The Social Media Stronghold

“Social media is an advertisement for the superficial extroverted self.”

Hozier

No one can deny the fact that social media (SM) has become an integral part of our everyday lives.

With the passing of each day, this staple in modern society continues to advance in its capabilities and makes the sharing of news, content, and media very much instantaneous.

Its ubiquity can sometimes serve as an escape from our real lives, or can prove to be distractive and overwhelming.

So today, we will be looking at 3 interesting ways in which long-term social media usage can negatively affect us. But before we get into it….

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That aside, let’s get ready to temporarily disconnect from the world. Here are the negative effects of extensive social media uses.

#1. Compulsive Comparison

It’s no secret that comparison is the thief of joy. Likewise, it’s no secret that social media almost always draws out the need for us to compare our lives to others.

Whether it’s some big-wig celebrity, someone you graduated high school with, or just your everyday Joe, Sally, or Sue, you find yourself trapped in this constant state of likening.

Now, there are primarily two ways in which this state of “comparison-paralysis” can go.

The first being as an authentic brand of motivation. You scroll down your feed and see that an old school mate just got married in Hawaii or that someone you know started their own business and is flourishing.

Upon noticing these things, you start to feel a sense of excitement and joy for those individuals and begin paying more attention to what’s going on in your personal life.

You can use their “success” to fuel your ambition and make things happen for yourself. You can develop this “Well if he or she can do it, I can do it too “ attitude.

Which by all means is not bad at all. The second way is more common among long-term SM users, and it serves as a form of projected criticism and resentment.

The resentment part of it becomes more common overtime. From behind the comfort of your screen, you begin making wise-cracks, calling out individuals for their past, and calling them some of the worst things imaginable.

You may go so far as to comment something shady or drop a snide remark under their photo or status.

What started out as a simple scrolling session through your feed has turned into a legit roast-fest. And for what?

You’re now so accustomed to using so much energy to pay close attention to what’s going on in others people’s lives that you don’t realize that you’re becoming bitter, disgruntle, and miserable in the process.

You start forgetting that you too have your own life to live. And you aren’t gonna accomplish much by sitting around comparing lifestyles with people (who are 9 times out of 10 already successful or completely irrelevant anyway.

You have to come to the realization that people normally post only what’s going right in their lives.

They hardly ever mention the many internal struggles and external conflicts.

I don’t care how much peopled liked their pic, their life isn’t perfect. So, stop comparing and start working!

#2. Anxiety

So here you are posting a pic, a meme, updating your status or tweeting your thoughts on something.

And you somehow find yourself waiting and yearning for a group of people to come along and react to you did.

It seems harmless given the fact that sharing, liking, viewing, re-posting, and retweeting content is the basis of SM.

However, over a prolonged usage of social media you begin to develop a dependency on the reaction/engagement of others.

It makes you feel uneasy if something you did online did not get the type of attention/feedback/acclaim you were hoping for.

And although very common, this type of behavior can be destructive in nature. It’s a level of anxiety that you really do not need in your life. You’re becoming overly concerned with how others perceive your actions.

(When in reality, their perception of you is and was never your concern to begin with – but that’s an entirely different post within itself).

Additionally, you may sometimes feel as if your self-worth or the merit of what you’re doing is tantamount to the number of likes, retweets, shares, or views you receive.

Which is not the case at all! Stop attributing the currency of social media to the value of your life – it’s toxic. Stop seeking validation and approval online from a bunch of impersonal faces behind a LED screen.

Seriously, life already gives us enough reason to worry outside the realms of social media. Be content with you’re doing, what you’re putting out there online, and keep it moving.

#3. Weakens Your Ability to Think For Yourself

As soon as some major story breaks out, SM becomes flooded with a cesspool of comments from individuals all over the world.

And far too many times we consume these comments and conceive them to be the unadulterated truth, without so much as taking the situation into consideration for ourselves.

We sometimes forget that we too have the innate ability to form our own opinion and stand by it.

Hell, sometimes we may be too afraid to receive backlash from others because of what we genuinely think about an event, celebrity, idea, etc. Especially if the source of the backlash is a fandom of some sort.

Nevertheless, you have every right to take a step-back from the noise in the market, digest the situation for what it is, and come to your own consensus.

And if your opinion is unpopular among the masses, so be it. Who are a bunch of online trolls and total strangers to tell you what’s right from what’s wrong?

Now, there’s nothing wrong with getting several opinions from different sources (your favorite YouTube channel, radio podcast, etc.) but, don’t allow said opinions to overshadow the one that matters most – your own.

All in all, own your opinions, own your truth, and get into the habit of using your own brain.

Final Thoughts

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with keeping-up with what’s going on in the world around you.

There’s nothing wrong with using social media to kill some time and catch up the latest memes.

However, learn how to periodically take a break from all the excessive information trafficking your devices.

Otherwise, you’ll find yourself becoming resentful, worried over nothing, and sheepish in thinking. Get out of your screen every now and then and focus on you and what you want to accomplish.

Start that business plan, go back to school, start that exercise regime, finish that paper, and be great. Know that you have the power and the right to disable the resonance of reality.

As always, take care of yourselves. Put your health and needs first. And continue to be your best, unapologetic self. Love you guys!

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