Lots of people uses social media, it is estimated that around 40% of the population uses social media (BBC.com). Social media like Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok are used around the world and supplies many problems such as, the harming people’s well-being which can cause low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, addiction and can make people victims of cyberbullying. Currently, social media is a real issue in today’s world.
Social media affects the user’s self-esteem. “A 2016 study suggests that viewing other people’s selfies lowered users’ self-esteem by comparing themselves to photos of people looking the happiest (BBC.com).” This shows that people can easily be fooled by people on social media, they think that those people are living the best and looking the best when apps like photoshop exist. Also, social media has the risk of causing depression and anxiety. According to a survey in 2016 involving around 1,700 people, they have found out that triple that amount of people have a risk of depression and anxiety when using social media platforms (BBC.com). This exposes that social media has affected the community’s wellbeing by causing or worsening serious mental illness such as depression and anxiety, which can affect their everyday lives. In addition, social media has also affected people’s sleep. The blue light used in electronics has the worst impact on sleep, this is cause blue light stimulates the part of the brain that makes us feel alert, leaving users energized when it is time to get rest (sleepfoundation.org). This means that when people watch or scroll on social media platforms before going to bed, it can cause sleep problems.
Additionally, to those problems that social media has caused the addiction rate has also been worsening. According to C-hit.org, The face-to-face communication dropped from 49% to 32% in the last six years. This reveals that most people have been extremely attached to their phones that they would rather text than have a conversation, which could cause some social communication problems in the future. Also, it has been recorded that many people, mostly teens, have been harassed, threatened, or embarrassed on social media platforms (C-hit.org). Social media is thought to be used in a way that can help people express themselves, but why are these platforms so keen to harm its users? On top of that it has been said that 28% of middle and high school students have been victims of cyberbullying (C-hit.org). Social media is supplying a way for people to bully others, this alone could affect its user’s well-being on top of the other problems social media creates.
In conclusion, social media is a problem for society. It affects the well-being of people, causing or worsening mental illness such as depression and anxiety and causing other factors such as issues with sleep and addiction. Finally, it supplies a way for more bullying to occur around the world. Social media is an ongoing problem, but can be fixed if people are reasonable, respectful, and truthful on these sites.