Social media is used by hundreds of millions of people every single day, every single second. It has made individuals grow an addiction slowly over time without even noticing. There are many downsides to social media, but also many upsides. You are able to meet new people from around the world, build relationships, discover things you didn’t know before, promote businesses/grow your business and way more. But being on social media comes with a lot of problems and negativity, that can majorly impact you mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Main causes of addiction to social media are low-self esteem, personal dissatisfaction, depression, hyperactivity, and lack of affection. People crave affection, those they don’t receive at home, they use the affection of likes and comments from others on the internet. It’s almost impossible to get off social media, one you get on it, you can’t get off. Speaking from personal experience, people join social media like Tik Tok, Instagram, Snap chat, Twitter, Facebook, etc. They join because they see others joining, they join because something is trending and they don’t want to be the only one who is left out and doesn’t know what’s trending in 2022. This is the start of an unwanted addiction, and the sense of satisfaction every time you receive a like.

There are many downsides more than there are upsides to social media, in my opinion. I think it’s unhealthy how kids at such a young age get exposed to social media so early in life. They should have the chance to experience their childhood years, and not worry about their appearance or how many likes they’re going to get tomorrow. But like I said, social media is used everywhere and anytime, it’s almost impossible to not want to join it. People will always be preaching about how badly social media has affected our lives and how we should immediately get off it, but we will always continue to use it. 

I think it’s almost impossible to stay off social media and not join any apps nowadays because of the popularity and impact it has on everyone. It has everyone, of all ages, everywhere, using it 24/7. Toddlers on Youtube, teens on Tik Tok, moms on Facebook, etc. Like I’ve stated previously, people crave interaction and connection with/from other people. Popularity of social media also contains memes, videos, images that attracts a lot of people and attention. This is how it grows so fast and spreads to everyone all over the world. 

Even though social media is used every single day by basically everyone, I still think there can be somewhat of a solution. People can limit themselves to using their cellphones everyday. I think it’s fine to watch your  TV, computer for working/homework, and video games. But to limit using your cell phone only because that’s what contains everything, and what you’re usually used to. For example, like me, once I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is use my cell phone and check my socials, and I think others do the same as well. This is an example of how not to limit your use of your cellphone which develops bad habits. Even though it can be hard getting out of habits, just take it slowly overtime and try to find other things to distract yourself.