In our modern time, people use the internet frequently to connect and communicate with others. Social media is the one big example where you can gather, present and share information online with other people.
According to Pew Research Center, they have tracked the usage of social networking sites since 2005. It showed 65 percent of adult Americans are using this online tool to communicate and share information with regards to work, current events, news, life and politics.
There are a lot of social networking sites that have emerged. Some grew big that are used widely around the world but many are wondering what could be the effect of too much usage of social networking to people. Is it really beneficial or is there a negative effect? Here are some few effects on people you should know about social media usage.
1. As pointed out by Chron, social networking sites create a false connection to people. There are a lot of relationships created through social media sites but according to Steven Strogatz of Cornell University, it would be hard for people to tell which one is really the genuine friendship. It's still different to the meaningful friendships that are formed personally with friends that those casual relationships online.
2. People pay a lot for the sake of privacy but for some people, they love sharing to the world almost everything about their life through social media. There are some things in life that are meant to be private and not shared.
3. According to Reader's Digest, checking other people's posts can make you feel lonely and frustrated. You can't bypass the thought of comparing yourself to others when you see they have a lot in life. Knowing your inadequacies, you become lonely, jealous, and angry.
4. This can affect your health, too. It is now very common where people take a photo of those delicious foods that they are going to eat. Those food photos flooding in social media can make people hungry. The brain gets stimulated when you see these photos of delicious foods and people are likely to overeat.
5. You are less productive at work because of too much social media usage. No one can really argue with this. Instead of doing something productive in the office, you spend some of your time checking on social media posts and current events that interest you.
