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Social media considerations/issues

Privacy
With the growth of social media platforms and profiles their in lies the problem of privacy. Sites such as Facebook encourage its users to 'check-in' (sharing your location) with the people who follow you, now this can be effective for peoples safety, however there also lies the problem of others constantly knowing your whereabouts.
This can be a large safety risk as many run the problem of oversharing. Many people cross the line and overshare and may receive threats or serious issues may occur as a result of a post some may find offensive. Or even online stalking and intimidation can create serious concerns, one does not know the masked individual behind a screen and what they could do to cause harm.


Loss of Human Interaction
When you spend a considerable amount of time interacting with others on social media, speaking in person can lead to an 'impostor syndrome' (not feeling like you are acting genuinely as yourself). By constantly interacting with others via social media, you lose social skills and the physical communication.
According to New York Behavioural Health (http://newyorkbehavioralhealth.com/the-impact-of-social-media-use-on-social-skills) 22% of adolescents log on to social media 10+ times a day, and over 50% of adolescents log on to social media at least once per day. With statistics like this, it's becoming clearer as to how social media effects the lives of young adults and the importance it plays in their lives. With constant use of technological devices we lose the human connection that comes from face-to-face conversations. This can later encourage children to not interact with others their age, leading to a lack of psychological development.


Addiction to Social Media
An addiction to social media can lead to a brain numbing-ly boring life of constant envy. As evidenced by the statistics above, a disturbingly high amount of young adults are logging onto social media 10+ times A DAY! This is a sign of an addiction.
Having a social media addiction is a road block to living your own life, and instead focusing on others'. Like with many addictions people solely focus on their addiction and put everything else in their lives (i.e. jobs, family, friends) to the back of their minds. In this instance though the individual will know what others in their family and friends are doing, but will have what's called fear of missing out (FOMO). As they disassociate from the physical world around them, they will have their social circles minimise and the FOMO will increase. This can lead to mental health problems.
An addiction to social media could also be an addiction to the news being displayed on the media. By focusing on the news from one perspective can give an individual a cynical point of view and cause them to further 'crawl into their shell'. Addictions are a mental illness, and psychological help is always offered from medical professionals.

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