The Student Room Group

Is Social Media bad for us?

[video="youtube;cbQc19S5MnQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbQc19S5MnQ[/video]
For me, I've always thought that social media is bad and that social media has a negative impact on us, but I wanted to explore why social media is bad in this video, based on the points raised in the social dilemma film. In this video I explore why social media is killing us and why I don't like social media as a whole. I feel like social media allows us to present an entirely different life to the one that we are living and it can be a key factor in why people are becoming more disconnected rather than it's original purpose of connecting us. Social media does allow us to create unrealistic expectations of each other and of ourselves, our every day lives and ultimately can be a key contributing factor to how social media makes you depressed. It's very easy to get caught up in the numbers and with it being easier than ever to become an 'influencer' and topics like "how to grow on social media" becoming ever more popular, it can have the ultimate negative impact and social media can ruin relationships rather than build them.

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Social media is certainly a reason for the impending downfall of society and reduction of productivity in the workforce.
See, I'm on here instead of reading classical literature or studying chemistry as I should be. In fact computers/internet/phones are all the problem.
Reply 2
Original post by Anonymous
Social media is certainly a reason for the impending downfall of society and reduction of productivity in the workforce.
See, I'm on here instead of reading classical literature or studying chemistry as I should be. In fact computers/internet/phones are all the problem.

Couldn't agree more, social media and all the things you mentioned are surely the number 1 procrastination source and stop us from doing things we should be, which reminds me, read your classical literature 😂😜
Social media increases depression, anxiety, self esteem issues, vanity. It keeps us in a dumbfound state makes it easier to control by the establishment. Social media is leading to a downfall in society.
It has its positives but ultimately, I feel like it’s had more of a negative impact on society as opposed to a positive one. Stuff like whatsapp is great but stuff like Facebook and Instagram probably aren’t doing anyone any good
Original post by Anonymous
Social media is certainly a reason for the impending downfall of society and reduction of productivity in the workforce.
See, I'm on here instead of reading classical literature or studying chemistry as I should be. In fact computers/internet/phones are all the problem.

Without social media you'd be reading literature and studying chemistry a lot more? I don't think so, there would still be tv, computer games, and recorded music to distract you. I agree the easy access to entertainment is reducing our productivity and imagination but this was happening before social media.
Reply 6
Original post by Mr T 999
Social media increases depression, anxiety, self esteem issues, vanity. It keeps us in a dumbfound state makes it easier to control by the establishment. Social media is leading to a downfall in society.


Yes, it can have a very negative impact on us as a whole. The world is so different with social media in it!
Social media cannot be described in simple terms like good and bad. A better question is "Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?" and even then the answer will be different depending on the social media platform in question. For example, consider LinkedIn vs Facebook.

Social media as a whole certainly comes with its own set of drawbacks. But it's not a universally negative thing.
Social media isn't "killing" anyone. I don't know how you can say that whilst making money from YouTube by creating content.

I don't have any social media for personal use because I find it so dull. I am someone who is very careful about how I spend my time. We all "waste" time, that's inevitable. But it can be wasted productively. Some platforms are good for wasting time in ways that is 'productive' - yes, that is possible. Others not so much.
Yes, especially Facebook. Tittok is no better. These websites influence an image on life that one would need to be successful and therefore it is bad for our mental health.
Original post by AcseI
Social media cannot be described in simple terms like good and bad. A better question is "Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?" and even then the answer will be different depending on the social media platform in question. For example, consider LinkedIn vs Facebook.

Social media as a whole certainly comes with its own set of drawbacks. But it's not a universally negative thing.

Absolutely, I agree. My personal view is that social media can be great for sharing your work and generating passive income. Social media isn't as bad as people make it seem or as good as people hope it is. The reality is, people need to be responsible and if it isn't useful to them, they need only to delete their accounts.
Original post by Anonymous
Yes, especially Facebook. Tittok is no better. These websites influence an image on life that one would need to be successful and therefore it is bad for our mental health.

Even though I am a millennial, I have never been addicted to social media. I suppose I should consider myself lucky. Honestly, I don't see why anyone would make a Facebook or Instagram account, scroll through others' lives. It seems incredibly sad. People seriously need to live their lives and be present.
Original post by Anonymous
Even though I am a millennial, I have never been addicted to social media. I suppose I should consider myself lucky. Honestly, I don't see why anyone would make a Facebook or Instagram account, scroll through others' lives. It seems incredibly sad. People seriously need to live their lives and be present.

That's your opinion and while you believe it is true, others may not. Facebook is a way of interacting with friends and family, not everyone who visits it is depressed or living a sad life. Instagram is the same, though that's a website designed more for photos and videos. Sadly with this coronavirus and the second lockdown people are finding it more difficult to stay in contact with others and social media helps.
Original post by Anonymous
Absolutely, I agree. My personal view is that social media can be great for sharing your work and generating passive income.

