There are a myriad of reasons we’ve compiled to remind our student readers why it’s so important to manage and moderate the time they spend on social media. It’s a serious matter that needs to be addressed by each student with more care, even if they don’t want to. The truth is that social media and phone usage have some very harrowing effects on us.
It Affects Grades
Everyone, at least once in their lifetime, spent the precious time they needed to study on their phone. Procrastination is a real and very common issue. In such cases, a service like paperwriter will come in extremely handy. Missing the deadline is not an option, and flushing all the opportunities to learn isn’t either. That’s why we advise you to put a time limit on your favorite social media and keep yourself together.
Negatively Impacts Mental Health
If you need a reminder, social media and overuse of smartphones can negatively impact your mental health in more ways than one. And it’s been proven for those who want to remain skeptical. For example, the journal titled Social Media and Mental Health reveals the effects of Facebook after it first rolled out:
“We find that the rollout of Facebook had a detrimental impact on student mental health, and increased the probability with which students reported poor mental health which then caused their academic performance to plummet…”
This study is just one of the many studies done on this topic. While we appreciate the work of experts, we don’t need any more papers to tell us what we already know as the truth.
What they didn’t research, however, is the impact socials have on motivation. When you need to study, and all your motivation goes to checking Instagram, it can lead to irreparable implications. Of course, it’s easy to deal with temporary consequences by resorting to assignment help service and keeping up with the deadlines this way. But, in the long run, the main reason for motivation loss must be resolved.
Spending too much time on social media, or your phone in general, will affect your mental health in various negative ways. Like everything, if the consumption isn’t kept in moderation, it will typically be detrimental to your being.
What can this look like on a young student with an impressionable mind? Here are things to seriously consider:
Depression
Social media can cause depression. Most teenagers and young adults can find themselves comparing their lives, their bodies, and everything else to others online. Since social media offers them the chance to take a peek at other people’s lives, they might draw unrealistic comparisons to their own lives. If lacking, depression and a decrease in self-esteem can happen.
Warped self-image
Many influencers and people who are mega-present and make a living on social media tend to edit and beautify their pictures and videos to perfection. Young students with impressionable minds and those who aren’t aware of how much people edit their content can develop a warped self-image. Never feeling adequate to match the beauty they see on social media.
Exposure to toxic values
There is a lot of content on social media, and there are many toxic public figures who can easily expose teenagers to fake, superficial values that don’t translate into the reality of things. This could shape students’ beliefs about certain subjects negatively.
Bad coping mechanism/escapism
Lastly, students can use social media as a bad and habitual coping mechanism to escape real life. While escaping and indulging in a pleasurable activity online like gaming or chatting with your friends can be harmless and much needed on breaks, using them to escape reality for every hour of the day isn’t good.
Social media is an easy escape from all of life’s woes, but instead of developing strength of character and the maturity needed to navigate through life, students will develop not be able to cope with it if they choose to escape to the virtual world each time.
Wires You For Addiction
Phone addiction might not seem like a huge deal, but take your time to think of how much time we spend on our phones every single day. The hours that would accumulate at the end of a physical life would be staggering.
Social media is addicting, and it’s not just addicting because we say it is. They are designed by these large companies with the help of consumer psychology experts and even psychologists. Students should be aware of how valuable their attention and focus are.
Social media is also addicting because it triggers the brain to release dopamine when you receive notifications, get likes or views on your photos, and receive messages from people. And while dopamine is a naturally occurring hormone and neurotransmitter in your brain, the dopamine you get from using social media can be considered “fake.”
Dopamine typically releases in our brains when we achieve a goal, but the dopamine released when we get instantaneous gratification and validation online isn’t the same as achieving a goal.
Over time, we become addicted to this release of dopamine that comes with checking our socials. Now you decide, is that normal or a deep-seated addiction in its making?
Alienates You From The Real World
Of course, spending too much time on social media and your phone takes you away from the real world a great deal. Remember to go out and exercise, interact with nature, and see the world through your eyes and not through a screen.
Being on social media makes you lose touch with reality and keeps you sheltered in a bubble. Don’t forget to breathe and use your vitality for things outside of the virtual world.
Deteriorates Your Eyesight
Being on social media at all times also affects your eyesight and eye health. One way to avoid the harmful long-term effects of blue light is to make sure you reduce the blue light emitting from your screen. There are also glasses you can buy to filter blue light. You can also use warmer colors via settings.
Affects Your Attention Span
Social media platforms like Tiktok and Instagram feature short-lengthed content that you can easily scroll through for your entertainment. The problem with this is that getting used to digesting media and content this way can have a massive negative effect on your attention span.
Final Thoughts
It’s very alarming to sit down, read, and grasp the huge negative consequences a simple portal on our smartphones can do to us. We should be extremely mindful of how we use social media and our phones in general. If we don’t want to become completely enslaved by technology, then we’ll have to become more vigilant of our use of it.
