Why has it become so important that we consistently post and share before taking physical care of ourselves? People are putting social media before their priorities. And nobody seems to be living in the moment as everyone is snapping almost everything they do for the ‘memories’. I think it’s okay to take pictures to remember certain things, but revolving everything around your Snapchat or Instagram would just be a waste of time and you would end up forgetting the little things that most probably mattered the most. Social media is no longer real.
Social media was designed to allow people to share content quickly and efficiently. But some of the biggest factors of Instagram now include cyberbullying, unrealistic expectations such as body image, and social media influencers. According to the I-SAFE foundation, over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying. As for any form of bullying, this can lead to things like depression, anxiety, anger, humiliation, isolation, and suicidal thoughts. Children that are constantly tormented by peers through social media and other outlets often begin to feel hopeless. They may even begin to feel like the only way to escape the pain is through suicide. Therefore, every year around 750 Australian teens between the ages of 13 and 17 commit suicide because of cyberbullying.
A social media influencer is a user on social media who has taken credit for a certain achievement or trend in a specific industry. These influencers normally have access to many ‘followers’ and can easily persuade others by virtue of their authenticity. On most social media platforms (such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok) there are these influencers who gain lots of followers and basically become a celebrity. Others tend to look up to these people as role models and they try to change who they are to be more like them. This type of situation usually involves younger kids but still has a big impact as to why it causes more harm than good. People tend to think influencers are celebrities, but it’s not close at all as they may be famous, but celebrities are not necessarily using their platforms to influence their followers. The dark side of social media influencers is how they make others feel. It generally can make people feel insecure, this is where negative body image comes in. As you may have seen most social media platforms have an explore page that gathers a bunch of popular accounts that may seem relevant based on the accounts and hashtags they follow. Sometimes you will also have ads that pop up that are mostly promotions for things such as ‘fat blasters’, ‘tummy tucks’, and so on. All of the ads show a negative side of body image, and when people see this, it can make them feel as if they need to have that certain figure to be considered beautiful or handsome. The truth is everyone is perfect in their own ways, and we should not have this promoting just one body image that’s considered ‘perfect’ but show all body types to spread the love.
Nowadays, hackers are smarter and are constantly searching for victims. Most social media sites have information stored such as your birthday and email address. This is how identity thieves tend to gather personal information. They hack their victims’ email accounts by simply using the personal information that is available on social media profiles, even if it says you are the only one who has access to this personal information, the ‘forgot password’ is one of the many ways hackers take down your details, and once they gain access your email account, they could have access to all of your personal information. Social media sites use mobile locations that are based on services to allow users to check in wherever they are. This shows the user’s current location to anyone who makes the effort to track them. The information posted can be easily used by people to track your whereabouts. Therefore, you should not tell people where you are, or where you are going, etc., as it can alert thieves and other criminals. To avoid these massive risks, you should avoid using location-based services, even if you were to use a VPN, as it may have been created by a hacker, which in most cases they are.
In conclusion, social media has more negatives than positives, and it reduces productivity. The time you spend on social media is increasing, and the average person spends about 2 hours and 22 minutes on these networks a day, which is a lot, and the majority are teens and young children. It is a waste of our days, especially if you are still in school, as you have already spent 6 hours of your day being educated. Social media is a distraction from things such as homework and valuable moments. It has become a living source for so many people and just to think what our future generations hold…