History Of Social Media
The internet technology we use today was entirely different from what it was a couple of decades ago. It was more of a tool used for sharing information rather than connecting individuals to each other. As humans are known as social animals and communication is one of the primary needs humans have, we quickly jumped to the internet making it more and more feasible to connect to other humans around the globe. The internet revolutionized our lives when it was thrown into the public in the early 80s and its evolution since then has changed the face of the world. The social media that we know of started back in the early 21st century with platforms very few of us are familiar with today. The major breakthrough in the history of the internet in term of social networking was the launch of Facebook in 2004 which was accessible to college and university students only. Facebook went public in 2006, and that was the start of social media that we know of today.
Social Media As Means Of Communicating Human Behaviours And Feelings
Why social media gained popularity so quickly? Well, the most absolute reason is it allows us to socialize with others. Socializing isn’t just about connecting to others; it’s a whole science of human behaviours. Socializing means sharing information, views, thoughts, vision and even feelings with others and social media provided us with platforms that gave us freedom to perform all these social activities on the internet. With social platforms like Facebook and Instagram at our disposal, we can share pictures, videos, life story, occasions, our locations, as much as our everyday life. We can promote businesses and even hire or get hired for a job, on these social platforms. There is endless freedom on social media which is also damaging for society in many ways.
Rising Numbers Of Social Media Users
One of the primary problems is in the way social media is used. People around the globe are spending a fair amount, if not most, of their time on social media. It’s not hard to understand that having so many social media apps around can be overwhelming and may lead the users to abuse them. According to verified statistics, in 2020, roughly 4.57 billion people worldwide are using social media which is double the figures in 2015. A whopping 83.36% of internet users are also using social media platforms. 17% of teenagers, aged 13-17 years, are spending at least 4 hours on social media every day. It is estimated that 180 million people joined social media networks between July and September in 2020 which is equal to an astounding 2 million new users every day. All these figures are believed to be under-reported and the rate of acceleration in social media usage is thought to be much higher as many social media platform restrict the use of their platforms for users aged 13 and above.
Social Media Abuse And Its Impacts On Physical, Mental & Emotional Health
Social media has become as much a part of our lives as anything which is not negotiable. Research has proven that too much time on social media is affecting us both physically and mentally. Social media has the power to change the way you perceive the world and make you feel and think differently from natural human ways. Sticking too long to social networking platforms can have adverse affects on mood.
Visiting social media websites and platforms frequently can quickly turn into a habit making you waste your time on unnecessary social objectives. Chronic use of social media can induce poor mental health including development of depression and anxiety.
It is a fact that the more you indulge in social media, the more you are exposing your personal life to others, and it allows them to tear into your life. Social media applications record everything about you into their servers. From one’s likes and dislikes to the details of buying habits, everything is there on the web which makes everyone susceptible to cyberbullying.
While social media allows you to meet new people from around the world, it does not guarantee everything you see on their profiles is true. Anyone can make a fake account on these portals with little effort. People, especially teenagers and young adults get betrayed and embarrassed on social media every day which drives them into serious emotional issues. The mental and emotional stress from social media may lead to suicide.
What Is “FOMO”?
Another phenomenon that rose to fame with social media is FOMO (fear of missing out). FOMO is a form of anxiety that arises when you are scared of missing out on experiences others are having. It is one of the most widespread negative effects of social media which makes users stick to it and waste precious time just because they don’t want to miss out on anything.
This whole FOMO thing is leading to poor sleeping habits in social media users. Several studies have made it evident that excessive use of social media destroys your sleeping patterns and sleep quality. You might have experienced the addictive nature of social media, when while in bed you thought of just checking your Facebook notifications, only to realize after hours how much of your sleeping time you have sacrificed just browsing through other’s profiles and looking at things which are not going to contribute anything positive to your life.
How Much Is Too Much?-Social Media
The more time you spend on social media the more you make yourself vulnerable to all these negative aspects of social networking on the internet. There is no set limit to how much social media is too much. At the end of the day, it is you who is in the best control of your precious time. Social media undoubtedly has profound benefits but misusing it can be harmful to you in many ways you might not be aware of.