Experts recorded 46 negative effects of social media

New study raises particular concerns about the impact of “social media” platforms.

It is undeniable that “social media” platforms have brought multilevel changes and small and large revolutions in every area of the personal, social and professional life of modern man.

The benefits and positive aspects of “social media” are many, but —as they dominate and become more and more involved in people’s lives— the negative effects also make their appearance. 

Many studies in recent years have highlighted various negative consequences of “social media” use. 

Recently, it became known that Facebook had at its disposal such a research on the negative effects on young people —and especially teenage girls— of the use of Instagram (the platform belongs to Facebook), which it kept secret, without —at the same time— making any changes that would mitigate the problems recorded by the research. 

In their review in the “Journal of Global Information Management”, academics of the Sydney University of Technology documented 46 negative effects of using “social media”.

“This study provides evidence for the limited work that has been done on the ‘dark side’ of ‘social media’, the huge popularity of which highlights the importance of understanding both the positive and negative effects of using them.”

The researchers studied the use of popular “social networks”, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The list of negative effects they found causes anxiety and concern, both for their number and their level of risk:

• Anxiety, depression, physical and mental stress, monitoring, jealousy, loneliness, over-information, lack of electronic security and even incitement to suicide are pointed in the list compiled by the researchers.
• Invasion of privacy, deception, panic, increase in taking financial risks, lost time and a tendency to conflict with other users

are some more side effects of “social media” identified by the researchers.

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