Social media has become a necessary daily activity for most, if not all of us. If we think about it, there is hardly a day that goes by and we do not open Instagram, Tiktok or Youtube. We use it to stay in touch with our friends, families and different communities as well as expand our knowledge on various topics. However, aside from all the benefits social media provides, we should also consider the negative side to these applications and platforms.

Firstly, what does it mean to be callous? If you were to describe someone as callous, it would mean that that person is insensitive and disregards the emotions of others. On social media, they are allowed to perform these behaviors while hiding behind a screen. This is because the lack of eye contact and non-verbal communication lowers their self-consciousness and increases their likeliness to be more blunt and honest. These people may leave comments on posts that may position the owners of these posts to feel insecure and bad about themselves. Moreover, they are also able to post videos or pictures that may embarrass others and increase the risks of mental health problems such as depression, self-harm, and anxiety.

You may wonder how bullying in person and online are different. Well, it can be argued that online bullying feels permanent. Once something is posted on the internet, we all know that it can always stay there for everyone else to see. Thus, the sheer volume of people who are aware of the bullying incident can lead to high levels of humiliation. If we think about it, it is also hard to avoid cyberbullying. Even though our parents may recommend us to take some time off social media, the internet is something we now as a modern world consider as a need in our lives to stay in communication with our family and friends. Staying away from social media may make us even more secluded from everyone else and the world.

There is another side to social media and the internet that is toxic and hostile that we tend to look away from. You may be thinking how this came to be when social media was created with good intentions to improve communication, education and entertainment. Well, this toxicity on social media is caused by its users. In reality, there are always malicious people around us who enjoy hurting or embarrassing others. However, the internet has amplified their existence by providing them with a platform to conduct spiteful activities.

The results from the Pew Research Center’s 2018 survey of US teens helps us better understand the weight of this problem. It found that one in six teenagers have experienced abusive behavior online which include name-calling, false rumors, unsolicited explicit images, physical threats and having their activities and whereabouts tracked by a non-family member. Moreover, the survey has also found that 90% of teenagers believe that cyber harassment is a major issue among people their age. Even though the results show that most people, both young and old are able to minimize their time on social media for the better of their health, they still feel a need to check social platforms to avoid feeling anxious or left out from their friend groups or various communities. This is called ‘social media anxiety disorder’ which is another mental illness that derives from the callousness of social media.

Nevertheless, social media itself is not a harmful resource but there will always be malicious users who wish to embarrass you or make you feel insecure through social media platforms. To avoid this from happening, we should always try to reduce our time on the internet and minimize what we share on social media. Furthermore, we should also be careful of our actions and our words to avoid saying words we may not mean.

The Callousness of Social Media

Sources

InSight Scoop