Everyone these days use social media. People spend time watching other people's lives, communicating virtually or watching random videos. It is no secret that social media has become one of the biggest time wasters among people. We spend hours watching something that has no value in our lives instead of being productive. But there is more than that. Experts say that social media has a significant effect on mental health.
First of all, it is very addictive. Internet addiction is real and can impact our life negatively if we don't know how to manage the time we spend on it. Sometimes we can't even notice how we spend several hours scrolling on our favourite app. Many people need social media as much as a smoker needs a cigarette. If you want to know if you have this problem or not, try spending a few days without Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or TikTok and see if you start feeling anxious. If yes, you need to consider limiting your time on social media.
Secondly, it can bring us sadness and make us lose confidence. When we see photos of other people's lives and physiques, we compare ourselves to them. People usually post only the best moments of their lives, and models edit their photos to look better. When we see a perfect life that someone has created, we start to believe that we are not as good as them, which brings down our self-esteem. So many women start losing confidence because they compare their looks to other women. Next time you scroll on social media, remember that everyone's life is not as perfect as it looks in the photo or video. Also, follow motivational or educational pages so you can get inspired and learn new things while spending time on social media.
Thirdly, people start socialising less in real life. Nowadays, it is so easy to reach out to anyone or to know new people just with a click of a button. People browse dating sites and forums to chat with others and spend less time meeting them in person. Also, connect over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other platforms on video chats and don't spend time together. Always remember that we need to socialise in real life to keep a healthy mindset. Meet your friends and family members and spend quality time with them.
Another essential thing that I mentioned before is that social media takes our time and makes us unproductive. Wasting time makes us fail tasks and lose motivation. Time is a valuable gift; we can use it to learn new things, achieve goals, exercise or do other practical activities; when you want to achieve something, you have to invest time and focus on it. If you spend hours browsing the internet, you lose time and focus on unnecessary things. It will slow you down from reaching your goal. My best advice is to keep a journal and set a time limit for social media. I would suggest spending 30-60 minutes per day on it. The rest of your time spend on things that improve your life.
Social media harms mental health if you don't limit time for it and follow pointless or even harmful content. Social media can be helpful if you spend a reasonable amount of time following useful information or promoting an online business. Remember, it all comes down to the choices we make.