Social media has been a blessing to our age. It has changed we way we think, spend time with our loved ones and the way we write. Essay writings are no longer as difficult as it used to be; you can scout the internet. You can quickly write about the cathedrals in Rome without having to visit the Vatican City.
You would naturally think that this is good for students with difficult essay topics and limited time to carry out detailed research. However, the urge to actually experience the vast history of art is now replaced by the digital world.
Students no longer feel the need to use the library when they can quickly get all the necessary information from the internet. Thus, the traditional reading culture is fasting dying off, and students are beginning to lose the urge for detailed study.
Social media has gently crept into our lives, and now everyone is eager to impress the virtual community. This has dramatically affected the way students handle their studies as the urge to read and carry out detailed research is on a rapid decline.
In this revealing piece, we are going to take you through the adverse effects of social media on students and how it affects their essay writing skills.
Depression and Anxiety
Do you spend more than two hours per day on social media? Spending too long on social networking sites could be adversely affecting your mood. In fact, you’re more likely to report poor mental health, including symptoms of anxiety and depression. This would cause a lot of downtimes, thus leading to poor study time and declining essay writing skills.
Cyberbullying
Today everyone knows what cyberbullying is, and most of us have seen what it can do to a person. And since screens hide our faces, you can even be a jerk on sites like Reddit without realizing it.
While social media made making friends easier, it also made it easier for predators to find victims. The anonymity that social networks provide can be used by the perpetrators to gain people’s trust and then terrorize them in front of their peers.
These online attacks often leave deep mental scars and even drive people to suicide in some cases. You’ll be surprised to find out that cyberbullying isn’t just affecting kids, but also full grown adults.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a phenomenon that was born at the same time as Facebook—and it’s one of the most common adverse effects of social media. FOMO is basically a form of anxiety that you get when you’re scared of missing out on a positive experience or emotions that someone else is getting.
This fear is continuously fueled by your social media engagement. The more you use social networks, the more likely you are to see that someone is having more fun that you are right now. And that’s precisely what causes FOMO.
Unrealistic Expectations
This one probably comes as no surprise, but social media helps you to form unrealistic expectations of life and friendships. The networks that do it most are Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Those are the social media platforms that severely lack online authenticity.
One simple way out of this is for everyone to quit lying on social media. But in the era of Instagram celebrities and YouTubers who earn millions, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Negative Body Image
Speaking of Instagram celebrities, if you look at the most-followed accounts on Instagram, you’ll find beautiful people wearing expensive clothes on their perfect bodies.
Today, body image is an issue for many people of both sexes. Of course, seeing those perfect by the social standards people daily makes you conscious about how different you look from those pictures. And not everyone comes to the right conclusions in this situation.
Unhealthy Sleep Patterns
On top of increased rates of anxiety and depression, spending too much time on social media can lead to poor sleep. Numerous studies have shown that increased use of social media hurts your sleep quality.
If you feel like your sleep patterns have become irregular and that this is affecting your productivity try and avoid spending a significant amount of time on social media. If you still have trouble sleeping, here are some more tricks to help you to sleep peacefully.
General Addiction
Social media is often described as being more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol. With the worst social media apps being Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat when it comes to addiction.
Don’t know if you’re addicted to your social networks? Think when the last time you went a full day without checking your social media accounts was? What if your favorite social networks completely disappeared tomorrow; would it make you feel empty and depressed?
If you just realized you’re addicted to social media, don’t worry, as most of us are there with you in varying degrees. And it’s not necessarily a reason to go and wipe you off all those social networking platforms.
However, if you think quitting is the best solution for you, we won’t stop you. In fact, one of our writers tried quitting social media once, and it was an exciting experience.
It’s visibly apparent that social media is slowly ruining reading habits amongst college students, thus affecting their essay writing skills. However, students with the ability to identify the real purpose of social media will always prevail against its adverse effects. Social media networking is one of reasons why college students address professional essay services to get their papers written by experts.