Social Media has Negative Effects (Free Argumentative Essay Sample)

“I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good,” Elon Musk stated. This quote means that he thinks social media should have regulations because it negatively affects people. It takes up lots of our time, can impact or change our brains and choices and it can affect our mental and physical health. Social media negatively impacts our lives. 

We spend too much time on our phones, most of that time is on social media. “The average estimate of phone use was 3 hours 42 minutes, but the average actual daily usage time is 5 hours 42 minutes. Most of that time was spent on social media, with an average of 1 hour 23 minutes along with content consumption, web browsing, and online shopping,” (Medley). This shows that people spend way too much time on their phones, especially scrolling through social media. It is so easy to get hooked on scrolling because you can constantly see new things. You may just start by saying I will scroll for ten minutes and that turns into an hour. We need to become self-aware of how much time we spend on social media, if we don’t it can seriously impact our lives. 

In many ways, social media can impact or change our brains. “Social media’s central feature, the sharing and storing of your experiences, may actually be altering which memories you keep and which ones you don’t. In one study, the participants were asked to record an experience using their notes or social media, and other groups were asked to simply experience the event without recording it. At the end of the study, those who had recorded or shared the event performed worse and showed more of a memory deficit than those who experienced the event without recording it. Externalizing and experiencing worsened participants’ memory because their brain received the message that it didn’t need to hold onto information that was stored elsewhere. Consequently, not only did the individuals lose some memory of their original experience, but they may also experience longer-term deficits in the size and function of their brains,” (Lewis). The experiment that they had some students do was helpful when coming down to the question, does social media change our brains? It proved that we rely on our phones so much that our brains just throw away some of the memories that were recorded. If we keep relying on our phones more and more it can change our health, too. 

Social media affects our mental and physical health in many ways. “Social media use has been linked to biological and psychological indicators associated with poor physical health among college students, according to new results. Research participants who used social media excessively were found to have higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a biological marker of chronic inflammation that predicts serious illnesses, such as diabetes, certain cancers, and cardiovascular disease. In addition to elevated CRP levels, results suggest higher social media use was also related to somatic symptoms, like headaches, chest and back pains, and more frequent visits to doctors and health centers for the treatment of illness,” (Buffalo). With this information, we can tell that social media does affect our physical health, but our mental health also suffers from the usage of social media. “According to the Pew Research Center, 69% of adults and 81% of teens in the U.S. use social media. This puts a large amount of the population at an increased risk of feeling anxious, depressed, or ill over their social media use,” (Buffalo). If you are constantly seeing other people have fun and do things you want to do then you can get jealous and let that take over, soon that’s all you think about. Mental health is something that is easy to damage but hard to fix and social media is the outlet for destroying mental health. Although there is one big thing people would miss if they deleted their social media apps. 

Social media helps us communicate and stay up to date with family and friends around the world. “Roughly two-thirds (67%) of social media users say that staying in touch with current friends and family members is a major reason they use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn; about half say they use these sites to reconnect with old friends,” (Heimlich). Although you can connect with old friends and family that are far away, there are safer and better apps that you can have. Some apps are made for you and your family. There are so many substitutes for all platforms. 

Social media can have a huge impact negatively on your life. Elon Musk said social media can affect the public negatively, and he is correct. Social media is used repeatedly every day, when you are bored, you scroll and that scrolling is hard to control. There are so many alternatives to social media. If you need to stay up to date with family or friends get an app where you see what they are doing, or you could facetime or message them. 

Works Cited

Medley, Sam. The average iPhone user spends a full work week on their phone, a new report claims. 20 September 2022. Notebook Check. 25 March 2022 https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-average-iPhone-user-spends-a-full-work-week-on-their-phone-a-new-report-claims.562797.0.html  

Lewis, Lizzie. What Social Media Does to Your Brain. 21 September 2020. NeuroGrow Brain Fitness Center. 28 March 2022. https://neurogrow.com/what-social-media-does-to-your-brain/  

University at Buffalo.  Social media use is tied to poor physical health. 24 January 2022. ScienceDaily. 28 March 2022. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220124103917.htm#:~:text=to%20new%20results.-,Research%20participants%20who%20used%20social%20media%20excessively%20were%20found%20to,certain%20cancers%20and%20cardiovascular%20disease  

Heimlich, Russell. Using Social Media to Keep in Touch. 22 December 2011. Pew Research Center. 28 March 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2011/12/22/using-social-media-to-keep-in-touch/ 

The Social Dilemma: Social Media and Your Mental Health. 21 January 2022. McLean Harvard Medical School Affiliate. 29 March 2022.  https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health.