Social Media Addiction (FWS-100 Presentation)

Introduction

Social media is a technology platform that enables users to interact and share information, opinions, pictures, videos, and other media via an internet connection. An unhealthy reliance on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is known as social media addiction. Numerous theories exist on the true effects of social media addiction on the user and it is crucial to understand the potential side effects.

Risk factors

Risk factors

• Social media's unrealistic expectations for young people might harm their self-esteem and lead to anxiety disorders.

• Increased use of social media, particularly before bedtime, is linked to poor sleep quality in adolescents resulting in constant fatigue.

• Melatonin secretion irregularities due to harmful blue light emitted by devices causes a fake perception of reality thereby putting the brain in a state of constant activity

Productivity level, Morality level, & Apathetic level

Effects

• SMA has led to increased miscommunication and dissatisfaction in both personal and professional realms, resulting in poor well-being and declining productivity.

• Social media may contain violence, adultery, drugs, pornography, and other elements that are detrimental to the students' morale.

• In addition, people have become apathetic due to social media. Apathetic people are unconcerned about the needs of others or the events going on around them.

Links with Social Media Addiction

Links with SMA

• People with poor self-esteem will promote their ideal selves on social media in the hopes of receiving good feedback, which will increase their confidence. Similarly, social media becomes a safe space for people who avoid intimate relationships in order to avoid rejection.

• Cyberbullying and blackmail via social media result in depression and social withdrawal in the victim.

• Fear of missing out (FOMO) is known as the desire to experience for oneself what others are enjoying. As a coping mechanism, people with FoMO spend a lot of time on social media, continuously checking others' postings.

Social Media Addiction & Parent-Adolescent Relationships

SMA & Parent-Adolescent relationships

• High levels of global distress in the family is a significating predictor of SMA which indicates a lack of trust between the teenager and parents.

• Furthermore, a family that expects perfectionism from the adolescent creates tension in the adolescent, causing them to use social media to avoid stress.

• Parents who are concerned about their children's safety may appear controlling, resulting in conflicts between parents and adolescents who prefer to make their own decisions without the interference of a parental figure.

Parents with Social Media Addiction

• Parents who spend an excessive amount of time on social media sites end up neglecting their children leading to the children's mental health deteriorating.

• Parent-child relationships suffer as a result of children not wanting to talk about their concerns and parents gradually losing touch with what's going on in their child's life due to the negative influence that parents with SMA have on their children.

Tips for reducing the use of Social Media

• Make a list of what you are missing by spending too much time on social media.

• Use an app to block social media sites for a period of time each day.

• Have a plan and schedule for social media use.

• Try a social media vacation.

• Take up an offline hobby.

• Only access social media from one device in one location.