Harmful Effects Of Social Media

Harmful Effects of Social Media Social media started in the late 20th century and became popular in early 21st century. Almost everyone is a user of social media sites. The creation of Facebook in 2004 brought about the craze in social media usage. There were other social media sites that had similar ideas such as SixDegrees, which began in 1997, LiveJournal, Friendster and MySpace, which started in 1999, 2001 and 2003 respectively. These sites have injected and changed communication online (Siapera 202). Social media was created with the purpose of allowing users to create, download and share content, to publish their profile and personal information and to connect with others (Siapera 202). However, social media these days are being misused

Users prioritise superficiality above all else. As a result, fellow users post the latest luxurious goods or sumptuous meals that they just had on their social media accounts, the user feel a need to match up to those standards before it is worth posting (Dittmar 189). Sense of inferiority is induced when users do not possess such luxurious goods and they think that they are not as good as their friends when they do not own these items (Dittmar 188). They feel a need to own luxurious goods as everyone else is having it and they are afraid that they will face peer rejection for not owning a branded item (Dittmar 194). Social media distorts the sense of happiness experienced by users. Users will only be happy when they have many friends and followers on their social media accounts and when their posts garner attention from their friends and followers. Users only see happy news posted by their friends in their social media accounts and whenever they are feeling sad, they think that they are abnormal when in fact, it is perfectly fine to feel sad occasionally. The true value of friendship is degraded with the widespread usage of social media. Users want to be friends with individuals who are popular and influential on

Users should share their information discreetly and be aware of the users who can have access to it. By knowing who has access to their information, users can prevent getting into situations that are disadvantageous to them. By not sharing too many personal details about themselves, users allow themselves to have their own personal space and privacy. Social media changes user values as they are affected by social media greatly and place great emphasis on materialistic items rather than focusing on the companion of their friends. Users are superficially judged and not appreciated by who they really are and for their character. Users should know that social media is a virtual world and regulate the amount of time spend on it. Apart from knowing what their friends are doing online, users must also understand the importance of friends who are physically with them (Green and Haddon 101). Users should prioritise their tasks and know what is important to them to prevent being over immerse in social media (Siapera