The Negative Impacts Of Social Media

How often do you spend time on social media? Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram. All of these are a part of social media. While social media is entertaining it can have many negative effects. Many enjoy being online but how many people know what it is actually doing to yourself?

Social media spreads false information. A study was published finding that lies spread six times faster than the truth does on social media platform Twitter (“Social Networking”). False news may include politics, terrorism, natural disasters, science, and financial information. It is not just some random bots ordinary people are mainly spreading this fake news. Some reasonings behind it is that sharing fake news is more surprising or exciting rather than the truth. False information is 70 percent more likely to spread than the true information (“Fox”).

Social media can take a toll on academic grades. Children that use social media platforms may be more prone to test lower on subjects consisting of math, reading, and sciences (Heitin). Research has noted that when a school enforced a no cell phone policy their academic performance went up by six percent (“Social Networking”). People who spend the most time on social media have less academic achievements, incomplete homework, decreases in attending class, and lack of sleep (“Social media has negative impact on academic performance”).

Social media can cause an outturn on mental illnesses along with high amounts of stress. A study found that 41 percent of children who spend more than three hours a day online tend to have more problems relating to their well being. While 21 percent of children who don’t spend that time on social media have less worries (“Social Networking”). Mental illnesses usually target teens or younger adults rather than older adults. There was an increase in depression and suicidal thoughts in 2011. Around that time was when social media was introduced. Since we are spending so much time on social media it affects the amount of hours we sleep for. Less sleep is coordinated with moods and increase of anxiety or depression (Charles).

People may argue that social media is great. Social media is able to track down criminals online and help law enforcement. Many officers have surveyed towards social media because it has helped them solve crimes faster. The New York Police were the first to enact a twitter tracking unit to help find criminals. Those criminals go online to brag about the crime that they had committed. Although that may be true social platforms have actually caused people to be less comfortable online along with criminals trying to promote and encourage crimes. Gangs may use public platforms to bring in new members and plan many dangerous crimes. Many apps lack their privacy. WIth some of those apps some users are unaware of the information about themselves that is being seen or leaked (“Social Networking”).

To conclude social media has many negative effects. From spreading lies to lowering grades and increasing mental disorders we have to be careful online. Social media can be entertaining but it comes with its costs. Lets try and improve online to make it better.