Yes
by Josh Wilson
Social media is a popular source of entertainment and a vital tool everyone uses frequently, but it can be detrimental to students’ well-being if misused. There are many harmful effects that social media overuse can have on a person’s well-being, from poor quality of sleep, decline in academic performance, anxiety and depression. There is also a concept called social media burnout, a term that describes emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and ambivalence after using social media for a long time. Social media burnout can be caused by information and social overload. The overloading of a person’s cognitive capacity stems from social media addiction. After an hour of scrolling and seeing high-dopamine videos, it makes me mentally exhausted.
FOMO, the fear of missing out, can also be caused by social media overuse. FOMO causes people to constantly stay in touch with others, fearing they may miss something important. FOMO symptoms strain people emotionally and mentally, making them think they may miss a rewarding experience, and are very likely to have severe social media addiction. I often found myself checking my phone to see if there was an important notification I missed, which causes me to lose my attention span constantly.
Social media can negatively affect user’s attention spans. The short videos on TikTok and Instagram have reduced the average person’s attention span to eight seconds, as opposed to 12 seconds in 2000. We consume so much information so quickly that our brains cannot retain it. The instant gratification these short videos give us hinders us from being able to focus for long periods on things like a book.
Dealing with social media addiction was a real struggle. Apps like Instagram and TikTok were distracting with all their notifications and endless scrolling. It made it hard to focus on homework and other important tasks. I realized I needed to reduce social media to be more productive. It was a significant change, but it helped me manage my time better and stay focused on what is important.
To solve my former social media addiction, I did certain things such as keeping my phone out of the morning routine, not using my phone an hour before bed and not pulling out my phone whenever I was bored. Overuse of social media can be detrimental to your well-being, so make sure you control and balance your time on social media.
No
by Kiara DeVaughn
Since its introduction, social media has become a staple in many of the population’s daily lives. From Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, all these platforms can have a tremendous positive impact on the user’s mental health. The most important and beneficial feature that social media has is the ability for it to allow people to easily connect with friends and family, even including meeting new people. Social media allows people to receive their social interactions right from their devices.
Social media platforms closes the gap of distance and time when it comes to interactions. For example, many people have online friends that are a long distance away, and these types of friendships would not have been possible without social media. Social media helps in strengthening and maintaining the connection between people who are far away from one another. Along with solving the distance issues, social media is not something that is time-sensitive, so you would be able to connect with someone at any time.
Many social media platforms incorporate a media sharing feature, ranging from photos and videos to gifs and links. From my personal experience, the media that I see on these platforms tends to always leave me with a smile. I always find something enjoyable on social media, especially things or events that are rarely seen in real life. Seeing posts and videos like that always brightens my day. According to various research articles, the media that appears on social media has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety, providing people with a good way to overcome troubles.
On top of that, there are a multitude of accounts that post various tips and tricks that are useful in many areas of life. Social media can help in finding new interests or learning new information for current hobbies. Hobbies have been studied over the years and have shown that they can positively improve one’s mental health.
With all of the positive influences that social media can have on mental health, it is also important to note that overuse of social media is bad. Social media platforms should not be a replacement for social activity. Using social media wisely and managing your time spent on it can aid in managing your mental health as well as providing a way to ease stress.
The Collegian 