The Perils of Social Media

Just a few decades ago people did not use the Internet. Since the 1990s, the Internet blossomed, growing from external motives, simple e-mail, and chat rooms with anonymous stangers to high-speed Internet access and social media. Social networking sites like Facebook an e-mail\combinations like G-mail allow people to be in perpetual contact 24\7. With the advent of the smart phone, people no longer even need to be at home to be online, which has led to the current state of affairs, of people glued to their smart phones while at lunch or dinner with friends, the movie theater’s, sporting events, and even while praying in church. Too much Internet use can have negative consequences for people and can contribute to psychological and physical problems.
Overusing your smart phone can also have physical effects. Recent studies show that using a smart phone or laptop or Ipad before bed can affect the quality of sleep that you get. Light emitting devices can be inhibit the body’s secretion of melatonin and tell your brain to remain alert, preventing quality sleep.
But the sleep disruption can also come from a mental place. The anxiety created by People’s incessant need to check their Facebook or their e-mail can cause people to lose sleep because of their excessive online use. This lack of sleep can cause additional problems at school or work if the person has trouble focusing because he\she is so tired.
Bottom line: There are good and valid reasons to use social media, assuming you don’t use it at the expense of face-to-face interactions. If you are so involved with social media and reading other people status updates and tweets that you’re not engaging with people in your actual physical world, then this modern technology can be a bad thing. It can lead to increased isolation and alienation from people around you. But like everything else in life, moderation is key.