Risks and Problems
Social media can affect our health and increases our risks of contracting various health issues. Two of such problems are type 2 diabetes and heart disease, both of which are becoming increasingly common in Australia. By spending only two hours daily, you heighten your chance of getting heart disease by 15% and your risk of contracting type 2 diabetes by 20%. A study by theUniversity of Chicago Press discovered that time spent of social media can lead to spontaneous snacking, with similar effects taking place on health, spending and mental perseverance.
However, the majority of the negative effects of social media dependency, aside from the obvious of increased chance of obesity, is seen in the effected's mental health. For one, a social media addiction is often a sign of FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, a phenomenon that has been given rise due the popularity of social media. Through various surveys, it was found that those with FOMO can cause trepidation and make users of social media to question 'why is everyone having fun without me?' amongst others. Those with FOMO were also found to feel not intelligent or successful enough proceeding their use of Facebook and Twitter, even those who use Pinterest were found to feel inadequate in terms of their creativity after their use.
Another phenomenon has been on the rise since social media has been becoming used by more and more people, and that is Phantom Vibration Syndrome. In this new physiological syndrome, the affected claims to believe that they've felt their phone vibrate in say, their pocket, only to find that their phone is either not there or has not vibrated. This has become more and more common. As studies found in Massachusetts found that 68% of their staff experienced this, 89% at the university and more than 90% of Taiwanese doctors in training experienced this during their internship. Another study found that 30% of those tested even hallucinated hearing their phones ringing, when of course, the ringing was nonexistent. In most cases, Phantom Vibration Syndrome takes place due to our brain perceiving an itch as a vibration from our phone.
However, the majority of the negative effects of social media dependency, aside from the obvious of increased chance of obesity, is seen in the effected's mental health. For one, a social media addiction is often a sign of FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, a phenomenon that has been given rise due the popularity of social media. Through various surveys, it was found that those with FOMO can cause trepidation and make users of social media to question 'why is everyone having fun without me?' amongst others. Those with FOMO were also found to feel not intelligent or successful enough proceeding their use of Facebook and Twitter, even those who use Pinterest were found to feel inadequate in terms of their creativity after their use.
Another phenomenon has been on the rise since social media has been becoming used by more and more people, and that is Phantom Vibration Syndrome. In this new physiological syndrome, the affected claims to believe that they've felt their phone vibrate in say, their pocket, only to find that their phone is either not there or has not vibrated. This has become more and more common. As studies found in Massachusetts found that 68% of their staff experienced this, 89% at the university and more than 90% of Taiwanese doctors in training experienced this during their internship. Another study found that 30% of those tested even hallucinated hearing their phones ringing, when of course, the ringing was nonexistent. In most cases, Phantom Vibration Syndrome takes place due to our brain perceiving an itch as a vibration from our phone.