Our lives revolve around social media. Even if you don\u2019t think it does, it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While we don\u2019t always personally engage in discourse with other people on a social media platform, we certainly use it for other purposes. We use it for news, entertainment, keeping up with friends and relatives, and even dating. Much of what we know about what\u2019s going on around the world (as well as what we don\u2019t know) is shaped by what we see on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and countless other platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social media, like anything else, is fine in moderation. But now that it\u2019s taken over our lives, we\u2019re starting to see a lot of disturbing, detrimental effects of it on our productivity, our emotional outlook, and even our privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In case you need more convincing, here are 3 good reasons why you should step away from social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ve probably already sensed this instinctively, even if you haven\u2019t consciously put a name to it. But the truth is that social media makes you less productive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s paint a picture in our minds so you can see social media creates this effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s say you\u2019re at work and you\u2019re trying to focus on a task. In the middle of your task, your phone keeps going off with notifications from all your social media apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a research study conducted at Harvard University revealed that receiving notifications on our phone gives us a dopamine high<\/a>. Dopamine is a hormone that makes us feel pleasure in response to an outside influence, like a reward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, social media notifications are like an addiction. The more you get them and respond to them, the more dopamine you\u2019ll experience. The more dopamine you experience, the more you will check your notifications to relive that high over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might say, \u201cI can just ignore the notifications or turn them off. What\u2019s the big deal?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The big deal is that you can\u2019t turn off the notification in your mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you posted a picture on Snapchat, for example, you may be eager to see who\u2019s reacting to it. If you published your opinion on a controversial subject on Twitter, you may be checking your phone every few minutes to see what kind of response it\u2019s getting. Even with the notifications off, you still check your social media accounts just as often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only is social media itself a distraction. In addition, a study<\/a> published in 2009 revealed that people who use social media heavily are easily distracted by outside stimuli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, not only does your productivity go down when you\u2019re checking social media all the time. But even if you don\u2019t have your phone with you, if you use social media a lot, then chances are high that you won\u2019t be able to focus very effectively on work. You\u2019ll be too distracted by what\u2019s happening around you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether your notifications are on or off, social media clearly reduces your productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Social Media Is A Source Of Negativity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s be real. We all have enough negativity in our lives without adding other problems on top of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, we\u2019re adding a lot of extra negativity to our lives simply by getting on social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a Pew Research Center survey<\/a> conducted in 2020, 64% of Americans stated that they felt social media was having a negative effect on the state of things in the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For their reasoning, these people pointed out the \u201cmisinformation and the hate and harassment they see on social media.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s true that when you go on the internet, you never truly know if what you\u2019re seeing or reading is real. Many social media accounts are fake, run by bots or people pretending to be someone else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These accounts, as well as those run by real people looking to make money off people\u2019s reactions, will share negative information, real and not real, simply to get attention. They don\u2019t care if the reactions they generate are positive or negative. Angry people on social media provide just as much engagement as happy ones, if not more<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only are people online angry, they are also hurtful and vindictive. When you post something on social media, you may find yourself inundated with horrible insults, hurled at you by complete strangers who have nothing better to do than mock or harass someone they don\u2019t know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These people are called trolls. Even if you\u2019ve never been a victim of a troll, you\u2019ve probably seen other people deal with them. They bring you pointless, negative attention that you don\u2019t need, especially if you\u2019re trying to build your confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy to understand why 64% of people in the Pew Research Institute survey feel that social media has a negative effect on our country. It is a hotbed of angermongering and trolling that does not benefit the everyday user. Instead, it makes us feel rage and despair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Social Media Invades Your Privacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It goes without saying that social media is an invasion of your privacy. Not only do social media platforms encourage you to share pictures of yourself and the people in your circle, but they ask you to share your location, your date of birth, the places you\u2019ve visited, and the people you\u2019re related to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n