The Jambar
In many ways, social media can be connective, exciting or even inspiring. However, there are also ways it can negatively affect society, but does one outweigh the other?
The National Institute of Health explores the benefits and downsides of social media use as users in a study often experienced both affects.
“One major trend observed in our findings is that regardless of which profile of social media use individuals fit within, it appeared that students who participated in our study experienced a combination of both beneficial and harmful outcomes associated with social media use. There was no one particular profile that experienced only beneficial or only harmful outcomes,” NIH stated.
One of the reasons someone may have a positive outlook on social media is because of its capability of connecting people from all around the world, creating connections with individuals of diverse backgrounds.
Social media can sometimes be overwhelming. Having to constantly update social media feeds can lead to comparison, which may lead to body dysmorphic disorder.
The same NIH article explains another concern that individuals rely too much on social media to fulfill their social needs rather than taking advantage of in-person connections.
“Those who use social media for connection may also experience social isolation and comparison, which can in turn yield harmful outcomes such as loneliness and self-negativity,” NIH stated.
Even though users are virtually connecting with people from various places, loneliness is common because of the lack of meaningful connections.
Many reasons determine how social media use will affect an individual, but according to the NIH, the way someone uses social media may determine if it is beneficial.
“These seemingly conflicting findings may be explained by psychosocial variables associated with more passive or active forms of engagement. The association between social media use and well-being appears to vary with the pattern or type of social media use,” NIH stated.
According to the NIH, a passive user is someone who will scroll or view others’ content without interacting with it, while an active user likes, comments and shares content.
Reflection is important when determining if social media has a positive or negative impact.
