Effects Of Social Media

Scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat are all the new ways of everyday life. However, not everyone realizes how much social media is affecting our emotion and physical health. In 2024, the average person spent 2.5 hours per day on social media which is over 900 hours in a year. This can really do intense damage to ones body. Here are some ways in which social media can be affecting your overall health.

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1. Rewires Your Brain

Social media apps are purposely designed to be addictive. All the likes, shares, or comments gives a hit of dopamine to your brain. Over time your brain craves this reward more and more, making it unable to enjoy small activities like reading.

2. Increases Anxiety

Seeing pictures or videos of everyone else's posts all day can make your life seem like it's not going as well. A study in JMIR Mental Health said that extensive usage of Instagram was positively linked with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety.

3. It Hurts Your Sleep

Blue light from phones stops your body from making melatonin. This addicting device makes it harder to wind down prior to bed. Poor sleep will have drastic effects on your mood and focus the next day.

4. Shortens Your Attention Span

Social media trains your brain to get new information every few seconds which makes it harder to focus on other, slower tasks. You will have a harder time doing everyday tasks like finishing a book or doing house chores. Microsoft discovered that the average attention span dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8 seconds in 2023.

5. Creates a False Sense of Connectedness

Social media often replaces extensive offline connection with immediate likes or emoji responses. This can create feelings of isolation if you're not getting significant offline interaction.

Ways To Fix It

• Try eliminating phone usage when eating and before bed.

• Limit screen time.

• Hide apps from your home screen.

• Disable non-important notifications.

• Replace scrolling with different activities such as reading a book, finishing a puzzle, etc.