The Asperger Chronicles

Social Media is one of the largest scale phenomena to ever take a stranglehold over society as we know it. The entire concept is both frightening and fascinating, creating brand new ways for people to engage with each other and delve even deeper into the way the World currently operates.

Although there are a number of notable benefits that come from the introduction and subsequent surge of Social Media, it’s easy to point towards some fundamental issues that have been created and even intensified as a result of its imperious stance over the entire Globe.

Below are the most significant problems that directly relate to mental health and people’s general well-being. The level of exposure Social Media has created means certain predicaments that relate to anxiety, depression and isolation have been handed an even more intense spotlight for certain individuals.

Making Comparisons

Many years ago, you would have had no idea what your former classmates were now doing with their life. Now you are always being shown the lifestyle and career credentials they have managed to amass through Tweets and Facebook posts that aim to enhance their ego and throw your self-worth even further into the gutter.

The glamorous perception most people put over their life is bordering on hilarious in my own opinion, but I know first-hand some people who hate the fact individuals of a similar age have managed to achieve certain things and visit particular places. The obvious thing to do would be to dismiss people you are comparing to but there seems to be this resistance to admit defeat as you attempt to climb the Social Media sphere.

Its all fake PR and designed to improve the image of certain people in an age that relies on you putting strong emphasis on doing certain things to impress others. Most people who share photos of certain events or holidays are probably not enjoying themselves, but need to take sufficient amounts of photos and videos to ensure they have a sizable amount of content that makes them look more important than you.

Fake Recognition

Anything posted onto Social Media has been specifically designed to gain likes and shares. Some of the most common tactics are to use young children in an attempt to pull on the heartstrings, or some sort of arbitrary text that aims to make you feel sorry about the person that decided to post.

The simple fact is people do not respond to things the same way they do in person as they do when they are using Social Media. It’s the subtle use of basic phycology that is inadvertently used to manipulate you to take an action into interacting with their content that will make them feel much better about themselves.

This even stretches to the more professionally inclined LinkedIn where people are actually posting what grades they received in their first year of University. The fact they are pointless and are of no interest to anyone proves how people will go to any length to get attention and ultimately some sort of positive recognition from their peers.

Paranoia

Seeing things though the restrictive perceptive that comes from Social Media is likely to cause you to think about things more negatively than you need to. This is also prevalent to texting where the lack of exposure to human facial expression can cause you to misinterpret what people are actually trying to get across.

The use of clever imagery can make particular locations look more glamorous, and the types of words people use can make certain things seem more spectacular than the more low-key alternative known as reality. This gives you a fake and airbrushed perspective of people and makes the World look so much more fun and welcoming than it actually is.

The Ultimate Distraction

Let’s be honest, most of the stuff you see on Social Media is contrived nonsense. That said, people are still more than happy to dedicate a sizable proportion of their day engaging with brain dead content that is probably reducing your capacity to think with any logic or reason.

I really worry about the younger generation who know no different to a World where Social Media exists. How are they expected to develop important social skills or flex their creative senses when their entire life is contained within a fake alternate reality that relies on people being interested in stupidity.

Ironically, this post may possibly have found its way to you via a Social Media channel which is the aspect that most appeals to me. The fact important educational pieces and thought-provoking articles can be spread easily is great and should always be encouraged where possible.

The Stats

Source: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts/

• The internet has 4.4 billion users

• There are 3.499 billion active social media users

• On average, people have 7.6 social media accounts

• The average daily time spent on social is 142 minutes a day

• 91% of retail brands use 2 or more social media channels

• 81% of all small and medium businesses use some kind of social platform

• Social media users grew by 202 million between April 2018 and April 2019.

Do you use Social Media and how do you feel about some of the negative aspects? Feel free to comment below or Directly Contact Me Here at The Asperger Chronicles.