Social Media and their increasing impact on human behavior

Molly Russell was just 14 when she took her own life. As per the reports, the American teenage girl had viewed a significant amount of material on Instagram and Pinterest that dealt with anxiety, sadness, self-harm, and suicide, before her death.

However, the major culprits are social media platforms and the tech behind them. How? Social media algorithms suggest similar content to the user, the one they interact with. This is just one instance.

The moment we start experimenting with technology, especially with social media, human behaviour evolves more. People now utilise social media on a daily basis to such an extent that it is gradually changing how we behave.

Social media use has also been linked to online abuse and bullying by anonymous users, causing issues with privacy and self-worth. Moreover, the number of people using social media platforms is bound to see an accelerated upward trajectory of growth. Take a look,

Source: Statista, Number of social media users worldwide from 2018 to 2027 (in billions)

Hence, the UPDEED team considers it necessary to make you understand the impact it is having on our minds.

The Impact

Today, social media has widened the scope of ideas globally and brought individuals together who share interests. Social media has had an effect on society and human behaviour. There are good as well as bad impacts that we would discuss:

The good ones:

• Social media platforms allow us to share and work with people we have never met. As a result, this imparts creativity in our thinking and working styles.

• Take LinkedIn as one of the best examples to understand that people, based on networking, get jobs of their domain interest.

• People now feel secure when moving out thanks to social media connections with their families, friends, and some government safety organisations.

• Such platforms give people the courage to explore and engage enthusiastically without worrying about being rejected.

On the flip side, there are numerous bad impacts as well.

The bad ones:

• Young generation remains glued to social media platforms and rarely involves themselves in face-to-face interactions, which are essential for personality development, socialisation, and communication training.

• Social media has also been used to promote misinformation and rumours online, which has increased the number of violent crimes committed in society.

• It becomes nearly impossible to stay from bad and negative influences. This may have long-lasting psychological effects, including tension and anxiety.

• Most research has found that children’s aggressive attitudes and behaviours rise due to violent games on social media.

Social media can be seen as a benefit to society, despite its drawbacks. However, severe measures should be taken to counteract the damaging effects of social media, such as trolling and fake news.