The dangers of social media
By Michael
Intro
There is something plaguing modern day society… Something that haunts people’s lives, that follows you wherever you go, Addictive as drugs, Life ruining like Alcohol, and as deadly as Cholera , this silent assailant has ruined, haunted, and even killed people. It is everywhere. It is at school, at home, at work, and everywhere you bring your mobile devices. It is social media.
The Dangers of Social Media
Firstly, social media is something that is very easy to get wrapped into. Spending just 1 minute and social media and getting off is just like eating one chip and putting the bag away. For this reason people rarely spend just 1 minute on social networking. One minute turns to two, then four, eight, then ten, 30 minutes, and often even more. In fact, the average time spent on the computer is around 6 hours. Social media usually consists of 28% of that time at a whopping 1.7 hours every DAY. Take 1.7 hours per day and convert into a week. That’s about 11.9 hours a week. Let’s multiply 1.7 hours a day into a year. That is an estimated 620 hours alone, or 25 days a year on social media. And that’s just one person. About 213,663,000 out of 318,900,000 Americans are active social media users. That means every year Americans spend 5,341,575,000 days on social media. And that’s just America. To put this in perspective, I’ll convert those days into years. Every year, the combined individual years spent on social media goes to 14.6 million years every year. The average life expectancy in the United States is 78 years. That means every year in America alone, 187,621 lifetimes are spent on social media. Social media users will often claim that they are not on much, but the reality is often the opposite. What happens during those lifetimes?
Let’s take those 187,621 lifetimes spent on social media and see what has been accomplished. Surely something that chews up 187,621 lifetimes a year must be worthwhile, Right? Social media is basically a way for two users to interact via pictures, texting, and chat rooms. Supporters often say that social media is a secure way for young teens and adults to commute, but the connection is very limited. Users often get so wrapped up in cyber communication that when they have to talk in real life, they are unable to, such as at school or applying for a job. Social media is a secure form of communication but many people feel so secure that they will cyber bully people, often affecting their victims’ life in negative ways. Not only that, Social media teaches people to be vain, and it people will often measure their quality of life of off how many followers they have. Consequently, unpopular people feel they are worthless, because they have few followers. Quite literally, 187,621 LIFETIMES are wasted on an ongoing popularity contest. Often people will say that social media helps people socialize but it really isolates people. And in extreme cases, kills them.