Contents
We got into Facebook in 2004, we watch YouTube videos for 17 years, we chirp on Twitter for 16 years, and since 2010 we have set up accounts on Pinterest and Instagram. Social media has already become part of our everyday life, 18 million Poles use it actively, and 16 million have it always at hand in their smartphones (according to Hootsuite and We Are Social).
- Social media has dominated our daily routine. We look at them after waking up, check what is happening there before falling asleep
- We click on posts for two to six hours a day, having – statistically speaking – 7,3 accounts (!) Per person
- Such a dose of the virtual world must influence the real one
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
Always online. Anka does not part with her smartphone
The average Brit checks the phone 28 times a day, compared to Anka it’s not much. She, like most of those surveyed by Ipsos for Huawei in 2018, would quit television if watching it meant leaving the smartphone (67 percent) and would not eat sweets for a month if she had to choose between them and the phone (72 percent). In the evening, just like 95 percent. Poles take a smartphone to the bedroom to use it at bedtime (66%), by correspondence with friends or browsing social networking sites. It also belongs to 11 percent. countrymen who put it under the pillow in the evening. In the morning she reaches for it as soon as she wakes up (51%) and takes it to the bathroom (28%). He has his phone with him for over 13 hours a day and uses it to be on social media (84%).
- Read also: Hand on the phone. What does addiction to the digital world look like?
Social media affects us more than you might think
Anka says that being involved in the virtual world does not negatively affect any aspect of her life. Meanwhile, long-term activity in social media brings with it dangers that we are often unaware of. They are listed in the annual summary of the American Bond Internet Trend and they are: addiction, depression, low self-esteem, FOMO (short for fear of missing out), decrease in the length and quality of sleep, eating disorders and disorders experiencing and remembering.
The British Royal Society for Public Health asked 14-24 year olds how social media influences their well-being. The survey results showed that the use of Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram leads to an increase in the feeling of loneliness, increased anxiety and denial of your own body. However, mental health does not end there. Experts warn that people who spend several hours a day on social media as teenagers by 10 percent. increase the risk of a heart attack, and by 15 percent. they will be more likely to develop diabetes.
Social media and mental health
The list of threats is long, and the more we sink into the virtual world, the more likely they will occur.
- Addiction
Spending time on social media every day can be addictive because it significantly affects brain chemistry. The notification tone on the phone triggers the release of dopamine, and repeating this situation over and over again can cause problems in the long term.
- Depression and anxiety states
According to recent studies, there is a strong correlation between the amount of time spent on social media and depression, especially among young people. The longer they stay on Facebook or Instagram, the more their mood lowers. Most accounts show carefully selected posts, showing only the attractive sides of life. Young people quickly “buy” these cute pictures, comparing themselves to their idols. From here it is only a step away from anxiety, sadness, depression … If watching the happiness of others gives us a headache, let’s try to turn off the phone after half an hour of activity. 30 minutes is the maximum common sense daily dose of social media.
Interesting data are provided by a 2018 study conducted on 1990 American volunteers belonging to Generation Z (born after 41). XNUMX percent confirmed that in the long run, social media causes them to feel anxious, depressed or deeply sad. Over a third declared that they would give up virtual activity for some time. After the period of “abstinence” ended, everyone praised the change. They claimed that the anxiety had subsided, their ability to concentrate improved, and they had a surprisingly large amount of free time.
- Self-esteem
Unwavering confidence is a myth. Each of us does not fully accept ourselves in some area. He talks about one openly, and he will not admit the existence of another. Comparing ourselves with friends on social media doesn’t usually make us feel better. Viewing professionally retouched photos on Instagram or checking Facebook statuses can be a hiccup.
A study by the University of Copenhagen showed that regular Facebook users suffer from “virtual jealousy”while those who rarely use this platform show a much higher level of acceptance.
– Basing self-esteem on comparing ourselves to others means that we will never be satisfied with ourselves, because what we are no longer depends on us. After all, we have no control over how others look or behave – explains psychologist Jolanta Urbańska.
- FOMO
The phenomenon is inextricably linked with social media and is just as rapidly growing in strength. This English abbreviation is used to describe the anxiety we feel at the fact that we missed something cool. Under the influence of FOMO, we check communicators every now and thenbecause maybe someone invites us to the cinema, or we nervously browse through reports to find out if our friends have gone to the pub when we are sitting at home. The more we launch applications, the more people we see who have a great time or do things that we weren’t involved in. Since we are not with them, the fear arises that they have forgotten us, that they have excluded us.
One student explains it this way: – For me, FOMO appears when I see photos from a party on my friend’s profile, about which I didn’t know anything … Then I feel terribly lonely and at the same time anxious.
- Sleep and nutrition
Using the phone just before bedtime makes it difficult to fall asleep. Social media steals our precious hours of leisure. Browsing Facebook in bed, even if we tell ourselves it’s only 5 minutes, often takes hours. Effect – sleepiness and apathy the next day.
– Getting excited about what we see in social media stimulates the brain and as a result we stop feeling sleepy – says Jolanta Urbańska. – In addition, the smartphone screen shining right next to the face can inhibit the release of melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness.
For those who have a problem with choosing between social media and sleep, We recommend that you do not touch the phone for at least 40 minutes before going to bed. After a few days of self-sacrifice, sleep quality should improve.
It is the same with food. Let’s think how many times we used Messenger during a meal, which as a result we didn’t eat because we were running out of time.
