A lot of people though becomes too dependent on social media which leads to disconnection and loneliness instead. A study among young adults in the US reports that heavy use of platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, twitter and Instagram is associated with feelings of social isolation.
The University of Pittsburgh (UP) surveyed 1,787 U.S. adults aged 19 to 32 and asked them about their usage of 11 social media platforms.
They also asked participants questions related to social isolation, such as how often they felt left out.
The participants who reported spending the most time on social media — over two hours a day — had twice the odds of perceived social isolation than those who said they spent a half-hour per day or less on the same sites.
Author of Disconnected, Tom Kersting in an interview with the Readers Digest said “Humans are social-emotional beings, meaning that it is in our DNA to be connected, face-to-face, with other humans… Although people think being on social media all the time makes them ‘connected’ to others, they are actually ‘disconnected,’ because the more time one spends behind a screen, the less time one spend face-to-face.”
So ask yourself and assess, is your activity with social media still healthy?
Kersting suggests instead of looking at someone else’s life online, one must resist the temptation of doing so and enjoy reality more.
“[People] are spending a lot of time voyeuristically looking at everyone else’s posts, where they are, where they are going and what they are doing. The constant exposure to everyone else’s ‘perfect’ life experiences causes feelings of being left out, of being lonely,” he said.
“Just focus on your own life, where you’re going, what you are grateful for, and what you want to accomplish in this world. Then go out and do it, and stop wasting so much time comparing.” he continued.
