Social Media- A help or hindrance?

Although social media is an accepted element of most of our lives- have you stopped to consider what it is or isn’t doing for you?

The stats on social media usage are rather alarming. Facebook has the biggest market share of users (around 2 billion active). Year on year social media usage is increasing. In Australia, research indicates women between 14-24 years old spend about 14 hours a week on social media, while men in the same age range average around 9 hours a week. The hours decrease a little for us oldies (9 hours for women 35-50 years old, and 7 for men). If you are someone who notices the sensation of being time-poor: does social media soak up more time than you intend?

Research on the impact of social media usage for mental health is not yet definitive. This is due to several factors such as it being too new to show long-term effects. In addition to that, social media is constantly changing- so research has been unable to capture all its nuances. Keeping research limitations in mind, there is still an emerging trend that shows cause for concern regarding the effects of social media usage.

Most studies have shown increased social media use is ‘correlated’ or associated with increases in depression and anxiety levels. A recent study however, was able to show ‘causation’ by limiting participants usage to 30 minutes a day. The participants depression and loneliness scores improved when they reduced their usage.

It is ironic then, that most people use social media to ‘stay connected’- when it’s use can lead to feelings of isolation. The authors suggest this may be due to the ‘comparison’ factor- where we see others doing exciting things and posting momentous updates- we feel we must be the only ones in our PJ’s on a Saturday night watching our cooler friends have fun!

This concept of comparison also feeds into another negative aspect of social media- which is physical self-appraisal. Research has consistently shown women in particular, have negative feelings about their physical appearance after prolonged social media use. In fact, one study demonstrated that even if women felt bad about their bodies before commencing the study (where they were required to use social media) they felt worse afterwards. This has also been linked to increases in reported rates of eating disorders (people who spend more time on social media are 2.6 times more likely to develop an eating disorder).

The next major concern is cyberbullying. Think this just affects teens and celebrities? Wrong. Trolling is rife on the internet. Approximately 20% of people report being a victim of cyberbullying. In fact, the results have been so severe (cyberbullying has been implicated as being a causal factor in many young suicides) that there are calls to criminalise this behaviour.

Recall a time when you were young and made a rude comment to a stranger in public. Or perhaps recall a time your children have done it (and mortified you in the process!) The child is present to experience whatever response follows. Perhaps surprise, hurt, sadness or even anger and retaliation. Perhaps correction from a parent. This feedback is necessary for us to learn to moderate our speech and actions. We gain empathy when we see the impact of our behaviour on others. We then learn appropriate ways to interact. Social media however reduces the opportunity for correction and accurate feedback. It may even feel like our comments are simply going out into the ether, not received or felt by anyone. We lose that social feedback about acceptable speech and behaviour. Our world, therefore, is becoming less filtered. People say what they think, lacking the empathy to register a consequence for others.

This idea of needing to interact with others to improve our ability to function also holds true for anxiety. For some with anxiety, social media presents a much easier option for social connection. You can terminate conversations easily, you can distract yourself if triggered, you can control almost every aspect of your interactions! Control, however, is the problem. When people allow themselves to face a situation they can’t so easily control, and persevere through it, they gain feedback that their fears were likely disproportionate to the situation. They build skills- like the ability to tolerate or ‘habituate’ to their anxiety. This exposure to uncontrolled social situations can be a precurser to more challenging situations like job interviews. Social media, on the other hand, really doesn’t prepare you for anything…except more social media use!

How about sleep: Do you intended to go to bed at 10:30 but find yourself scrolling through your feed at midnight? The format of social media encourages ‘non-stop’ use. You can scroll down for hours, side tracked by profiles, pages, hashtags... Contrast this to other forms of entertainment- like reading a book, or watching a TV show where there is a defined start and finish. People often describe ‘getting lost’ on social media or not knowing ‘where the time went’.

Even if you are good at setting a time limit on your scrolling, simply using your phone, iPad or computer in the evenings can negatively impact your sleep. The blue light waves thrown off from these screens inhibits the secretion of melatonin- a hormone necessary to induce sleep.

So what can be done? Social media hiatus? Go underground for a breather? Erase your existence from the web? Well- maybe…if that’s what you feel you need to break a pattern of addictive behaviour! However I would suggest reflecting on what you use social media for, and what you want to get from it. For example, if you are involved in a group where social activities are organized, then exiting social media may limit your social opportunities. If you use social media for business, then exiting may impact your bank balance!

It appears the pattern with social media is: too much usage leads to poor mental health outcomes, but limited usage can help us to connect and socialize. So the answer may not need to be so extreme as deleting it all together- just moderating your usage and using it for a purpose. There are apps available (such as ‘Screen Time for iOS) that allow you to chose the length of time or time of the day you allow yourself to access social media. If you use it for a particular purpose, set up email alerts so you only check the specific things of interest to you- rather than scrolling through the rest.

That answers the ‘quantity’ question- but what about ‘quality’ of social media use? Think about what you are ‘letting in’ to your consciousness. Here you may need to be more ruthless. If you notice social media use leads to a downturn in your mood- be mindful about the triggers for that- and remove them! This may be unfollowing a ‘friend’ or limiting their appearance in your newsfeed. It may be leaving a group that just isn’t working for you. It may mean following pages and people that inspire you or promote values that are important to you.

What about what you are putting out there? We could all do better in encouraging and exemplifying socially responsible communication on social media. If you wouldn’t say it to somebody’s face- don’t say it online! Remember that what you say and how you say it impacts real people. You just never know the impact your comment may have on someone.

And lastly- don’t live your life to support your social media account! Step out of planning the captions you’ll write on a post, taking photos for the sole purpose of sharing and thinking about likes and reactions! Did you see ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’? Walter Mitty trades in his somewhat mundane life working at a magazine to find the famous photographer, Sean O’Connell. Mitty embarks on an exciting and somewhat dangerous endevour, finding himself in the process. When he eventually catches the photographer, they are perched amongst the slopes in the Himalayas. O’Connell has been tracking the elusive snow leopard for weeks to snap his picture. The snow leopard emerges- but O’Connell just watches in awe.

Mitty asks him- “When are you going to take it?” O’Connell quietly answers- “Sometimes I don’t. If I like a moment, personally, for me, I don’t like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it.”

So stay in those moments, take joy from them, just for you, and be satisfied that is all you need 😊