Social media is destroying our lives

I guess that you saw that coming, right? Because let's face it, social media has significantly changed the way in which we interact with others. You can use one of the big social media websites to launch your business, for example. It's easy to do that, because social media allows you to connect with people all over the world!

However, social websites can quickly overwhelm us with too much information. Once that the number of social media friends exceeds a few dozens, you are bound to see hundreds of updates every day! This makes it really hard to keep up with all this information and makes us waste (though in a pleasant way, I'll admit that) a lot of time.

While I like the idea of having social media friends just like the next guy or gal, I am quite sure that online interaction isn't a substitution for offline interaction. Yes, we call each other "friends", but research has consistently shown that social media doesn't promote real interaction. More than this, online interaction can quickly lead to anxiety, eating disorders and even suicide, especially among teens who get depressed because they can't match the looks or the possessions of their virtual friends.

Due to social media addiction, people end up spending many hours in front of their displays on a daily basis, and this leads to a sedentary lifestyle. Not only that, but the blue light that is emitted by the displays has been proven to disrupt our sleep. That is why specialists recommend people to turn off their displays at least two hours before going to bed. Alternatively, there are some applications that will reduce the amount of blue light, and hopefully help people get a better-quality sleep.

Social media posts cannot be deleted. Sure, you can believe that you've deleted an undesired message, but in reality, the website owner has the right to keep it in his system for as many years says he wants to. It's all in the fine print that you haven't read before clicking "Accept" when you've created that social media account. So, if you plan keep your reputation intact, you'd better post carefully.

Students who spend a few hours per day on social media sites tend to have lower grades. It isn't a surprise, because the information can be very entertaining on social media, and there are so many options to choose from. On the other hand, staring for hours in a row at a manual can be a very boring task, so students who have a diminished attention lifespan will have a hard time trying to memorize their lessons.

Clever crooks use social media to gather information, and then use it to commit crimes. Often, they will scan for messages that have been posted by people who have taken exotic vacations, for example. If you post a picture from France and they are your virtual "friends", they will know that you aren't at home and all that's left is to find out your address. Sadly, this is often very easy, because most people will gladly fill in all the required information whenever they create a new account somewhere on the web.

Social media addicts are also bombarded with highly targeted ads, and thus end up purchasing stuff that they don't actually need. Not only that, but companies of all sizes invade our privacy by getting access to, and then studying our most intimate data. They know what we like to eat, what perfume we prefer, and so on.

My recommendation is to take a social media break today. It's best to go out and meet some real friends, rather than waste your time creating a polished, virtual image of you online, which often doesn't match reality. You are an authentic human being, and you deserve to have an impact in the real world.