The Negative Impacts of Social Media (Essay Sample)

The Negative Effects of Social Media
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The Negative Effects of Social Media
Social media is currently used by millions of people across the world. Individuals spend a lot of time on these sites interacting, looking for information, conducting businesses, and entertainment. Social media websites play a key role in education, economics, and development. Individuals can not only share information within the platforms, but can also information for learning and memory. However, despite the contribution, these media offer the society, social media is linked to harmful impacts, including distraction, psychological distance, mental health issues, cyberbullying, loss of self identity, and sense of belonging and peer acceptance perception.
One of the negative effects of social media is distraction from important activities. The digital world is changing the way people do activities such as reading books and newspapers, engaging in one-on-one conversation, and watching television. According to Luna (2018), a constant access to smartphones and internet has been a major cause of distraction, especially during face-to-face conversations where individuals remain detracted from connectedness and interaction. A study conducted by Berdik (2018) found that students who had their phones on the classroom desk performed poorly compared to those who kept their phones in their bags and those without phones at all. The participants reported that they were forced to engage in high level multitasking while using phones in the classroom, thus, negatively impacting their grades (Berdik, 2018). It is, therefore, evident that social media can lead to distraction, which is linked to poor performance in various aspects of life.
Social media creates psychological distance among users and their family members and friends. This negatively affects the amount of time that individuals spend with their significant others. According to Abbas et al. (2019), smartphones have social and behavioral implications. The continuous flow of information on the social media platforms