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How does social media affect mental health
How does social media affect mental health
How does social media affect mental health
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Social media has always been a great outlet for meeting new people, and expressing one’s own opinion, but students have taken this opportunity too far. Social networking sites are websites created to keep one in touch with friends, and family. They allow students to post statuses, check in at locations, and post pictures. Students can make their own profile special to them by identifying their interests, and personalizing other features. Social media addiction can come in many different shapes and forms. By filling a lonely void in a student’s heart, and providing a feeling of comfort, social media leads students to becoming too dependent on it.
Dopamine the same chemical released in the brain during sex, consuming drugs, and consuming food, is also released when receiving and answering a notification from social media. As Franceshi-Bicchierai shares with us, "As it turns out, receiving and answering a notification results in a hit of dopamine, a chemical neurotransmitter associated with the motivation and reward response in the human brain." ("How Is Facebook Addiction Affecting Our Minds?"). While consuming drugs, each pill recharges a person’s addictive impulse, and the same happens with each notification, each time a student recharges their addictive impulse.
Researchers at Harvard preformed a study to see what self-disclosure did to the brain. They found sharing a personal experience or a person's own thoughts releases dopamine, which is what social media, is all about (Hawley). When thousands of students wake up in the morning before school, and tweet about how they do not want to go to school, post on Facebook about how late they went to bed, or Instagram the waffle their eating for breakfast, they all have one thi...
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Laster, Jill. "Students Denied Social Media Go through Withdrawal." The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., 14 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. . I am going to use this source, because it is a real life study that has been shown to have distinct results which support students dependence on social media, and its addictive qualities.
Mackay, Deborah. "Social Media: The Pursuit of Happiness." TNW. Next Web, 2001. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. . Shows the dopamine effect
Parks, Peggy J. "Current Issues: Online Social Networking." Current Issues: Online Social Networking. 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. This source gives LOTS of information
According to Emily Yoffe’s essay “Seeking,” pursuing trivial information is something people cannot stop doing. Yoffe posits people become addicted to the feeling of receiving a text message, a new tweet, an Instagram post, or other meaningless multimedia facets (Yoffe 599). She cites an experiment in which scientists put an electrode in a specific part of a rats brain, and when given the option to fire the electrode the rat would do so until it collapsed: scientists believed (and some still believe) that this was the pleasure center of the brain (Yoffe 599). Yoffe believes social media gives us a similar buzz. According to Dr. Panksepp, “Seeking is the granddaddy of the systems” (Yoffe 599). Yoffe explains this is why animals in captivity would rather have to search for food than have it delivered to them. For humans, however, this can be
Topic: Addiction to social media General Purpose: To persuade Specific purpose: To persuade my audience that social media is hurting us mentally and our social lives. Thesis: Social media can cause serious problems to you and your health, so we need to put addiction to social media to rest. I. Introduction A. Attention-getter: The ages of 55 and 64 year olds who use social media fell “worried or uncomfortable” when they can’t access any type of social media accounts (Wright, 2015).
Michael J. Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University and author of“Facing the Facebook” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, states that the initial purpose of having access to the Internet in the classroom was to give students the opportunity to conduct research. However, this privilege is rapidly being used as a means for students to not pay attention during class. A poll was taken at Iowa State University where 20,247 out of the 25,741 enrollees were registered on Facebook (Bugeja 1). Social networking sites such as Facebook have had some negative effects in academia such as “institutions seeking to build enrollment learn that ‘technology’ rates higher than ‘rigor’ or ‘reputation’” (2), that there has been improper use of the freedom to use technology in the classroom, that employers and parents check Facebook to see what users have been doing, and that technology is an overall distraction in the classroom.
The Web. The Web. 29 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'.
Purpose of Study Individuals should understand that the use or nonuse of social media has negative and positive effects on their lives, whether they recognize them or not. Students who excessively use social networking applications can be negatively affected because they are spending too much time on these applications rather than paying attention in class, completing homework, studying, sleeping, or focusing on their own health and condition. However, these same students who are excessive users are often times the students who are more aware of global issues and updates in pop culture through the use of social media. Students who moderately use social networking applications spend a good amount of time on these applications and are still able to manage time for sleeping, practicing good eating habits, homework, and studying. These students are usually just as aware, or slightly less aware, than students who excessively use social networking.
To begin with, social media has been proven to be a dangerous addiction due to the many negative side effects like: sleep deprivation, and self-esteem problems. Most of the adult American population is connected to some sort of social media site, and they have joined the banned wagon of people whom check their social media accounts at least five times a day. Using social media to often can be time consuming and essentially causes sleep deprivation because the user stays up late on social media. Since social media has grown in popularity many have began to believe that social media is a life necessity. It is viewed by many as a daily necessity like brushing our teeth, or yet as important as eating. People whom are constantly on social media have been linked to develop self-esteem problems because they are so consumed on pretending and portraying this image of a person they are not. Social media has became such an addiction that many people wake up and the first thing they do is...
