Nagitive effects of social media
SOCIAL MEDIA
I'm Taj Abu, and that I will discussthe unintended consequences social media is havingon your psychological state.
I will show you what'sstressing you out a day, what it's doing to you, and the way you'llcrafta better experience for yourself online. Just over a year ago, my sister and that I took a four-dayvacation to Jasper, Alberta. This was the primary no-work vacationI had taken in four years. On this vacation, I used to begoing dark. i used to be turning on airplane mode, no email and no social media. the primary day there, i used to be still experiencingphantom vibration syndrome. That's where you think your phone went off, and you checked and it didn't.
i used to bechecking incessantly. i used to be distracted in conversation. i used to be seeing these gorgeous sightsJasper had to supply, and my first reactionwas to require out my phone and post it on social. But in fact it wasn't there. The second day was a touch bit easier.
You might be thinking I'm ridiculous, but I hadn't been completelydisconnected in over four years. This was practically a new experience again. It wasn't until the fourth day I used to be there that I used to be finally comfortable without my phone. I used to besitting with my sister, literally on the side of this mountain, once I started thinking to myself:
"What is social media doing to me? what's it doing to my peers?" That was only four days, and it had been anxiety-inducing, it had been stressful and itresulted in withdrawals.
That's once I began to ask questions and have since startedmy master's research into this subject. I've worked in social marketing primarily in education for many of my career. meaning I workwith tons of 18- to 24-year-olds, which also happens to be the foremost active demographicon social media.
The opposite thing you would like to understand about me is that I'm young enoughto have grown up with social media, but just sufficiently old to be ableto critically engage with it during a way that twelve-year-old couldn't meprobably.
My life is social media: personally, professionally and academically. If it had been doing this to me, what was it doing to everyone else? I immediately acknowledged I wasn't alone. The middle for collegiate mental healthfound that the highest three diagnoses on University campusesare anxiety, depression and stress.
Numerous studies from the US, Canada, the UK, you name it, have linked this high social media use with these high levelsof anxiety and depression. But the scary thing that prime social media use is almost everyone I know: my friends, my family, my colleagues.
90% of 18- to 29-year-oldsare on social media. We spend on averagetwo hours each day there. we do not even eat for 2 hours each day. 70% of the Canadian population on social media. Our vote isn't even 70%. Anything we do that often deserve critical observation. Anything we spend this much time doinghas lasting effects on us. So let me introduce you to four of the foremostcommonstressors on social media, that if go unchecked have potential to becomefull-blown psychological state issues, and this is often by no means exhaustive list.
Number one:
the Highlight Reel. a bit like in sports, the highlight reel may be a collectionof the simplest and brightest moments. Social media isour personal highlight reel. It's where we put up our wins, or once we look great, or once we are outwith friends and family. But we struggle with insecurity because we compare behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reels.
We are constantly comparingourselves to others. Yes, this was happeningbefore social media, with TV and celebrity, but now it's happening all the time, and it's directly linked to you.
A perfect example I came acrossin preparation for this talk is my friend on vacation:
'brb, nap ...' (Laughter) 'Wait, why can't I afford a vacation? Why am I just sitting herein my PJ's watching Netflix? I would like to get on a beach. ' Here's the thing, I do know her alright. I knew this wasout of the standard for her. I knew she was typically drowning in schoolwork.
But we expect, 'Who wants to ascertain that?' The highlights arewhat people want to ascertain. In fact, when your highlights had the best, you encounter the secondstressor on social media.
Which is number two:
Social Currency. a bit like the dollar, a currencyis literally something we use to attribute value to an honest or service. In social media, these likes, the comments, the shares became this type of social currencyby which we attribute value to something.
In marketing, we call it 'Economy of Attention'. Everything is competingfor your attention, and once you give something like a bit of that finite attention, it becomes a recorded transactionattributing value.
Which is great if you are selling albums or clothing. the matter is that in our social media, [WE are the merchandise.] We are letting othersattribute value to us. you recognize someone or are someonethat has taken down a photograph because it didn't take as many likesas you thought it might.
I'll admit, I've beenright there with you. We took our product off the shelfbecause it wasn't selling fast enough. this is often changing our sense of identity. We are docking our self-worthof what others believe us then we are quantifying itfor everyone to ascertain.
and that we are obsessed. We've got to urge that selfie good, and we'll take 300 photos to form sure. Then we'll wait for the right time to post. We are so obsessed we've biological responseswhen we won't participate. Which leads me to third stressor on social media.
Number three: F.O.M.O. it is a light phrasewe've all thrown around. F.O.M.O., or the 'fear of missing out', is an actual social anxiety from the fear that you are simply missing a potential connection, event, or opportunity.
a set of Canadian Universitiesfound that 7/10 students said they might get rid ofthe social networking accounts if it weren't for fearof being left 'out of the loop'. Out of curiosity, what percentagepeople here have, or have considereddeactivating your social. That's almost everyone.
That F.O.M.O. you feel, the highlight reels, the social currency, those are all results of a relatively 'normal' social media experience. But what if happening social every daywas a terrifying experience? Where you not justquestion your self-worth but you question your safety?
Perhaps the worst stressoron social media is number four: Online Harassment. 40% of online adultshave experienced online harassment. 73% have witnessed it.
