The Make-Believe World Of Social Media: The Trends And Adverse Effects

Social media is considered the most significant invention of the 21st century. The time and effort people spend on social media these days indeed prove to us that social media has become an unavoidable part of human lives.

Social media was conceived as a platform for better communication. They replaced all conventional communication methods like letters, phone calls, etc. Soon, they opened the door to immense possibilities.

You can now interact with anyone and everyone with the help of a simple smartphone through social media. The boundaries have melted, and the location of the person you interact with has become no matter at all.

Social media platforms have occupied a much more significant role in modern lives. It has transformed from a mere communication tool to a self-validation tool. People give high importance to the number of Instagram likes and followers. Reputed social media growth agencies like BuzzVoice and SocialShaft extend advanced assistance to those users who aim to boost their social media visibility. In short, social media has become the highest on the list of today's population.

Popular Social Media Platforms

Over 58% of the global population uses various social media applications daily. These applications handle a variety of elements like entertainment, news, communication, etc.

Some of the most popular social media applications of the current day include:

• Facebook: About 3 million users
• WhatsApp: 2 billion users
• YouTube: About 2.2 million users
• Instagram: 2 billion users
• Snapchat: 538 million users
• TikTok: 1 billion users
• Pinterest: 444 million users

Social media, in all senses of the phrase, has made the world into a melting pot of cultures. But with all the blessings come the banes, too. One of the significant issues that the current generation struggles with is social media addiction.

Social Media Addiction: What is it?

People have been using social media to kill time for a long time. These platforms are convenient and easy to access. Thus, people find it easy to spend leisure time in them.

But what began as some harmless entertainment time grew to be alarming in recent years. People have started spending hours, days, and weeks on social media without a sense of time.

The term social media addiction was coined recently with the significant rise in the number of people being overly engaged in social media.

Social media addiction is considered a behavioral addiction. It refers to the overuse of social media platforms. The extreme use of such platforms slowly creates a compulsive feeling to use them. When addicted people cannot spend much time on social media, their behavior tends to be obsessive and aggressive.

It does not mean everyone using social media becomes addicted to the platform. Just like any other habit, social media can also remain within a healthy level. But in some users, they progress to an unhealthy level.

The Harmful Effects of Social Media Addiction

Once the social media addiction kicks in, people find it pretty challenging to control their social media use. They feel a compulsive need to be engaged in the platforms as much as possible. Worldwide, 210 million people struggle with social media addiction.

Some serious adverse effects can happen as part of social media addiction.

Some of them are as follows.

• Depression and anxiety
• Low self-esteem
• Loneliness and a sense of isolation
• Social anxiety
• Sleep issues
• Poor work or study performance
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of focus and concentration
• Low physical activities and resultant obesity, etc.

Although the physical effects of social media addiction are severe, the mental effects are terrifying. Social media addiction can wreck the entire social life of a person. The mental health impact created by social media addiction is highly alarming.

Social Media Addiction and Mental Health

Mental health concerns have always been a part of the social media era. Children and young adults are the primary users of all social media platforms. The lack of mature use or moderating social media quickly pushes many users to addiction and related mental health issues.

Depression and suicidal rates have increased among social media users at disturbing rates. The make-believe world of social media instills unreal expectations in most users. People start comparing their lives to the reel lives of others on social media.

The feeling of not being popular enough or attractive enough causes the growth of negative thoughts in many social media users. Because of this insecurity, they start putting in all their time and effort to build a pleasing social media image.

People spend significant amounts of money and time perfecting their posts, reels, etc., and attracting more followers. For most of them, the number of likes and followers on social media is highly validating of their self-worth.

The fear of being left out of the famous lot on social media is another critical mental health issue faced by social media addicts. They expect to be liked by a maximum number of people and hope to be needed for all the good things on the platform. When they don't get the attention they need, depression and other mental health issues start creeping in.

Even the number of likes people get on social media can trigger mental health issues in users. Comparing the likes and followers of others with themselves and feeling inadequate and depressed is, unfortunately, a common occurrence in the social media world.

Social Media Addiction: Way Forward

The best way to handle social media addiction is to realize that the perfect world shown on social media is not indeed perfect. It is just a part of the users' lives.

No one posts their entire life on social media. Most of them pick the best and most pleasing aspects of their lives to put up on social media. So, it is not at all fine to consider social media lives perfect and compare them with your real life. Everyone has many ups and downs in their lives.

Another important thing is to avoid buying likes and followers from illegal dealers. It not only spoils your reputation online but can also cost significant money.

If the numbers matter to you, buying Instagram likes, and followers from reputed brands like BuzzVoice and SocialShaft is advisable. These trustworthy dealers save you significant time from spending them on social media by providing you with enough likes and followers to boost your self-esteem.

The most significant understanding you must have while using social media is that the connections and relations are not real enough to replace your real life. Those are just numbers that matter only to the algorithms. Real life is much superior to those numbers, and you are responsible for spending your time on real and valuable things.

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