Social media has completely changed the way people interact. While there are a lot of positives with using it to communicate and share useful information, social media has a dark side also, which can have a negative effect on your behavior and health.
Social media has been on the receiving end of some negative press lately. Statistics are showing that 91% of 16-24-year-olds use the internet for social networking. Social media use is linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression and poor sleep. Social media has been described as more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol. The social media app Instagram was listed as one of the worst social apps.
Time is not free
Although Instagram is free to use, time is not free. Using Instagram can be very time-consuming. Spending your time scrolling through photos, liking, commenting and engaging with people will decrease your productivity in other areas of your life.
This can lead to poor mental health
Interacting with this app can also cause stress and anxiety as you feel you cannot respond to all of your followers. As Instagram is an image based platform another way it can cause stress and anxiety is from praying on insecurities and making people self-conscious of their image and account. Research suggests that young people who spend more than 2 hours per day on social media are more likely to have poor mental health problems.
You can become detached from reality
The overuse of social media apps can stop you from living in the real world. You may end up commenting on the lives of people you have never met in a social media fantasy. As a result, this could lead to less contact with real and important people in your own life.
Entice negative emotions
Jealousy is one of the most common negative effects of Instagram. When you see people posting pictures of their luxurious life it is hard not to compare it to your own life and feel jealous. Jealously is a negative emotion.
Can affect your beauty sleep
The use of social media apps can affect your sleep. Also, the use of phones, laptops, and tablets at night time before bed is also linked with poor quality sleep.
It is important to find a balance in order to be healthy
Although this article focuses on the negatives of social media and specifically Instagram, there are lots of positives from using these apps. It is important to find a balance and not to overuse them. Overuse of these apps can lead to addiction and the other negative effect mentioned earlier.
Take a break from using Instagram and have a Bot manage your account
It is ok to take some time out from social media.
However, if you are worried that lack of management of your Instagram account this will lead to negative outcomes such as a loss of followers then you can use an automated service. Fred Harrington’s blog is a good place to start looking, as he discusses lots of services such as Instazood.
Using an automated service like an Instagram bot will manage your account by engaging with your audience. Features such as following, liking, commenting and private messaging accounts means that when you implement the use of a bot you can have free time to yourself without worrying about the negative effects it will have on your account.