Introduction
Using social media is an essential part of everyday life nowadays. It helps educate, get new information, and find friends and acquaintances. Social media is also essential for the workplace: organizing advertising, finding employees, and growing a reputation. However, it can also lead to changes in real life and interfere with socialization at university or work. Prolonged use of social media could have adverse effects on relationships.
Social Anxiety and Depression
Prolonged use of social media can cause social anxiety and depression. These are severe disorders characterized by a decline in interest in world events and a loss of empathy for others. These effects develop because a person desires social approval online rather than in real life. The human brain cannot distinguish between helpful and harmful habits, so addiction to social networks can be as dangerous as smoking or drug addiction. A person’s dopamine and endorphin production occurs, so without social media, withdrawal begins, and moods deteriorate dramatically.
Prolonged use of social media is not a healthy activity (neither physical nor mental), leading to sleep disturbances, feelings of loneliness, and disconnection from reality. Some studies report that eliminating social media leads to reduced symptoms of depression and reduced feelings of loneliness (Hunt and Young 761). Likely, a gradual reduction in the frequency of social media use will avoid the development of depression.
Personal Relationships
Prolonged use of social media can negatively affect personal relationships and lead to problems. In addition to feeling lonely, one does not feel connected to real people. A study by Christensen reports that the quality of interpersonal relationships is significantly reduced (24). In addition, Christensen points out that this may be due to increased negative emotions experienced in social networks (24). These emotions are involuntarily released on loved ones, and there is a problem that relationships no longer bring the same joy.
Dependence on social media also manifests in a decreased sense of attachment to a loved one: the relationship is no longer an essential part of life. For example, after spending much time on social networks, people do not have time to make gifts for their loved ones, and the relationship collapses. There is a misunderstanding about why time on social media is more critical than personal interactions and family building.
Separation from the Loved Ones
Prolonged use of social media also leads to estrangement from loved ones because real life is uninteresting and seems pointless. Social media offers many harmful tips and habits that harm relationships with loved ones. For example, the culture of adult children canceling on their parents for some unreliable reason. It can arise from social media trends or movements that promote detachment from the family.
The opposite can also happen, where parents spend so much time on social media (including work relationships) that they have no time for their children. Children experience anxiety and sadness, and parents gradually become estranged from them, resulting in children disconnecting from relatives as adults. It was approved that individuals who spend little time online try to keep in touch with family and find it safer than social media (Winstone et al. 14). Consequently, prolonged media use can lead to alienation and withdrawal from real-life loved ones.
Conclusion
Thus, social media can be helpful but also adversely affect real-life interactions. First, prolonged use leads to pronounced symptoms of loneliness, social anxiety, and depression. Second, researchers found that there is a decrease in the quality of personal relationships and neglect of one’s partners. Third, social media can exacerbate family and relatives’ interactions, and a person becomes estranged from their loved ones.
Works Cited
Christensen, Spencer Palmer. Social Media Use and Its Impact on Relationships and Emotions. 2018. Brigham Young University, Master thesis.
Hunt, Mellisa G. and Young, Jordyn. “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression”. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, vol. 37, no. 10, 2018, pp. 751-768. Web.
Winstone, Lizzi, et al. “Social Media Use and Social Connectedness Among Adolescents in The United Kingdom: A Qualitative Exploration of Displacement and Stimulation”. BMC Public Health, vol. 21, no. 1736, 2021. Web.