Daily Times

If checking your phone is the first thing that you do in the morning, even before brushing your teeth and saying good morning to your close ones, it is likely that you are a phone addict. You aren’t the only one in this battle; there are millions of people around the world who do it, getting a charge out of it. As indicated by Statista.com, 2.7 billion people use social media across the globe, and the number is expected to rise to 3.02 billion in 2021. The networks with the most penetration among social media in 2018 are Facebook (60.6 percent), Instagram (37.4 percent), and Snapchat (30.9 percent). In Pakistan, Facebook use stands at 89.96 percent, YouTube at 4.57 percent, Twitter 2.69 percent, and Instagram at 0.77 percent.

The digital world also has Pinterest, Google+ and many more. The real-time content, exposure, shopping, business, communication and networking opportunities that these social media platforms provide draw audiences to the digital world like a moth to a fire. It is, in this sense, nothing unexpected if people are dependent on it. But the statistics are alarming, and the harmful consequences for the users weigh more than the good.

It is still debatable how much use is considered addictive, the BBC Future poll data proposes that over 40 percent of its respondents claimed spending at least two hours on social networking. There are also some people who spend more than six hours a day on the internet. Regardless of the numbers, social media platforms, reportedly, have a number of grave influences on the users, some very disturbing.

The essential concerns like wasting time, distressing relationships, disturbed sleep cycle, migraine, affecting eyesight and overall health, decreased productivity and efficiency, and contributing to sluggishness, are some of the profoundly examined impacts of excessive use of social media. There are also other consequences of excessive exposure to screen time.

To begin with, those glued to the screen for an extended time become insulated and forget about other things in life. They are so engrossed in online activities that the happenings of present reality are lost. Frequently, valuable minutes are missed -utilising telephone while eating with friends or family. Occasions that once used to be a social affair for the entire family, an opportunity to talk and bond, are lost in the contemporary, tech-oriented lifestyles as people give more importance to their cellular phones. Who cares for what parents are saying, what’s happening on social platforms shouldn’t be missed.

Wisdom, once received from family elders, school teachers and mentors has been overshadowed by online content, disseminated by popular social media people, who at the core of their job, aim solely at an increased follower base to advertise big brands, leading towards further commercialisation and consumption. Dr Tim Bono, writer of When Likes Aren’t Enough: A Crash Course in the Science of Happiness, said: “If we direct all our attention toward capturing the perfect shot for social media followers to admire, less will be available to enjoy other aspects of the experience in real time.” And this is exactly what is happening. The notification tricks that are used by social sites serve the purpose of keeping their users drawn to them all the time. We all know how hard is to ignore this addictive trick.

The impact on failing connections has taken another height. New reports have now come to surface that relate social media use to poor parenting. Some of the most valuable moments – their child’s first step, the first word – are lost while parents remain engrossed in the digital world. This is not just a plain observation; it is in the landmark report commissioned by the Queensland government, and carried out by the Queensland Family and Child Commission, published recently. It has revealed alarming statistics, showing that stressed out children feel ignored almost daily, as their parents immerse themselves in the online world.

A staggering 60 percent of children said that they were worried about the amount of stress they were under, and felt that their parents were not interested in their lives. The same report reveals that a large number of children are resorting to speaking with their pets when their parents do no give them attention. Such children take to online networking to get the attention they don’t get in real life.

Space CEO Georgie Powell once said, “The wake-up moment for me was when I was breastfeeding my daughter while looking at photos of her on my phone. I was so distracted by my phone, I wasn’t present with her.”

From a psychological viewpoint, the negative effect of unnecessary utilisation of online life, on emotional and mental wellness of people, is huge. There are a number of effects of web-based life on psychological well-being. It affects the sleeping pattern, as scrolling feeds is more amusing than nuzzling. Teenagers, particularly, observe irregular sleeping times because they can’t put the gadget away, sometimes until dawn, in fear of passing up on a ‘major opportunity’. Not having proper sleep causes fatigue and poor mental development.

The blue light emitted by screens of cell phones, computers, tablets, and televisions restrains the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls the sleep and wake cycle

The blue light emitted by screens on cell phones, computers, tablets, and televisions restrains the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls the sleep and wake cycle or the circadian rhythm. Too much light, as emitted from screens, at night, can affect melatonin production, and fool the brain into thinking the body isn’t ready for sleep. Due to improper sleep pattern, a person would be tired and groggy in the morning or throughout the day.