- Memorizing
Social media often provide us with the so-called memories. Facebook displays posts almost every day about events we were once involved in. It turns out many times that we do not remember them. Why? Because instead of focusing on the experience, we spent our time trying to take the perfect photo, and when we decided to share it, our brain was flooded with information from social media.
– If we focus on looking for a shot that will delight our followers, we close ourselves to real-time experience – emphasizes Jolanta Urbańska. – Staring at the phone screen cuts us off from the present moment and makes it unforgettable.
Is it an addiction?
Addiction to social media is not yet included in the official classifications of diseases. Therefore, specialists do not have diagnostic indicators. So what criteria should we use to find out if and with what threats our virtual activity is connected? Marta Boczkowska, a health psychologist, introduces the problem.
– As the American social psychologist, Elliot Aronson, said, man is a pack animal, belonging to a group makes him happy, gives him strength. Now it’s easiest to find the herd on social media. Likes stimulate our reward system, which in turn causes the production of a neurotransmitter – dopamine – responsible for motivational processes, the regulation of emotions and the feeling of pleasure.. We feel rewarded, we feel that we belong to a group that likes and appreciates us. Social media takes care of what we lack in the real world.
We often find social media compared to cocaine.
– This is a mistake, because we are not dealing here with a physiological dependence on a specific substance, but a behavioral one, on an activity – explains the psychologist.
- Read also: What are behavioral addictions?
At some point, a warning light should light up in your head.
– For example, if we stumble at home or on the street, because instead of looking ahead, we check Facebook – says Marta Boczkowska. – When we do not eat dinner for the same reason, we do not fall asleep at night, and the situation repeats itself. A warning signal is always neglecting some important area of our life, be it work or relationships with loved ones.
Only one thing can be done in response to such a red light.
– Turn off the internet and watch yourself … For a week, for example. If they appear withdrawal syndromes, i.e. we become nervous, we have a depressed mood, we feel the so-called phantom vibrations (we think that the phone vibrates in our pocket or purse, and it is not so), we are tempted to launch applications for a whilethen it is worth going to a specialist – psychotherapist or psychiatrist. I would like to emphasize that the problem is complex because the sources of addiction are different. Research shows that generation after generation we are getting more and more narcissistic. Therefore, if compulsive posting of photos on Facebook serves to raise our self-esteem, we are unlikely to help ourselves – says Marta Boczkowska.
It is also always worth using a real support network, such as talking to your loved ones.
Give your life for a selfie
Young users of social media often take online success as a benchmark for their life choices. In order to impress their virtual friends, they undertake the most risky activities.
Everyone has heard of “killer selfies”, the result of a race for as many likes and shares as possible. We are excited about photos shot in extreme situations, right in front of an oncoming train or on the edge of a skyscraper’s roof. It is hard to imagine that in 2011–2017, 259 people died while trying to take such a selfie (according to the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care).
Live broadcasts are another deadly challenge for Internet users. The combination of alcohol, fast driving and Instagram for two young Ukrainian women ended tragically. And the pursuit of fame by a pair of Minnesota high school students resulted in murder. The teenager shot her boyfriend while he tried to stop the bullet … with a book. The girl was accused of manslaughter.
– I remember that two or three years ago in Łódź, a young girl burst onto the road at a red light, right in front of an oncoming car – says aspirant Marzanna Boratyńska from the Łódź highway. – And it all started with taking a selfie before moving on. In the hospital, they barely saved her, she underwent a long rehabilitation. Later, I spoke to her parents who said that their daughter learned a lifetime.
On the road, hands off the phone
The Polish police do not keep statistics of road incidents caused by activity in social media. While the problem is noticed.
– It is difficult for drivers to prove that their involvement on the social platform contributed to the accident, but our observations show that especially in the red light cycle, many check what is going on e.g. on Facebook – adds the aspirant Marzanna Boratyńska. – Also witnesses of accidents often report such suspicions. This is not as common as talking on a cell phone without using headsets, but it does happen.
By far the most dangerous thing is to use all kinds of communicators behind the wheel. It has been shown to reduce the brain’s driving activity by as much as 37 percent. Traffic law restricts drivers from using cell phones, but says nothing about pedestrians. However, we can look at the 2017 data collected in the US.
- about 660 thous. drivers uses the phone every day while driving,
- 1 in 4 accidents is caused by texting while driving – according to National Safety Council data, this is 1,6 million per year,
- accident caused by the use of instant messaging is 6 times more probable than an accident under the influence of alcohol,
- in accidents related to the use of smartphones, there are 390 thousand injuries annually,
- as a result of distraction, the driver dies during this time 3 people.
It also found that US high school students who text messages while driving were less likely to wear seat belts, more likely to drive and drive after drinking alcohol. More than half of the accidents among adolescents are due to the distraction associated with using social networking applications.
- Read also: Poles are drinking more and more alcohol
Sending messages while driving increases your distraction time by 400 percent. When the driver is typing, he is not looking at the road for about five seconds and, driving at 55 km / h, covers a distance equal to the length of a football field during this time.
In the United States, a separate category has already been introduced into the statistics: pedestrian accidents related to the use of telephones. In 2000, there were 500 events there, and in 2011 over 2000. For 80 percent injuries correspond to falls resulting from staring at the smartphone screen.
Teenagers also lead in the ‘pedestrian intrusion’ category, and the deaths of people aged 15–19 in the US now account for half of all pedestrian deaths.
The editorial board recommends:
- «Marshmallow, kabanos sausages, a jar of matias, spaghetti with ketchup – that’s what I remember …» Bulimic nightmare
- When the body becomes a toy
- Workaholism and psychotherapy – how to deal with work addiction?