Lockwood, P., Kovacheff, C., & Page-Gould, E. (2021). When every day is a high school reunion: Social media comparisons and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 121(2), 285.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., yi Lin, L., Rosen, D., … & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the US. American journal of preventive medicine, 53(1), 1-8.
Sun, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2021). A review of theories and models applied in studies of social media addiction and implications for future research. Addictive behaviors, 114, 106699.