So this highlights the flip side to the argument, where you look at it from a non-user perspective. From the perspective of a user for example, Facebook data harvesting is a real issue. But from the perspective of an advertiser it's a wonderful tool.

Original post by Anonymous
The reality is, people need to be responsible and if it isn't useful to them, they need only to delete their accounts.

This is fundamentally part of the problem though. Social media is designed to keep you around, and for a lot of people their mental effort won't win out over the thousands of people working to keep you using their platform.

Many people would argue the onus isn't exclusively on the user to be responsible, and the provider also needs to take responsibility. It's why we have laws and regulations surrounding gambling, drinking, smoking, etc. and even then they don't prevent all suffering.

Taking that a step further, what happens when we start talking about young people? Desspite attempts at implementing age restrictions, there are plenty of children using social media, and they should not be expected to remain responsible. It's precisely why the GDPR introduced additional restrictions. Social media creates a lot of problems for young people, and we can't just expect them to delete their accounts like responsible adults.
Reply 14
Original post by AcseI
Social media cannot be described in simple terms like good and bad. A better question is "Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?" and even then the answer will be different depending on the social media platform in question. For example, consider LinkedIn vs Facebook.

Social media as a whole certainly comes with its own set of drawbacks. But it's not a universally negative thing.

Absolutely! It's a scale, as with anything, I just created a title like this to invoke discussion :smile: it is not a simple concept to discuss or address but for me I feel like the negatives outweigh the benefits for the most part. But I also stick to the platforms I like the most, in which case I enjoy the benefits those platforms give me
Reply 15
Original post by Anonymous
Social media isn't "killing" anyone. I don't know how you can say that whilst making money from YouTube by creating content.

I don't have any social media for personal use because I find it so dull. I am someone who is very careful about how I spend my time. We all "waste" time, that's inevitable. But it can be wasted productively. Some platforms are good for wasting time in ways that is 'productive' - yes, that is possible. Others not so much.


I don't make money creating content on YouTube 😂I do it for fun, I know its not physically killing anyone, but it's a title that invokes discussion and ultimately I had to choose a title like that to try and stand out from any other similar videos.

That's completely fair enough :smile: each to their own, I agree, I don't like many social media platforms, but there are some that are better than others certainly
Reply 16
Original post by AcseI
So this highlights the flip side to the argument, where you look at it from a non-user perspective. From the perspective of a user for example, Facebook data harvesting is a real issue. But from the perspective of an advertiser it's a wonderful tool.


This is fundamentally part of the problem though. Social media is designed to keep you around, and for a lot of people their mental effort won't win out over the thousands of people working to keep you using their platform.

Many people would argue the onus isn't exclusively on the user to be responsible, and the provider also needs to take responsibility. It's why we have laws and regulations surrounding gambling, drinking, smoking, etc. and even then they don't prevent all suffering.

Taking that a step further, what happens when we start talking about young people? Desspite attempts at implementing age restrictions, there are plenty of children using social media, and they should not be expected to remain responsible. It's precisely why the GDPR introduced additional restrictions. Social media creates a lot of problems for young people, and we can't just expect them to delete their accounts like responsible adults.

Indeed, it's more challenging for young people because they are more easily influenced too by the things they see and hear online, hence why tiktok is so popular (of course I'm not saying it's just young people that use it) but fundamentally it has been successful because it learns about the preferences of each user and plays more videos similar to that so the person is kept on the app for longer. So it is unique to everyone and thus its more likely to cause addiction and to waste the time of other people and I get that some people like to do this but it can have a very negative impact on people's wellbeing
Original post by Anonymous
That's your opinion and while you believe it is true, others may not. Facebook is a way of interacting with friends and family, not everyone who visits it is depressed or living a sad life. Instagram is the same, though that's a website designed more for photos and videos. Sadly with this coronavirus and the second lockdown people are finding it more difficult to stay in contact with others and social media helps.


You don't need social media to connect with friends and family. You can use WhatsApp, sms, phone calls or Skype all effective means of communications and connecting with people.
Original post by Maxtalks
Indeed, it's more challenging for young people because they are more easily influenced too by the things they see and hear online, hence why tiktok is so popular (of course I'm not saying it's just young people that use it) but fundamentally it has been successful because it learns about the preferences of each user and plays more videos similar to that so the person is kept on the app for longer. So it is unique to everyone and thus its more likely to cause addiction and to waste the time of other people and I get that some people like to do this but it can have a very negative impact on people's wellbeing


The way these social media corporation make money is by making the platform simple and addictive, so billions of people continue to use it and they instill the idea one cannot live without social media, thus, encouraging people to continue to use it, which allows them to maintain and grow their customer base.
Hi,

I think social media is great in moderation, allowing us to feel connected wherever we are, however it can be linked to depression and anxiety. I find from experience people compare themselves to others on platforms such as Instagram - especially on looks and lifestyle. In reality the life of these users is portrayed wrongly advertised.

Just my feelings on this,
Dr Ewan

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