Introduction
Social media is any website that gives their users the opportunity to exchange information. In the era of globalization and rapid development of science and different devices, it is very easy to hang out in social media. Nowadays almost every representative of teenagers and youth spends a lot of time emailing with somebody on the other side of the screen. It is quite okay. On the other hand, there are two sides of the same coin, and some problems may arise. We can’t deny the fact of existing of negative effects of social media. We can identify cyberbullying, social media addiction, lack of social abilities, problems of self-esteem and education as the most frequent among the users of social media.
Bullying
Social media is a huge platform for such kind of crime as cyberbullying. It is a manifestation of aggression and harassment through mobile devices or another mean of social media whose aim is to abuse the individual or to cause harm. Approximately 36 percent of teenagers that were interviewed during the survey in 2016 said that had become victims of cyberbullying. It can occur in different ways, for example, in pecking, spreading of rumours, blackmailing or posting personal information. This kind of crime is typical for teenagers. A lot of them try to get some information, make another person do something or boost their self-esteem in such a way. The example of cyberbullying consequences is a loss of self-esteem by the victim. It is largely due to the fact that the majority of teenagers are not mature enough to withstand the pressure. Some of them don’t know what to do when they are facing bullying and prefer keeping it a secret. The longer period this harassment takes, the worse situation with self-esteem is. Cyberbullying may cause depression and make the individual feel angry, scared, and frustrated and so on. There are a lot of cases when bullying has become the reason for suicides. The majority of parents think that their children have never been victims of cyberbullying. Parents should pay close attention to any changes in the behaviour of their children if they want to avoid possible unpleasant consequences.
Addiction
Using social media can lead to addiction that is considered to be a very widespread phenomenon and equated to disease. Most people are not used to paying attention how long time they spend texting on Facebook or scrolling different photos on Instagram. Nowadays it is assumed that social media addiction is a serious problem. It is believed that almost 240 million people all over the world are addicted to social media. As we can see, a lot of people spend more than 4 hours per day with their mobile devices in their hands. If there is no access to the Internet, they feel uncomfortable and nervous. These people can not imagine their life without checking all messages. It is okay if the individual is texting with 4-5 people and it doesn’t take a lot of time to check all answers. However, if there are more people who a person communicates with the help of different devices, some problems may arise. There are a lot of cases when the individual forgets about everything that happens around and has a compulsive desire to check the messages or to text with somebody. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways of dealing with social media addiction, but the first step to healing must be made by the social media addict. First of all, they need to accept the fact that they spend too much time with their mobile devices counting how many likes they have got on Facebook and checking all messages. Then, they need to find out to what specific kind of social media they are addicted. In most of the cases, it is not as easy task as it may seem at first glance. As a rule, people don’t even notice how many times they take their mobile devices in their hands to check something.
Education
One of the negative effects of social media is the deterioration of education. First of all, this problem may be familiar with college students. The individual may prefer to text with somebody, check the news and the number of likes they have got instead of doing their assignment or preparing for the exam. As a result, the level of their knowledge and the quality of education are deteriorating. Secondly, being a college student most people don’t pay close attention to what they are posting on their page on Facebook, for example. If your prospective chief decides to check your activity in some social media, using social media can affect your future career.
Social abilities
The ability of the individual to successfully communicate with other people in face-to-face conversations also falls under the negative effects of social media. There are a lot of cases when a person spends so much time flying into different devices and communicating with other only with the help of Internet that they find it difficult to establish communication with a real interlocutor during a face-to-face conversation. A person may be the life and soul of the party while texting on Facebook, but when it comes to living interaction, they feel uncomfortable and insecure.
Conclusion
It is an undeniable fact that social media is an important part of our everyday life. Nowadays, when all spheres of our life depend a lot on the Internet and even business affairs can be done with the help of mobile devices, all of us should be careful with the amount of time we spend checking our emails. In order to avoid such problems as cyberbullying, social media addiction and self-esteem issues we must be aware of the negative effects of social media. All of us should pay more attention to how many times a day we use our devices and check the messages instead of communication with our family and friends. New technologies are very useful; however, it is essential not to get lost among them and find a middle ground in using them.
