Do you surf social media for many hours every day? Spending too much time on social networking sites may have a negative impact on your mood. In fact, those who use social media often are more likely to have poor mental health, including signs of depression and anxiety.

It doesn't require much effort to understand why. Through social media, you may see the specifically chosen positive aspects of everyone else's lives, which can contrast with the drawbacks in your own. It is a certain way to anxiety and unhappiness to compare oneself to other people, and social media has made this approach much easier. So a half-hour a day is about the maximum amount of time you should spend on social media to protect your mental health. If you have negative emotions after using social media, take into account the networks you use and the users you follow.

Bullying was a behavior that could only be done face-to-face before the rise of social media. Online bullying is now a norm, whether done anonymously or not. Everyone nowadays is aware of what cyberbullying is, and most people have seen the harm it can cause to a person.

Social media makes it simpler to make friends and meet new people, but it also gives cruel people to tear into others with little effort. Bullies can earn people's trust on social networks by maintaining their anonymity before terrorizing them in front of their friends. For instance, they could make a fake profile and seem friendly with a classmate, only to later betray and humiliate them. These cyberattacks frequently cause serious emotional damage and, in some circumstances, even drive victims to harm themselves or commit suicide. As it turns out, cyberbullying affects people of all ages. Adults might also experience internet abuse.

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) phenomenon grew in popularity about the same time as social media started to take off. It comes as no surprise that this is one of the social media's most negative societal effects on society.

The term "FOMO" stands for "fear of missing out", and it refers to the feeling of anxiety you get when you're afraid of missing out on something enjoyable that someone else is doing. You may spend the entire day checking your Instagram feed to make sure no one is doing anything fun without you or you might repeatedly check your messages to see if anybody has asked you out. You can feel left out if you see images of something enjoyable your friends got to do and you were unable to join them because you had another responsibility. What you see on social media constantly feeds this fear. You'll have a greater chance of seeing that someone is currently having more fun than you are if you use social media more frequently. And that's exactly what causes FOMO.

As most people are certainly aware, social media shapes their perceptions of life and friendships, leading to unrealistic expectations.

Online authenticity is seriously lacking on most social media platforms. People use Snapchat to share their exciting adventures, and post about how much they love their significant other on Facebook. Or fill their Instagram page with carefully chosen photographs. You have no way of knowing, though, if this is all a farce. While it may appear good at first glance, the person may really be deeply in debt, in a troubled relationship, or simply seeking validation through Instagram likes. It's worth noting that you should not judge your everyday life against the highlights of someone else's.

If you go through popular Instagram profiles, you'll see attractive women with wonderfully shaped bodies wearing pricey clothing. And it should come as no surprise that body image is a problem for almost everyone nowadays. Of course, seeing so many people who, by society's standards, are supposedly perfect on a daily basis makes you aware of how different you look from those images. And not everyone in this circumstance draws wise judgments.

It's important to keep in mind that everyone is a human. While many people have gone to great lengths to shape their bodies, that's not the case for everyone who looks fit. Nobody wakes up every morning looking like a supermodel. Many people have undoubtedly used harmful methods to make themselves look more appealing in their pursuit of social media fame. You'll have less anxiety if you are surrounded by people who accept you for who you are rather than worrying about Instagram beauty.

Another negative aspect of social media is that it can affect sleep quality in addition to raising the frequency of anxiety and depression. The rising usage of social media has been linked to worse sleep quality, according to numerous research.

Try to limit how much time you spend on social media if you feel that your sleep patterns have become unstable and are causing a drop in productivity. This is particularly true if you use your phone when in bed at night. It's all too easy to promise yourself that you'll check your Facebook notifications in five minutes, only to find out an hour later that you've been mindlessly scrolling through meaningless content.

More addictive than alcohol and tobacco, social media may be. For many people, it has a strong allure that causes them to check it constantly, without even realizing it.

Try to recall the last time you spent an entire day without checking your social media accounts if you're unsure whether you have a social media addiction. Does it make you feel bad when someone unfollows you? And if tomorrow saw the entire disappearance of your favorite social media platforms, how would you feel without them, empty and depressed? Social media platforms want to keep you scrolling for as long as possible so they can barrage you with advertisements and profit more. These websites need your attention for as long as possible due to the attention economy. So be aware of the time you spend on social media!