How Social Media Negatively Affected Me

The use of Social Media has become a significant part of our daily activities. I mean, I can see why. The moment you open up these apps, you’ll see things that interest you, like, funny cat videos, or memes (probably one of the main reasons we use social media today). So…if it’s so good, how could it negatively affect you?

The Genesis

I was raised in a family that wasn’t that fortunate, so things like computers and phones weren’t that much prevalent. However, the moment I got a hold of these and more, I couldn’t stop using it. The internet was the next big thing. It’s that one central place where everything happens. From new trends to breaking news, cool games, videos, and more, the world wide web became the most significant thing out there. So, I was bound to be addicted to it.

So, social media happened, but at that time, I was less interested in using the sites for posting content and much more involved in the gaming aspect. Yeah, I joined Facebook to play games. I was just a 12-year-old kid playing around on the internet, and Ninja Saga happened to come across my online journey. But as I grew older, games were less exciting, and I started posting content that caught the attention of my friends, and boy was that the genesis of my addiction. The Attention! You get a special feeling when people interact with your content; The sense of popularity. But my social media presence wasn’t that big because, well, I had to study for exams. But I immediately became much more active when I graduated high school and was jobless. I created more posts, liked more videos, commented, and I sunk deep into the abyss of the social media era. That’s where things became interesting.

The Effects

As I became more interactive with people on Facebook and much more aware of the different personalities in society, my understanding of life and the people in it changed. I realized that they’re people who are extremely pressed when it comes to individuals with views contradicting theirs, and then they’re those that are pretty much carefree. Opinions were the most posted content on these social media platforms, so I started posting mine, and things stirred up a little. People posted their views on politics and human rights, and yeah, I got worked up. So I started commenting on them and try proving them wrong and sharing my opinions with these people, but they were so one-sided that they’ve literally blocked out the views of others and only accepted what they believe. That was one of the annoying things that got me about the internet. Eventually, I became so much focused on arguing with people online, I developed that argumentative mentality in reality, and that’s what affected me. And the one most common thing about the internet was that the posts resonated tons of negativity. It drew people to argue and fed their minds with all of the negatives of the world. Seeing things like that changes you. Not everyone is affected by this, though. Of course, some blank out all of the negatives and focuses on the positives. However, sometimes even those positive posts affect me.

Lost Time

Time was one thing that I killed when I used social media. I became so focused on watching videos and memes that I found myself lost and drifting away into a lonely place. Imagine, and I think someone said this before, we’re living in the most connected era ever, yet we still feel alone, and I think that’s what affected me. Yeah, there are tons of videos out there that are motivational, the ones that highlight “Facebook is sucking the time out of people” and yet there I was, killing time watching videos about time wasting time and doing nothing. I lost time using social media, and that in itself did more bad than good. Why? I was a student studying Computer Science, and I was working a full-time job at the same time. It was tough, and class required the most of my free time to research and prepare myself for the upcoming exams, but instead, I was on Instagram watching IGTV and saving posts of office setups that I wish I could afford. Oh, how I wish I could get back the time I wasted on those because when the exams came, I was cornered. You should see me in the nights trying to cover Calculus 1. Good times. But, seriously, I had a huge problem!

Remember when I mentioned, “we’re living in the most connected era ever, yet we still feel alone”? Let me explain. Today’s society has created multiple ways to connect people. The internet, being a worldwide network, is one of them. At the same time, we are less connected than before. Why? While being connected through these platforms by sharing posts and commenting and liking them, it still cannot compare to that connection you feel when you’re together in person. When I sit back and watch a video of people having fun, it gives me that temporary happiness but reminds me of how disconnected I am from my friends. It reminds me of how lonely I am, and eventually, I began to withdraw from people. Social media literally broke me. Now it was time for that to change.

The Decision

I decided to try going a month without social media. Now, this sounded Ludacris for me at first because of how addicted I was to the thing, but it was worth it. It was going to do so much for me, and I was betting on it. By the way, I did attempt it once and failed miserably, but I saw some changes in my life. It was like, a whole new me…for just a few mornings then back to good ole’ social media-obsessed Stephon. But I finally decided to commit. I was going to go Social Media-less for a whole month.

Thanks for reading my first ever Medium story.