Do Social Media Benefits Outweigh the Consequences?
Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. These are all popular social media platforms that many of us either use or are familiar with. But is that necessarily a good thing?
About 4.74 billion people use some form of social media and it’s no surprise that plenty of people get lured into these platforms. They were created to build connections and communicate with people far and wide and are often used as a form of entertainment and self-expression. This is how most people view their social media apps, but maybe they just need a change in perspective to realize that it isn’t all that good.
When listed out, there are many more consequences than benefits when it comes to online presence. Most of these negative impacts can be separated into three main categories: problems originating from social media, health concerns, and personal impact.
There are numerous problems with social media and it is difficult to believe that there was a time when they didn’t exist—when social media didn’t exist. Some of these issues include cyberbullying, unrealistic expectations, and peer pressure. Although a certain variation of these problems existed before social media, the intensity of these problems’ negative impact has skyrocketed.
Another factor to consider is health concerns. Within the past week, have you had a sore neck or back? Are your eyes sore? Any headaches? Have you felt extra drowsy? These are all side effects of using social media for a prolonged amount of time. Social media is also proven to increase rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. The majority of people don’t realize how much time they spend on their devices and the effect it has on their health. The average amount of screen time people spend on social media every day is 2 hours and 30 minutes. However, for teens (ages 13-18), the daily average shoots up to 7 hours and 22 minutes. Next time you’re on your phone, check your screen time. Is it a reasonable number?
The third category of negative effects from social media is personal impact, which I believe is the most important to focus on. Some aspects of life that social media can affect are self-esteem, social skills, relationships, implementation of bad habits, along with other aspects like family, sports, school, etc.
When you think about it, the list only gets longer from here. Are the benefits of social media worth what it is costing you?
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Aloha! Iʻm Auliʻi Anuenue Medeiros and am from the Kailua-Kaneohe area of the island. This year I am a senior and am excited for my first year with Ka Mōʻī. I chose to join this class because I have an interest in writing and wanted to see if journalism was the right path for me. Besides writing, I enjoy reading, listening to music, dancing, surfing, and doing all kinds of sports. Outside of school, you can often find me at the beach, working out at the gym, or just hanging out with friends and family. I am excited to be on this year’s Ka Mōʻī staff and am looking forward to all of the stories we are going to be able to share :)
