Social media has become a major contender for time spent by humans each and every day.
In fact, did you know that the average daily social media user spends about 145 minutes per day perusing social media sites?
But here’s the real problem.
Growing social media use has been linked to a lot of problems—including the possibility of a link to growing issues with depression in children and teenagers.
In other words—it’s totally possible that all of this social media isn’t necessarily good for us.
And today, you’re going to learn 5 common-sense reasons for why this may be the case.
Let’s dive into it.
1. It Takes Up A Lot Of Time
Social media may be fun—but it also just straight-up causes us to waste a lot of time being unproductive.
This can’t be good for our happiness levels, right?
2. It Causes Quite A Bit Of Outrage
When you browse social media and see things that violate your standards or make you angry (like people being rude, bullying, offensive political posts, etc.), you can actually become pretty emotionally fatigued—much more so than you would be in everyday life offline.
3. There Are Trolls
Trolls abound on social media.
And unfortunately, they cause a lot of trouble.
They bully people, they say rude things, they manufacture outrage—and these things actually affect real people.
4. It Can Create A False Illusion Of Perfection
One big problem with social media is that so much of it is just fake.
There are a lot of people who try to act like their lives are perfect—and this can create a huge misconception among the average people who peruse social media on a daily basis.
Simply put—when you’re constantly being exposed to ‘fakeness’ on social media, you’re bound to have your sense of reality warped, even if just slightly—and that can’t be good for anyone.
At the very least, it can cause people to feel bad about themselves.
At the worst, it could make people feel seriously depressed, anxious, or hopeless.
5. It Can Lead To All Kinds Of Drama
Whenever you expand your social circles in life, you’re bound to run into a bit of drama.
That’s just how it goes.
But on social media, the drama may not even involve real people who matter in real life.
At least when you have drama with people in real life, there’s the possibility that it will lead to some kind of real relationship that could eventually produce a meaningful connection—but such a thing is highly unlikely to happen on social media.
More often than not, drama on social media just leads to more outrage, a lot of wasted energy spent on negative emotions, and people blocking each other.
Conclusion
Obviously, social media isn’t all bad.
But maybe these points will inspire you to at least give yourself a break from it once in a while.
Living life in the real world actually brings some benefits to the table—and it’s good for us!
