Indvik, Lauren. "Trending Stories." Mashable. N.p., 8 July 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://mashable.com/2012/07/08/social-media-anxiety-study/>.
Walking through the average on campus study locations at Brigham Young University, thousands of students can be seen at their laptops appearing to be hard at work. However as you pay more attention, a casual glance will show you the thin blue bar at the top of the screen, indicating that rather than being on Microsoft Word doing their homework, they are actively scanning through their newsfeeds on Facebook, or other social networking web sites. Not only is social networking distracting individuals during time periods where they should be studying, it is also holding them back from classroom participation. This dependency on social networking is resulting in social anxiety in a large portion of these students.
Social media has resulted in an inability for many of today’s college age students to interact in face to face social situations. A lot of this generation has turned to the internet to communicate with others, and the web has become their comfort zone. In a study conducted by the Anxiety UK, results that the dependency is having negative effects on these people. The survey taken by hundreds of participants showed that 45% of people get “worried or uncomfortable” when they were unable to use social networking web sites. This statistic demonstrates their addiction to these web sites results in anxiety felt similar by those who attempt to break addictive habits such as smoking. The study also showed results indicating that a quarter of people think that online arguments caused relationships to suffer. A final result showed that two thirds of people have difficulty sleeping after accessing social networking sites. The sleep lost can be crucial for college age students who are already pressed with little time allotted for sleep in their regular daily routine. (Richardson)
The widespread addiction to Facebook and other social media websites has resulted in ruined ability to effectively communicate with others in daily life situations. The widespread use of social media has resulted in a dependency on it, where people are in able to function properly in its absence. Addiction to social networking is common, and can have very negative results in college age students, and can restrict their ability to learn and grow through education.
Works Cited
Richardson, Jordan. "Study: Social Media Causes Anxiety." - TheTelecomBlog.com. N.p., 12 July 2012.
Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.thetelecomblog.com/2012/07/12/study-social-media-causes-
anxiety/>.
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There certainly seems to be a correlation between the rapid expansion in social medium on the internet, and the inability of young adults to function/communicate in a real world environment. The consistent overuse of these social websites had proven a death trap for many individuals, and unfortunately their families as well.
ReplyDeleteI realize that these cases are not currently the norm, but the numbers of these cases are increasing at an alarming rate, situations where the powerful addictions created to these virtual environments are unhealthy in the extreme.
Now many may argue that in todays she it doesn't really matter, one can live just as fulfilling a life online as in person, but from a religious standpoint, this simply isn't the case. We need to learn to use our bodies as more than a simple means to click commands.
@Moroni Redd- I definitely agree. While maintaining social contact online is very convenient and can help with long distance relationships, we need to maintain the ability to converse face to face with people. It seems that people get too wrapped up in social media and they forget to continue to appreciate the everyday life situations they are put in. The appreciation people have for seeing people in person has gone down due to the fact that we can send them a message online whenever we want or even video call them through facebook. While these interactions are convenient and useful, we need to remember to continue to appreciate all we have including the people who surround us daily.
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