" Addiction to Social Media " A Slow poison creating mental distress among all the age groups "

“Addiction to Social media"

A slow poison creating mental distress  among all the age groups “

With an estimate, 3.41 billion people of the world are using the internet out of which 2.4 billion people are active social media As far as India is concern 243 million people are connected to the internet and 106 million people of Indians are social media active. Ten years back if you asked the common person that what they thought about the social media, chances are even they would have any idea or clue about what you were taking. But now the things became changed with the emergence of social media platform as an essential in aspect to every activity in our daily life.

 45 years ago (1971) the first Email was delivered and it was treated like a milestone in the world of communication.  With the introduction of any new technologies throughout the history, dramatically changed the course of the human behavior too.

With the rapid exponential growth social media and networking have made   everything faster and easier to access information around the world, and by having smaller, bite-sized chunks of information makes  easier for people to disperse the information to one another. Today, if you can’t reach someone on the phone, you can leave a voicemail or send a text. Or even better, tweet, Facebook message, or touch base in other ways. We have the ability to see what others are doing, often within seconds of them doing it. The speed of social media has changed the way we learn about and respond to natural disasters. After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, nonprofits used social media to mobilize rescue efforts and to support the community More recently back in April 2015 after the disaster of the Nepal earthquake FB reacted quickly by activating a function that allowed those in the vicinity of the disaster to mark themselves as ‘safe’ on Facebook so that their friends and loved ones we’re able to see.

In essence, social media defines an array of Internet sites that enable people from all over the world to interact. This can be through discussion, photos, video and audio.

In India, approximately 7% of people of the total internet user are active social media user and with the introduction of Smartphone technology, people are just a fingertip away to interact with each  other on social media sites .  With the introduction of any new technologies throughout the history, dramatically changed the course of the human behavior too.  On average,  people spent 7.6 hours a month using social media, with the majority of individuals accessing social networking sites through cell phones. Recent statistics show that 63% of Facebook users log on to the site daily, while 40% of users log on multiple times a day .

No doubt social media playing a vital role in every one’s life But we should never forget every  new  technology introduced to the society has their own pros and cons despite many good things it has too many negative impacts too on the society and It would be short-sighted to only highlight the good from social media .

Adverse Effects of Social media Addiction; The need to be constantly available and respond 24/7 on social media accounts can cause---------

• Reduction in the potentiality of individuals , it diluting the interpersonal relationship , Some believe it encourages poor writing and  keeping away individuals  from habit of book reading , It may compromise privacy and  encourages social detachment.  Despite the fact of their physical presence. The users are so addicted to their perpetual chatting and multimedia sharing like selfies/images, videos, and audios that they cannot help themselves to keep their cell phone at bay for some time so that they can talk to the friends and folks in person. It seems that they’re loving to live in the virtual world rather than the real world. this application plays the major role in mentally isolating the users in all the social gatherings  Cyber bullying
• Cyber bullying is an enormous concern, especially for adolescents. An organization that aims for internet safety, called Enough is Enough, conducted a survey that found 95% of teenagers who use social media have witnessed cyber-bullying, and 33% have been victims themselves.
• Social media is addictive

Studies show that 63% of Americans log on to Facebook daily, and 40% log on multiple times each day. People use the site for myriad reasons; however, it usually serves, on some level, the same basic purposes: distraction and boredom relief. “Likes” and comments are positive reinforcement for posting information, making it difficult for a person to stop. Researchers have found this so common that they created a scale to measure this addiction: The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale.

•  Social media makes us compare our lives with others

Posts on social media many times present an idealized version of what’s happening, what something looks like, or how things are going. This can lead users to constantly compare themselves to others and think less of their own lives. If things are going particularly well for people in your news-feed and you’re having a rough day, of course, this will likely negatively affect your mood. In fact, in 2012 a team of researchers in the UK surveyed users, 53% of whom said social media had changed their behavior; 51% said it was negative behavior because of decline in confidence they felt due to unfair comparisons to others.

•  Social media makes us restless--

Out of the same sample as the above example, two-thirds admitted to having difficulty relaxing when unable to use their social media accounts.

• Social media glamorizes drug and alcohol use.

A study that explored the relationship between teenagers, social media, and drug use found that 70% of teenagers ages 12 to 17 use social media, and that those who interact with it on a daily basis are five times more likely to use tobacco, three times more likely to use alcohol, and twice as likely to use marijuana. In addition, 40% admitted they had been exposed to pictures of people under the influence via social media, suggesting a correlation between the two factors. Although a correlation is all it is, it makes sense that social media would amp up the amount of peer pressure to which teenagers are exposed.

