In order to feel more connected to others and to build community, socializing is an essential component of life. Social media makes it simpler to communicate and keep those ties alive while we're away. Other advantages include the chance to develop social skills in a risk-free setting, making new friends via common interests, and keeping memories. Social media, however, is not without its drawbacks, as we all know.

The sense of running out of time or becoming uninspired after a thoughtless scroll can be experienced by many of us. And when we only communicate virtually, it's simple to feel lonely. Worse yet, we might experience a sense of low self-worth in comparison to the seemingly perfect images we see online — whether or not they reflect reality.

Mental health and social media

Social media manipulation techniques exist in the form of push alerts and tailored adverts. Simply said, these platforms are created with the intention of luring us in and keeping us there (the more time we spend online, the better their stats). Unfortunately, as we spend more time on social media, the harm it causes us simply intensifies. Furthermore, once we're hooked, the platforms are usually the only ones who prevail. Social media may have both positive and harmful effects on mental health.

Anxiety:  You're not alone if, after using social media, you start to feel nervous or melancholy. According to research, social media and anxiety are closely related, with more screen time causing anxiety to worsen and even even starting it.

Fear of being left out:  These anxious sensations, sometimes referred to as FOMO, may result from declining invitations or declining to join others in pleasurable events.

FOMO might trigger a particularly social media-specific negative mental cycle: Concern that things are occurring without us kicks in, followed by the need to keep searching the platforms for evidence, and eventually, a sinking sense of affirmation when we find evidence of those off-our-radar gatherings in posts online.

Sense of self and body image:  It might be simple for negative thoughts about social media and body image to infiltrate when photoshopped photographs dominate our feeds. The thin-ideal shown in online images produces an unreachable social media body image that can seriously affect our self-esteem. When we become addicted to scrolling often and are exposed to an increasing number of flawless pictures, we occasionally experience a negative self-image drop.

Sleep problems:  Additionally detrimental to sleep is continuous scrolling. According to British research, kids who use social media for more than three hours a day are more likely to stay up late and wake up in the middle of the night. The fact that we end up feeling nervous about what we're seeing on the apps and even more anxious from the loss of sleep brought on by our time spent scrolling is further bad news for those of us who spend a lot of time on social media and experience anxiety. 

Cyberbullying:  According to one poll, 30% of American teenagers had been the target of unpleasant remarks, rumors, or even threats in the previous month. Cyberbullying may be hard to keep an eye on, and those who are victims of it may face actual, serious impacts on their mental health.

It's easy to want to fully cut social media out of our life with these bad impacts fresh in our minds. And although that is undoubtedly an option if we decide that we're better off without it (and can remain off of it), it is also feasible to continue scrolling everyday while reducing negative emotions