HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS OUR MOOD, SLEEP, MENTAL HEALTH AND RELATIONSHIPS.

LIFESTYLE

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS OUR MOOD,

SLEEP, MENTAL HEALTH AND RELATIONSHIPS

Friday, 07 January 2022
By Bolat Aisulu

KAZAKHSTAN: The Internet is a large place where three billion people worldwide spend an average of 145 minutes per day, especially on social media. It plays a huge role in our daily lives hence, the question is how does it affect our livelihood?

Emergence of social media enables us to communicate efficiently through online communication. But, are we sacrificing our well being and precious time just to update our lunch?

Does it affect us in the slightest way that could reduce our well-being is a question asked by the scientist who conducted scientific research in order to understand the effects on our conscience.

MOOD: In 2014, Austrian researchers discovered 20 minutes spent on Facebook left users' mood in a sour state compared to browsing on the Internet. They feel like it's a waste of time.

In the period from 2009 to 2012, scientists analyzed the emotional component of more than a billion statuses of about 100 million Facebook users.

Results show that posting could influence users both in positive and negative manner.The analysis showed that bad weather increased the number of negative messages by 1%.

One negative post written by someone during the rain affected 1.3 messages of friends in other cities where the weather at that time was sunny.

Despite this, the hilarious messages had a strong impact. As scientists found out, each pleasant post inspired 1.75 messages written on a positive note.

SLEEP: The habit of updating news feeds on social media before going to bed has a bad effect on the quality of sleep.

In 2017 researchers from the University of Pittsburgh surveyed 1,700 people aged 18 to 30 about how they use social networks.The blue light that our gadgets emit plays an essential role in sleep disturbance.

The worst thing was not the total time spent on the network, but the frequency of events in it, which indicated an ‘obsessive habit’ of constantly checking for updates.

Spending time on social media platforms past your sleep time can directly affect your circadian rhythm due to being exposed to blue light emitted from the device.

(Source: Berita DIMENSi / Fuad Nizam)

MENTAL HEALTH: In 2013 a study found out that users tend to feel unsatisfied with life the more they spend on social media platforms.

Users with emotional instability are more likely to express their feelings on the platform to seek emotional comfort among users.

Social media addiction hinders ordinary human-to-human interaction. This will lead to future generations being introverts and only living their life only on the Internet.

(Source: Berita DIMENSi / Bolat Aisulu Erlankyzy)

RELATIONSHIP: University of Guelph in Canada surveyed 300 Facebook users aged 17-24 on their emotional reaction towards their partners association with strangers of the opposite sex.

Results show women tend to spend more time compared to men more likely to experience jealousy.

University of Guelph concluded it as “the environment of the social network contributes to this feeling of increasing anxiety in the quality of their relationship”.

Social media does have its effects on our well-being but to draw the final conclusion is still early to debate.

Regardless, the likelihood of users to decrease in using social media is unlikely as it is synonymous with our cultural norm.

To say social media destroys our lives and well-being is far stretched as it aids us in building communication.

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