• Social media can make us unhappy---

A study from the University of Michigan collected data about Facebook users and how it correlated with their moods. Simply put, they found that the more avid users were overall more unhappy than those who used the site less. Over more time, avid users also reported lower satisfaction in their lives overall.

 Social media can lead to fear of missing out, aka FOMO.

Fear of missing out is a phenomenon that occurs when you feel pressure to be doing what everyone else is doing, attend every event, and share every life experience. It can evoke anxiety and cause social media users to question why everyone is “having fun without them.” Surveys have even found that people feel insecure after using Pinterest because they feel that they aren’t crafty or creative enough. Facebook and Twitter can make people feel like they aren’t successful or smart enough.

Social media: how does it affect our mental health and well-being?

The need to be constantly available and respond 24/7 on social media accounts can cause depression, anxiety and reduce sleep quality for teenagers says a study being presented September 11, 2015, at a British Psychological Society conference in Manchester. The researchers, Dr HeatherCleland Woods and Holly Scott of the University of Glasgow, provided questionnaires for 467 teenagers regarding their overall and night-time specific social media use. A further set of tests measured sleep quality, self-esteem, anxiety, depression and emotional investment in social media which relates to the pressure felt to be available 24/7 and the anxiety around, for example, not responding immediately to texts or posts

Dr Cleland Woods explained: "Adolescence can be a period of increased vulnerability for the onset of depression and anxiety, and poor sleep quality may contribute to this. It is important that we understand how social media use relates to these. The evidence is increasingly supporting a link between social media use and well-being, particularly during adolescence, but the causes of this are unclear."

 Source ; BritishPsychological Society

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are now used by 1 in 4 people worldwide. Such activity may seem harmless, but some researchers suggest social media may affect our mental health and well-being.

In 2012, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that Facebook use may feed anxiety and increase a person's feeling of inadequacy.

A more recent study, led by social psychiatrist Ethan Crossof the University of Michigan, found that using Facebook may even make us miserable.

"On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection," says Kross. "But rather than enhance well-being, we found that Facebook use predicts the opposite result - it undermines it."

But are such claims exaggerated? Or should we be limiting our use of social media? Medical News Today looks at the evidence. Last year, Medical News Today reported on a study from researchers at the University of Missouri, which claimed that Facebook activity may be an indicator of a person's psychological health

In fact, the researchers believe that this viral spread of happiness is so strong that if magnified, it could trigger an "epidemic of well-being."

Social media causing scoliosis and Kyphosis

Scoliosishttp://neurosurgery.ufl.edu/

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine that can occur in any age group. Scoliosis is a coronal plane (i.e. side to side) deformity occurring in children, adolescents, and adults. Symptoms vary with age of onset and severity of the curvature; cosmetic problems including sitting imbalance, breathing difficulty or delayed development is common findings in infants and young children. A rib hump, pelvic or shoulder height imbalance tend to common in the adolescent group. Intractable back pain, sciatica, leg weakness or numbness and gait difficulty are common reasons for surgical correction in adults.

adolescent 

Idiopathic Scoliosis is the most common form of scoliosis, occurring in the 10 – 17 year- old patients. There is no identifiable cause for this disorder, and it varies greatly in it symptoms and severity. Decisions for treatment are based on the severity of the curvature, and progression or worsening of the curvature. This condition is typically not painful, except in the most severe cases and not associated with neurological deficits including lower extremity weakness or numbness. The majority of these conditions occur in the thoracic spine, below the neck and above the low back region. Scoliosis that was thought to be stable during adolescence and young adult life may worsen with the appearance of degenerative arthritis. This Neglected or Decompensated Scoliosis may become severely symptomatic in altering adult life.

Adult Degenerative Scoliosis is an increasing more common form of scoliosis which appears in adult life along with the onset of degenerative arthritis in the lumbar spine. These patients did not have Scoliosis as children. It worsens with age and is often associated with pain and nerve compression from spinal stenosis.

Kyphosis

Kyphosis is seen when a person’s spinal balance has moved too far forward to allow the spine to effectively carry the body weight without progressive deformity, pain or neurologic loss of function. Patients typically walk in a forward flexed posture being unable to stand up straight. This condition can also occur along with scoliosis causing Kyphoscoliosis.

Summary

I love social media. As with any communication medium, it comes with its ups and downs, pros and cons. Overall, I truly believe it makes the world a better place in many ways. It also gives a platform to some less savory behaviors and opinions. Each to his/her own, I suppose.

What about you? What else about social media has changed your life for the better? Did I miss any huge negatives that you see? Do you think the world is better or worse off with social networks?