Social media is actually really dangerous

51% of the UK think that social media hasn’t improved our lives for the better


 

Use it to stalk your favourite music artists, express yourself and connect with people across the world.  It’s harmless. Unless you are an impressionable teenager. The only problem is most people that are using it are impressionable teenagers.

As a young woman I rarely ever think about the consequences of my actions, I guess it’s naivety. But after being enveloped in social media for months I wanted to know what switching between my apps constantly was doing to my head.

Get off your phone and into the real world

During a study from Anxiety UK over half of the participants said that Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites had changed their lives with 51% adding that it was not for the better. According to the same survey 45% of people who are not able to access any of their social media sites feel certain levels of anxiety. These findings correspond with the high levels of anxiety found in children: 1 in 8 children. It is clear it does affect us and I think now is the time to try and tackle one of the biggest issues the younger generations are facing today; the effects of social media.

I started young: at ten I created a Bebo account, I then moved on to Facebook when I started high school (which I quickly deleted after my first online spat) then it was Twitter, back to Facebook and then I eventually started up a Tumblr account. None of them affected me in any way; apart from Tumblr.

But I love social media

As a troubled teen, I needed nothing more than to express myself without actually having to articulate anything. Tumblr gave me an opportunity to do this. The problem is, the site is filled with teenagers getting things out of their system so it creates a rather burdened area of the internet.

To put it blankly, parts of Tumblr did nothing to help my already hormonal brain. With my brain suffering from a severe lack of serotonin and other vital chemicals, I was losing control and being surrounded by posts that were glamorising depression and suicide did not help. The music side did, though.

On a bad day, I would often find myself searching for these posts in order to find comfort in knowing others felt the same way. Yet on a good day, I would be logging on to find myself crying with laughter at a picture or poem. Not to mention the artsy side which opened up a part of me that I did not know existed – I could actually enjoy art, who knew!

To be frank – social media helped me understand myself a lot more (I know it sounds strange but, what can I say.) All of this posing the question of: can social media really affect you that much?

In reality, social media has become a major part of our lives and although it can help us make friendships and keep in contact with people – the overuse of social media is starting to affect our mental health and it’s worrying.

Maybe it’s time to give my apps a break and go outside.