The unfortunate reality isthat it's much worse and far more likely if you're a lady, LGBTQ, a person of color, muslim - i feel you get the purpose.
The problem is that within the newswe are seeing these big stories:
The 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, who took his life after his roommatesecretly filmed him kissing another guy and outed him on Twitter.
We see women like Anita Sarkeesianbeing on the brink of shamed of the web and sent death and rape threatsfor sharing their feminism. We see these stories once it's too late. What about the everydayonline harassment?
What that ugly snapchatyou sent your friend with the intention of it being private, and now it'sabreast of Facebook? 'And so? It's only onephoto, it's funny. ' 'Just one mean comment, not an enormous deal.' But when these micro momentshappen over and once again, over time, that's once we have a macro problem.
we've got to recognize everyday instances too. Because if they are goingunchecked and the consequences unnoticed, we are getting to havemany more Tyler Clementis. the consequences aren't alwayseasy to recognize.
What percentage of you've got noticed the notifications at the highest of my screen? What percentage of you, like me, are bothered that they are not checked? Ok, let me check them for you. (Sighs) Okay! only one small exampleof what this will do to you. Maybe you merely cannot focusbecause your notifications are going off the handle, and you would like to see.
That need, eventually becomes addiction. Regarding social media, we are already experiencing impairment similar to substance dependencies. With every like, you get a shotof that feel-good chemical, dopamine. You gain more of that social currency.So what can we do to feel good? We check likes - only one longer.
We post - only one longer.
We are anxious if we don't have access. Doesn't that sound like every drugyou have ever heard of? Yeah! So when that grows, when your social media usegoes unconfronted overtime, that's once we see the rising levelsof anxiety and depression: the F.O.M.O. the distractions, the highlight reels, the comparisons; it is a lot, and it's all the time!
The Canadian Association of Psychological State found that grades 7-12 students spent two hours each day on social media reported higher levels of hysteria, depression and suicidal thoughts. For those of you doing the maths, that's as young as twelve years old.
Here is the thing, I prefer social media. I do, I love it. Hearing what I've said today might cause you to thinkI want you to urgeoff of it. But i do not. i don't think it's going anywhere, so I'm not getting to waste my time telling you to spend less timeon social media. Frankly, I do not thinkabsence is an option anymore.
But that doesn't mean you can't practice 'safe social'. Everything I even have talked about today has nothing and everything to dowith social media. I mean, social mediais neither good nor bad.
It's just the foremost recent tool we use to do what we've always done: tell stories and communicate with one another. you wouldn't blame Samsung Television for a nasty television program. Twitter doesn't make peoplewrite hateful posts.
Once we talk about this dark side of social media, what we actually talk about is the dark side of individuals. That dark side that createsharassers harass; that insecurity that makes youtake down a photograph you were excited to share.
That dark side that appears at a pictureof a cheerful family and wonders why yours doesn't appear as if that. So as parents, as educators, as friends, as bosses this dark side iswhat we'd like to specialize in. We'd likepreventative strategies and coping strategies in order that once you have your low days -because you'll - when you're questioning your self-worth, you never get as low as Tyler Clementi - and therefore the many others like him. 'OK, Bailey, how does one findsocial media wellness?'
Here's the great news: Recognizing a problemis the primary step to fixing it. So hearing this talk is simply that, step one: recognize the matter. you recognize the facility of suggestion, when someone tells you about somethingand you begin seeing it everywhere.
That's why awareness is critical. Because now you'll at least better prepare torecognize these effects if and once theyhappen to you.
The second thing you're getting to dois audit your social media diet. an equivalent way we monitorwhat goes into our mouth, monitor whatever goesinto your head and heart.
Ask yourself: 'Did that Facebook scrollmake make me feel better or worse off?' 'How many times do I actually check likes?' 'Why am I respondingthis thanks to that photo?' Then ask yourself if you arehappy with the results.
You might be and that is OK! But if you are not, advance to step three. Create a far better online experience. After my partner did his audit, he realized his self-worthwas too engaged in social media, but particularly celebrities reminding him of the items he did not have. So he unfollowed all brandsand all celebrities.
That worked for him. But it'd not be celebrities for you. For me, I had to purgeother people off my timeline. Let me tell you a secret. you are doing not need to follow your 'friends'.
the reality is that sometimes our friends, or the people we haveon Facebook as a courtesy, they only suck online! you discover yourself in this passive-aggressive status war you didn't even know was happening.
otherwise you are watching 50 photosof an equivalent concert from an equivalent angle. (Laughter) If you would like to follow artists, or comedians, or cats, you'll do this. The last item you'll dois model good behavior.
Offline we are taught to not bullyother kids within the playground. We are taught to respect others and treat them how they deserve. We are taught to not kick others when they're down, or show pride in their downfalls. Social media may be a tool. A tool which will be used permanently, for more positive groups, for revolutions, for puttinggrumpy cat in Disney movies.
(Laughs) Internet may be a weird place. Is social media hurting your mental health? the solution is: it doesn't need to. Social can tear you down, yes, or it can lift you up, where you allow feeling more happy, or have an actual laugh-out-loud.
Finally, I even have 24 hours during a day, if I spend two of these hourson social media, then I would like my experiences to be fullof inspiration, laughs, motivation, and an entire lot of grumpy catin Disney movies. Thank you. (Applause)
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