Is social media bad for us?

[Joseph41]

Siderant but individuals who look for online dating as a place to start relationships. I can't. It has to at least start face to face.

Do you think it just... wouldn't work if it hadn't started face-to-face?

[heids]

My thoughts on the negatives of how we use social media, which absolutely doesn't exclude positives but ceebs adding that to the post atm lol, l8r

1 || Takes away from IRL experiences: Seriously, catching up with friends and checking your phone all the way through?  Or finding value in doing things from social-media-ing them rather than from the actual experience?

2 ||  Inauthenticity and envy: You're so much more in control of how you appear online than IRL, and it's so easy to present an inauthentic or skewed picture (e.g. always presenting socialising/healthy eating/great relationship/exercising/great job/fun times etc, or always being a picked-on drama queen). This can cause so much envy and not-good-enough-ness.

3 ||  Short attention span: Constant multi-tasking, flipping between things, stopping tasks every couple of minutes to check social media again, never finishing anything you read or watch but always clicking on to something new... it's destructive of your ability to be productive and work deeply, and leaves you with this background noise level of anxiety and unease and heightened pressure.

4 ||  Group think: self-explanatory.

5 ||  Poorer relationships: Yeah, IRL really does help with bonding, understanding, vulnerability, and social skills.  Online (tends to) be much shallower and less... real.

6 ||  Narcissism and validation-seeking: Measuring your worth by the likes and comments you got, and manipulating your image just to get more, is hardly healthy.

7 ||  Stress and pressure: I get hugely overwhelmed by too many messages to answer and the pressure to answer straight away, and good ol' FOMO.

[Wales]

My thoughts on the negatives of how we use social media, which absolutely doesn't exclude positives but ceebs adding that to the post atm lol, l8r

1 || Takes away from IRL experiences: Seriously, catching up with friends and checking your phone all the way through?  Or finding value in doing things from social-media-ing them rather than from the actual experience?

2 ||  Inauthenticity and envy: You're so much more in control of how you appear online than IRL, and it's so easy to present an inauthentic or skewed picture (e.g. always presenting socialising/healthy eating/great relationship/exercising/great job/fun times etc, or always being a picked-on drama queen). This can cause so much envy and not-good-enough-ness.

3 ||  Short attention span: Constant multi-tasking, flipping between things, stopping tasks every couple of minutes to check social media again, never finishing anything you read or watch but always clicking on to something new... it's destructive of your ability to be productive and work deeply, and leaves you with this background noise level of anxiety and unease and heightened pressure.

4 ||  Group think: self-explanatory.

5 ||  Poorer relationships: Yeah, IRL really does help with bonding, understanding, vulnerability, and social skills.  Online (tends to) be much shallower and less... real.

6 ||  Narcissism and validation-seeking: Measuring your worth by the likes and comments you got, and manipulating your image just to get more, is hardly healthy.

7 ||  Stress and pressure: I get hugely overwhelmed by too many messages to answer and the pressure to answer straight away, and good ol' FOMO.

Agree with every single point you've made. World would be nicer without it but it's far too late now. Whenever my friends and I go eat they're just browsing through FB when they eat instead of talking. I get it if you're alone but in a group...:\