Toxicity in Social Media
What is social media toxicity?
Effects from toxicity in social media
Social media portrays a false sense of reality that detriments the mental health of heavy users. It has a record-breaking influence on the world, and is glamorized by users and influencers but has negative effects on mental health that can even turn fatal
Examples
Background
How to protect yourself the toxic effects?
Instagram promotes negative social comparison and hook them onto unrealistic ideals of appearance and body size and shape.
Statistics
A survey done by ChildTrends, the nation’s lead nonprofit research organization, indicates that suicide attempt rates in teens rose by 25% between 2009 and 2017
researchers from a 2019 study of over 6500 teens found that spending more than 3 hours on social media per day increases the probability of teens struggling with mental health problems, including anxiety, antisocial behavior and depression
2021 study shows that using excessive screen time to cope with the pandemic correlates with worse mental health in college students
Celebrities on social media platforms are notorious for editing their faces and bodies to fit society’s idea of perfection.
cyberbullying
trolling
online firestorms
What is interesting is how much the social media landscape has changed since it started. The best performing content on its platform today includes video and visuals.
Why did social media turn toxic?
The increase in social media use over the last decade has, of course, corresponded to the huge spike in the amount of time that people spend online
harassment
cursing
extremism
Online social media platforms are arguably the most culturally significant technological innovations of the 21st century
The easy spread of data, information, and knowledge were expected to benefit the ability to foster informed decision making, cultural exchanges and the coordination of activities online and in the physical world
Unfortunately, social media has also significantly enhanced the reach and scale of harmful content including disinformation, conspiracies, extremism, harassment, violence, and other forms of socially toxic material
set up a time limit for your social media use
This matters because it means young people are increasingly living their lives online. It means they are connecting with friends or family, or finding information online, but they are also subject to bullying or rumour spreading and get unrealistic views of others’ lives
The constant search for recognition and attention can have detrimental effects on our lives and leave us hurt or needing more attention
be more ‘news literate’ and more educated about the news and any information we read online
read from a wide range of sources, and not limit ourselves
take breaks from social media
isolation
fear of missing out
interrupted sleep
mental health problems
anxiety
depression
suicidality
eating disorders
The numerous benefits include the wide distribution of content crossing geographic boundaries, and enabling interaction and exchanges that are nearly free of physical constraints except infrastructure
nationalism
sexism
religious differences
HOOK:
Social media significantly enhanced the reach and scale of toxic content cyberbullying and harassment leading to negative effects on mental health