So we hear about negative effects all the time, but what are the
positive effects of social media under mental health? Let's take a look
at that today.
Social media has become a huge part of our culture and our society. It's something that we deal with all of the time. What are the effects that it has on our mental health? Well there's some upsides and there's some downsides.
There is no denying that social media has some of the great powers, and with powers comes great responsibilities.
We have another article about the negative effects of social media.
Read Now: Revealing The Downside of Social Media | A Serious Issue?
You can read to see what I had to say about that. And really, as I've looked over the the literature, both the popular literature and the things that have been done in actual studies, it's pretty clear that they tend to focus on the negative effects.
Well
yeah, that's why we use it. I remember years ago, when a couple were
just married. And they were having a conversation about wouldn't it be
nice if there were some way, some
magic phone number is all we could come up with, because this was before the internet.
Magic phone number that we could call and we could just find out where someone is or what they're doing. And there wasn't any magic phone number that we could call, but now there is.
And it's not a phone number, it's social media. You can look up someone you haven't heard from in years and you can find out some basic information about them. It is easier now to find out what's going on with people than it ever has been. And it's probably going to get even easier as the technology develops.
One of the most powerful boosts to our own mental health and feeling good and being confident, is to be connected with people.
And social media has made it easier to connect with people than it ever has been.
Now, let's talk about that connection for a moment, because one of the downsides of social media is that it's a superficial more of a distant kind of connection. It's not like having a face-to-face close interaction with someone, so if there's a little difference in the quality.
I found one study that was talking about the difference between passive versus active social media engagement.
Well
the friends and the connections start to come out and say, "oh we have
had a similar experience" or they're able to connect with that person in
a way that shows empathy and understanding. This leads to another
benefit of social media, which is the formation of groups who share a
common challenge or interest.
This is another thing that helps us to feel less alone and more connected with the people that we share the planet with.
As I started this article, I mentioned that most of the published opinions out there, seem to focus on the negatives or the downsides of social media. And I think that what it comes down to is having a real human connection as opposed to a more superficial or phony or fake connection.
That seems to be the real key. It seems to me like social media is more like fire, is fire good or is it bad?
Well, fire heats our homes, fire cooks our food, fire even runs our automobiles, but it's really destructive if it gets outside of the context where it's useful.
The fire gets out of the fireplace and can burn down the house. If he gets out of the fire pit, you can have a forest fire.
So it's powerful. It's neither good nor bad, it's powerful. As we understand the power of social media, we can take some appropriate steps to minimize the downsides and maximize the upsides through our mental health in our relationships.
So a few tips, for how to handle social media.
And I would recommend that you have a start time and an end time. So that you can allocate a little chunk of your life to it without getting sucked into it.
That's where some of the negative effects seem to have.
You don't want your social media life to run you. But you take charge of this, so take those push notifications off of your phone and just check it when
you've scheduled your time to check it.
And Here's...
What this means is you're going set a specific period of time when you will completely abstain from social media.
You'll just stay away from entirely. You're not going to check your feed, you're not going to post anything, you're not going to like or swipe anything.
A social media fast. Especially if you can engage the people you love to do this with you. What if your family for example, agreed to have a social media fast for 24 hours. What would you do? Could you connect a little more with the people that are around you, in a real life face-to-face sort of a way?
I'm not saying that social media is bad. I think there's a lot of upsides to Social Media. I think is we take intentional control over our use of that social media and we learn things about ourselves when we abstain for a little while from that.
It's going to enhance our experience of it and actually increase the positive benefits to our mental health. I just love that this Trending Gyan gives us a chance to stay in touch like this and I'm glad that you're here. Please comment below...
if you're new to this Blog then go through it and share it with someone that you think would appreciate it.
Social media has become a huge part of our culture and our society. It's something that we deal with all of the time. What are the effects that it has on our mental health? Well there's some upsides and there's some downsides.
 |
| The Positive side of social media |
There is no denying that social media has some of the great powers, and with powers comes great responsibilities.
We have another article about the negative effects of social media.
Read Now: Revealing The Downside of Social Media | A Serious Issue?
You can read to see what I had to say about that. And really, as I've looked over the the literature, both the popular literature and the things that have been done in actual studies, it's pretty clear that they tend to focus on the negative effects.
Are there any positive effects of social media?
magic phone number is all we could come up with, because this was before the internet.
