Few Negative Effects of Social Media

Introduction

Social media is everywhere; if we benefit from it on many levels, we also suffer negative consequences. Here are the main advantages and disadvantages they often have without our knowledge of our daily lives, relationships and mood.

Bullying and Harassment Online

Cyberbullying is one of the worst adverse effects of social media on people. This problem should not be taken lightly, as it can have serious consequences.

Indeed, cyberbullying can take several forms, such as the creation of false profiles, identity theft, the dissemination of unfounded rumours or the sending of messages of insults. These repeated attacks over the long term can take on significant proportions and directly impact the lives of victims.

In addition, these messages, photos and videos published and exchanged via large-scale digital channels leave traces even after the harassment stops. Adolescents are particularly affected by this phenomenon.

Negative: Spending Less Quality Time With Those You Love

With our mobile devices, social media is now accessible from anywhere. Therefore, it is elementary to live in the virtual and not in the present moment. For example, diners with friends or family gatherings are often altered by the community who are logged into their Facebook accounts instead of enjoying the activities. Feel free to try one of these easy ways to spend quality time with your family.

Negative: Information Relayed Too Quickly

With this new ease of access to information, we also need to do more serious work verifying data and facts about what we find on the Internet.

The information is accessible very quickly. But it is also straightforward to distribute all kinds of publications yourself without us being experts on a particular subject. It may then be that the information we find on social networks is not accurate.

Negative: Security and Privacy

Each of our Facebook “Likes”, the opinions of our friends or the videos we share are recorded, analyzed and… Sold. Thanks to metadata, advertising auctions show you the advertisement of a site you have previously visited. It’s also the data of hundreds of thousands of users that allows Netflix to suggest movies and series to you based on those watched by people who have the same user profile as you.

From the realm of individualism was born determinism. Enough to ask several questions about the future of this multitude of information collected and catalogues our tastes, habits, hobbies, and opinions … “We are much more predictable than we like to think,” says French sociologist Dominique Cardon.

The author of the essay entitled What Algorithms Dream Of. However, it is up to us to remain vigilant and to maintain a share of privacy on social networks. Because as the saying goes, “to live happily…”

Negative: Risks of Depression for a 24/7 Connection in Young People

A survey by Glasgow University in Scotland confirmed that depression looms over young people connected 24/7 on social media. Because they submit to crazy pressure to be available 100% of the time online on social networks, our teenagers risk depression, anxiety attacks or insomnia.

Many youths are not unique in this regard. Still, they are arguably one of the most at risk as young Canadians are the second most connected among G8 nations after those in the United Kingdom.

According to the study. Most teens are connected to the Internet all day on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Snapchat or Instagram platforms.

However, their attention is not monopolized by a single social network but often by three, four or even more. However, this dependence has repercussions on their health.

Negative: Spread of Negative Mood

According to a significant scientific study of more than a million Facebook users, messages with negative connotations could spread between users.

In this research, participants exposed to rain were more likely to post a message with a negative connotation related to these bad weather conditions.

In addition, the researchers observed that for anyone negatively affected by rain on social media. One to two people could also be affected by this adverse effect in the absence of bad weather conditions.

In this sense, the researchers hypothesize that social media could contribute to the spread of specific effects on a larger scale.