Social media although a great tool can become an addiction ultimately affecting our lives and state of mind. That is why we need to limit the amount of time and information we share on social networks. Although the internet is a tool full of good and bad available to everyone, teenagers and young adults are more prone to falling into the traps of the internet. People also abuse social media and overuse it every day because they are concerned with what is happening every hour. Social media is a tool not a necessity and should never be abused or used as a diary because it could result in unwanted consequences that can hurt us in the future.
Exposing students to the power of social media in the classroom is an important part of preparing them to be active and positive digital citizens in a 21st century world. In the last two years, my own students have rapidly been drawn to Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and many other social networking platforms. They upload, share, and connect with others often without any regard to how their digital footprints may reflect them as individuals. Having continuous conversations with students about the choices that they make can lead to positive results. Students don't realize how powerful social media platforms can be in terms of networking, researching, and engaging in academic conversations. It makes me laugh every time I hear them whisper about my colleague Heather's or my Twitter feed. First of all kids, I can hear you. Second of all, yes, social media can be an amazing way to give and exchanged knowledge.
There has been controversy as to whether parents should limit the use of social media by teenagers. Teenagers feel that there is no need to limit the use of their social media networking, but on the other hand, parents should feel the need to limit their use and also keep track of their teen’s social networking. Social media allows students to be connected with their peers, teens who post positive status are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and for many teens putting up “selfies” is a self confidence boost; however, too much social media can affect students GPA in school, cyber bullying can affect social health. Social media networks can give out personal information. Social media sites such as Facebook are one of the most popular social media sites that has 700,000-750,000 members joining each day.
Social Media has become a very essential tool in the society; in addition, it has a huge impact on communication and learning process. Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social networking. “As of September 2013, seventy-one percent of online adult use Facebook, eighteen percent use Twitter and seventeen percent use Instagram, twenty-two percent use PInterest, and another twenty-two percent use LinkedIn. (PewReasearch, 2013). In addition, "Between February 2005 and August 2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet user ages eighteen and twenty-nine jumped from nine percent to forty-nine percent. The usage of social media had grown drastically.” On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more” (Socialnetworking.procon,2012). Social media has impacted everyone in several different ways. In this present time, majority of college student use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Social media has a bold impact college student's grades, social interactions, and the teaching and learning process.
For example, having only five friends like or comment on a post is not nearly enough; it must be at least 50, but as soon as 50 people acknowledge the post, then the addict craves 100, and so on (“Social Media Addiction”). Once a person becomes addicted to social media, their self-esteem begins to depend on how many likes or comments that they receive on a particular post (“Social Media Addiction”). Recent findings show that addiction to social media shares some neurological features with other addictions, such as substance and gambling addictions (“Excessive Social Media Use”). Many experts believe that excessive use of social media “triggers two key parts of the brain associated with rewards: amygdala, which is the integrative place for emotions, behavior and motivation and striatum, part of the forebrain and a critical component of the reward system” (“Excessive Social Media Use”). Teenagers with addiction-like symptoms may "have a hyperactive amygdale-striatal system, which makes this 'addiction ' similar to many other addictions" (“Excessive Social Media Use”). Those with
Social media can become very addictive to some and it may cause negative effects on that person’s life. Everyday use of social media can make a person want to get on, to needing to get on the computer. Becoming hooked can affect a person in many ways. Such as, their job, family,
We live in a world that has become addicted and dedicated toward social media and it is driving America’s youth into the ground. Teenagers and adults are so wrapped up in social media that is runs their lives every day. Constantly people are checking their phones for the latest on social networks. They have to see pictures, tweets, statuses, comments, likes, and the list goes on and on. Social media is becoming the focus point in the modern American society that it is beginning to control people’s social skills, communication skills, and their livelihood.
Students begin to rely more on information easily accessible on social networking sites and websites. This reduces the ability of learning and research.
Social media, a quickly growing and popular knowledge outlet, can become dangerously addictive if the user lacks self-control. There are so many wonderful outcomes from the invention of social media. The biggest being how quickly news can spread. Anyone can share the news that they desire with a few taps on a screen. The fault in this action though, is that false testimonies can be spread just as quickly as true ones. The question is, does the positive outweigh the negative enough for a person to proceed with using social media? Without this innovative creation, though, communication would be dull and boring, so by all means, social media should be used.