Low self-esteem is another disastrous effect of social media sites on people who use them regularly. To some individuals, these popular sites, with easy accessibility to all kinds of people, act as a method of self-branding. They deliberately keep their profiles catchy with glamour feeds and aesthetically perfect pictures to gain followers, likes, more preferences, and greater prominence. They pick their substance astutely, and just post what is entertaining. When others check these profiles, they contrast their lives with them, not understanding the reality. A number of users fake their real selves while using social media platforms. They portray their unreal perfect selves to get attention, which is hardly like their real life that could be dull and depressing. Social media sites shatter self-esteem of their users greatly, which again is related to mental health problems. Those who don’t use social media a lot are more content with their lives.

Bullying on popular social media networks is another big issue. There are various ways of bullying: persistent messaging, sharing humiliating photographs or secret information online, giving threatening remarks, trolling, body shaming, and making fun. Where internet accessibility has reached everyone, it has also reached bad people. Insensible social order imitating and making counterfeit profiles are different types of cyber-bullying. If not handled, it can devastate lives by causing emotional stress and depression, making a correlation with self-harm and suicide.

In view of the accessibility of a more extensive gathering of people in a borderless world, social media sites are often used to spew hatred in the name of the right to speak freely. When some senseless individuals degrade others, or speak about sensitive topics like religion, faith and race without realising that people identifying with these sentiments also use the same platforms, things become bad. Because of that, social disruption occurs in less tolerant societies. Until administrations of these systems work out a component to handle hate discourses and violent substance, lives would continue to be affected.

The Pew Research Centre conducted a survey of young Americans; 27 percent of the respondents agreed on the negative effect of social media. Some of the responses of teenagers shedding light on aforementioned concerns were:

“Gives people a bigger audience to speak and teach hate and belittle each other.”

“It makes it harder for people to socialise in real life, because they become accustomed to not interacting with people in person.”

“It provides a fake image of someone’s life. It sometimes makes me feel that their life is perfect when it is not.”

“Teens would rather go scrolling their phones instead of doing their homework, and it’s so easy to do so. It’s just a huge distraction.”

In one way or the other, social media inflicts a great deal of damage on the user. Although it is still not clear how much use can be labelled as an addiction, there are ways to monitor it. If you have the undeniable urge to check your social media accounts all day long, can’t ignore notification pop-ups, and can’t think of surviving a day without using any of your accounts, it could be considered an addiction that needs attention.

Diverse actions proceeding to help limit social media usage are now being adopted. Some of them are: celebrities taking days off their social media accounts, and efforts like ’99 days of freedom’ and digital detoxing strategies. Different apps have been introduced that monitor individuals’ phone usage. Hold is one such incentive, aimed at students. Hold tracks how much time they spend not using their phone, and converts that into points to be redeemed for real-world rewards like snacks and cinema tickets.

Developing habits of not using phone at dinner table, meeting people in real, not allowing cell phones in classrooms, and banning use of cell phones in restaurants and excursion spots can make a huge impact. Individuals are responsible for their social media use, and simple steps like deleting a few apps, turning notifications off, and sticking to checking or using once a day strategy, can help significantly in keeping a real existence outside a web-based life. A walk in the park, reading a book, watching TV with family, having a coffee, drawing, and writing aimlessly can be some of the substitutes that one can adopt to kill the temptation for social media.

Schools and parents, in particular, need to be careful in educating children about the right use of cell phones. Measures like taking the time to discuss appropriate use, establishing guidelines, and coming up with a family agreement before children get a phone is ideal. Creating daily and weekly offline time as part of the family routine is helpful; not allowing phones at a summer camp, an outdoor expedition, or a family trip, or creating phone-free zones, can also help teens break negative habits. Encouraging children to other social activities and hobbies, like sports and voluntary services, can also help lessen their obsession with online activities.

Monitoring personal cell use is the first move towards cognisant utilisation. Erasing superfluous applications and turning notifications off could be the initial steps towards decreased utilisation of mobile phones.

Although the term social media addiction is yet to be defined rigorously, using social media mindlessly for the greater part of the day is as harmful as consuming actual drugs. It needs attention and awareness. The real world around us is definitely a lot more beautiful and valuable than the fake digital world that spills over all other aspects of life. To be able to experience that we need to lift our heads from our screens. Otherwise, we would be living with anxiety, depression, loneliness, and fatigue.

The writer is a freelancer