HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS KILLING YOUR FRIENDSHIPS
Nobody is a stranger to deep diving into the Facebook rabbit hole. You know the scenario. For many, it's the night after a stressful day, and they'd be unwinding in bed, mindlessly scrolling "just a little", when half an hour later, they're no closer to resting. They'll comment on a friend's post and then Facebook suggests friending a former classmate, but instead of doing that, they'll scroll through their profile and learn about the last few years of their life... until they see an article that sends them down a research spiral and a comments section that leaves their brain on hyperdrive..
The next morning, they wake up feeling drained. Maybe the blue light that illuminates their faces as they scroll through feeds and friends is to blame for disrupting their sleep cycle. This scenario is being constant especially during this lockdown period. Being unrested can explain the grogginess and irritability, one has, or it could be something else. Maybe as many tell themselves they stay online to stay connected, I would say you're unknowingly draining your social energy for in - person interactions. What if every like, heart and reply you give to someone on the internet is actually taking away from your energy for offline friendships?
While our brains can tell the difference between chatting online and in - person social interaction, it's unlikely you've developed more - or a set of - energy just for social media use. There's a limit as to how many people we're truly in touch with and have the energy for. That even means that the late - night hours spent engaging in conversations with strangers online takes away from the energy you have to care for people you actually know offline.
Just like we do in the face - to - face world, many dedicate the bulk of their interaction on social media to the 15 people closest to them, with about 40% of their attention going to their 5 besties and 60% to their 15. This ties into one of the oldest arguments of social media - It might not expand the number of true friendships, but these platforms can help us maintain and strengthen our important bonds.
One of the perks of social media is being able to engage in the milestones of people we don't live near. Social media advertises itself as increasing people's connections to each other, but several studies show that people who spend more time on social media are actually more lonely.
Friends exist to provide us with shoulders to cry on when things fall apart. No matter how sympathetic someone may be on Facebook or even Skype, in the end, it is having a real shoulder to cry on that makes the difference to our being able to cope. My strong recommendation to all of you out there, is that, instead of spending too much time on social media with people whom you're not much familiar with, please give some of that time to the people who stand by your side at all times and support you, not the ones who appear on screen and whom you have not seen much also..
Please do give time to the real, caring people in your life as they're the precious gems who are always there for you !!
The next morning, they wake up feeling drained. Maybe the blue light that illuminates their faces as they scroll through feeds and friends is to blame for disrupting their sleep cycle. This scenario is being constant especially during this lockdown period. Being unrested can explain the grogginess and irritability, one has, or it could be something else. Maybe as many tell themselves they stay online to stay connected, I would say you're unknowingly draining your social energy for in - person interactions. What if every like, heart and reply you give to someone on the internet is actually taking away from your energy for offline friendships?
While our brains can tell the difference between chatting online and in - person social interaction, it's unlikely you've developed more - or a set of - energy just for social media use. There's a limit as to how many people we're truly in touch with and have the energy for. That even means that the late - night hours spent engaging in conversations with strangers online takes away from the energy you have to care for people you actually know offline.
Just like we do in the face - to - face world, many dedicate the bulk of their interaction on social media to the 15 people closest to them, with about 40% of their attention going to their 5 besties and 60% to their 15. This ties into one of the oldest arguments of social media - It might not expand the number of true friendships, but these platforms can help us maintain and strengthen our important bonds.
One of the perks of social media is being able to engage in the milestones of people we don't live near. Social media advertises itself as increasing people's connections to each other, but several studies show that people who spend more time on social media are actually more lonely.
Friends exist to provide us with shoulders to cry on when things fall apart. No matter how sympathetic someone may be on Facebook or even Skype, in the end, it is having a real shoulder to cry on that makes the difference to our being able to cope. My strong recommendation to all of you out there, is that, instead of spending too much time on social media with people whom you're not much familiar with, please give some of that time to the people who stand by your side at all times and support you, not the ones who appear on screen and whom you have not seen much also..
Please do give time to the real, caring people in your life as they're the precious gems who are always there for you !!
Comments
Post a Comment