Magic phone number that we could call and we could just find out where someone is or what they're doing. And there wasn't any magic phone number that we could call, but now there is.
And it's not a phone number, it's social media. You can look up someone you haven't heard from in years and you can find out some basic information about them. It is easier now to find out what's going on with people than it ever has been. And it's probably going to get even easier as the technology develops.
One of the most powerful boosts to our own mental health and feeling good and being confident, is to be connected with people.
And social media has made it easier to connect with people than it ever has been.
Now, let's talk about that connection for a moment, because one of the downsides of social media is that it's a superficial more of a distant kind of connection. It's not like having a face-to-face close interaction with someone, so if there's a little difference in the quality.
I found one study that was talking about the difference between passive versus active social media engagement.
Active Vs Passive Social Media Engagement
 |
| Active vs Passive Social Media use |
So
passive social media use would be just swiping through and looking at
this and looking at that, and just kind of browsing and going through
your social media feed in a very passive way.
Active social media use, would be intentionally engaging in conversations and adding comments and posting something about yourself.
The difference between active and passive involvement is profound, when it comes to how it impacts your mental health. And the research is showing that active involvement tends to be much more beneficial than just the passive browsing.
The key here seems to be in actually connecting with people, instead of getting into a passive consumption of the material that's already been posted.
Social media, has made it more obvious than ever, that we are not alone on this planet. And we are not alone in the struggles that we're having. This tends to be especially true with those who are experiencing some kind of a specific life challenge or a health concern.
Active social media use, would be intentionally engaging in conversations and adding comments and posting something about yourself.
The difference between active and passive involvement is profound, when it comes to how it impacts your mental health. And the research is showing that active involvement tends to be much more beneficial than just the passive browsing.
The key here seems to be in actually connecting with people, instead of getting into a passive consumption of the material that's already been posted.
Social media, has made it more obvious than ever, that we are not alone on this planet. And we are not alone in the struggles that we're having. This tends to be especially true with those who are experiencing some kind of a specific life challenge or a health concern.
When they post that on social media, what happens?
This is another thing that helps us to feel less alone and more connected with the people that we share the planet with.
As I started this article, I mentioned that most of the published opinions out there, seem to focus on the negatives or the downsides of social media. And I think that what it comes down to is having a real human connection as opposed to a more superficial or phony or fake connection.
That seems to be the real key. It seems to me like social media is more like fire, is fire good or is it bad?
Well, fire heats our homes, fire cooks our food, fire even runs our automobiles, but it's really destructive if it gets outside of the context where it's useful.
The fire gets out of the fireplace and can burn down the house. If he gets out of the fire pit, you can have a forest fire.
So it's powerful. It's neither good nor bad, it's powerful. As we understand the power of social media, we can take some appropriate steps to minimize the downsides and maximize the upsides through our mental health in our relationships.
So a few tips, for how to handle social media.
How to handle social media?
Number 01.
Schedule a time to check your social media feeds or to engage in your social media platforms. It can become very consuming, if you haven't allocated a specific time.
And I would recommend that you have a start time and an end time. So that you can allocate a little chunk of your life to it without getting sucked into it.
That's where some of the negative effects seem to have.
Number 02.
Remove the push notifications. In other words, put it into your settings that it doesn't buzz your phone every time you get a little hit on your social media feed. You want to be in charge of this and not the other way around.
You don't want your social media life to run you. But you take charge of this, so take those push notifications off of your phone and just check it when
you've scheduled your time to check it.
And Here's...
Number 03.
And I really like this one for a lot of reasons. Consider a media fast.
What this means is you're going set a specific period of time when you will completely abstain from social media.
You'll just stay away from entirely. You're not going to check your feed, you're not going to post anything, you're not going to like or swipe anything.
A social media fast. Especially if you can engage the people you love to do this with you. What if your family for example, agreed to have a social media fast for 24 hours. What would you do? Could you connect a little more with the people that are around you, in a real life face-to-face sort of a way?
I'm not saying that social media is bad. I think there's a lot of upsides to Social Media. I think is we take intentional control over our use of that social media and we learn things about ourselves when we abstain for a little while from that.
It's going to enhance our experience of it and actually increase the positive benefits to our mental health. I just love that this Trending Gyan gives us a chance to stay in touch like this and I'm glad that you're here. Please comment below...
if you're new to this Blog then go through it and share it with someone that you think would appreciate it.
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