How Social Media Affects Our Daily Lives

Let's face it: We're all on social media. It's a part of our daily routine, taking up hours of our waking life and contributing to our comfort.

Take a look at your phone right now. What are you doing? What do you have open? What links are you clicking on? Those aren't necessarily productive, but they still take up your time. What about your messages? They're all from people you know, or at least think you know. You have a few messages from people you went to high school or college with, but you're certainly not keeping up with those. What about your news feeds? You see everything from cat videos to click bait to political posts, all of which are tailored specifically to you. What time is it of course, because you're constantly checking to see if it's time to go to sleep yet.

Most people spend so much time on their phones nowadays, that it has practically replaced the need for sleep. It's rare to go more than a few minutes without seeing some sort of social media activity. Whether it's Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, you're always seeing something about what everyone else is doing. You're able to remain in constant contact with old friends and family, and you're also able to stay up to date on major events, that happen in the world around you. It's all so convenient, and it's made social media so accessible. We've created a whole new world, a world without consequences.

Social Media's Impact On Our Minds And The World

There have been a few studies on the effect, that social media has had on people. One study found, that teenagers who spent more time on social media had weaker social skills. It also showed, that these teenagers had more troubles relating to other people. This lead to less contact with real people, which can ultimately lead to a decrease in happiness.

Another study gave students a Facebook account and monitored their usage. They found, that the more time users spent on the site, the more they were inclined to post about themselves and their lives. They also found that this usage had a negative effect on well being. The more users posted, the less happy they were. This could be due to the fact, that the more people who post, the more boring and depressing the world seems.

This also causes a polarization of the world. Those who are into the same things as the user will start to dislike other people. Those who are against them will dislike the user as well. This effect can be combatted by using an anonymous account, but then you're not contributing to social media at all.

The world doesn't really need more boring people on it. The world needs more interesting people. We need to talk to each other instead of being afraid. Stop being scared of what other people think. Stop wasting your life away on a thing, that you could be using to your advantage. You are not your profile picture. You are more, than just an internet handle. You have a crazy amount of potential just waiting to be unlocked, don't let some dumb website hold you back.

Social Media Creates Emotions In Users

You're always seeing what your friends are doing. If they're laughing, then you'll probably feel good. If they're fighting, then you'll probably feel disturbed. If they're sad, then you'll probably feel for them. If they are on a holiday, that you can only dream of, then you'll probably be jealous. It's a toxic emotion machine, and we've all become addicted to it.

Sure, we get entertainment, laughs, and sometimes even useful information, but what are we really getting out of it? What has it really given us? It seems like we can only truly be contacted on these media. We can't just sit down and talk to one another anymore, not face to face. Seriously I have seen it before. People send messages to each other in the same household, when they are in separate rooms. It's really sad.

Time Consuming Unproductive Hours

I don't know about you, but I would rather spend my time doing productive things. Instead of staring at a screen, that primarily caters to entertainment. I'm not being entertained. I'm being wasted. To be honest with you I don't really care what kind of challenges people are doing or how they dance on Tik Tok. The more I think about it, the angrier I am. People think their time is so important, that they need to waste their day away on a stupid app, because they're pissed at their boyfriend/girlfriend or some other stupid reason. Sorry for my language. They could be doing so much more with their lives!

Bullying Through Social Media

It all starts with a news share or a political point of view. You see something on social media, or are just exposed to it in some other way. You see something you don't agree with, so you comment. Now this includes anything you find offensive. Religion, race, gender and other biases can result in comments. The thing is, people like to argue and they like to be offensive. You give them a reason and they'll start a flame war.

You don't really know this person that you are arguing with. You could be saying something horrible, that you believe to be true. Once the bullying starts it's easy to get lost in the comments. You can start to get angry at other people for what they say, rather than focusing on the original issue. Any criticism of a certain group of people can result in a warzone of hate.

I have seen lots of arguments really serious ones too. I don't think any of us are truly different, when it comes to raging at people on the internet. It's definitely not normal, but I think most of us have done it at one point. At first it's just words, but then it becomes hateful and others see it and it becomes bullying.

Bullying can lead to so much more, than just an argument on social media. Bullying can lead to real life consequences, which is why it's so important to stop it before it starts.

Not All Social Media Is Bad

I understand, that we can't all be on these sites all the time, but we should use them when we can. Not everything is as bad as people make it out to be. Take for example Reddit.com. This website is filled with niche communities. People can find whatever it is that they're interested in. There's even message boards and wiki's for some of the lesser known communities. Even though I'm not a part of any communities on there, I still go there to read the news sometimes.

Niche communities can be really beneficial to people, who are into specific things. Take for example Fantasy Football. You probably know someone, who is really into this sport. They have a few friends, that are in to it as well. The only thing the friends know about the person, who is really into it is their username. All of them are new to the sport and all of them are interested in it.

Wouldn't it be nice, if there was a place where they could go to learn more about it before meeting up? A place that allows people to discuss the ins and outs of the sport with each other? Wouldn't it be even better if this place had actual Fantasy Leagues? A place, where people can meet with other users ahead of time to set up a league and schedule games would be fantastic.

Now let's take our Read and Noise.Cash sites. These are social media sites after all. I have never experienced any negative things or bullying on these sites, in fact I am truly enjoying my time reading different articles, interacting with people and making new friends. So the point is, that there are useful social media sites out there, we just have to find them and use it as it should be used.

Thank you for reading!