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Do you ever scroll through social media and wonder what’s wrong with your life? Experts believe that not only does social media depress us, but can also lead to addiction. According to Daily Mail, there is such a thing known as “technostress.” This type of stress is typically caused because of a consumer’s constant social media use. As with any unhealthy addiction, a recent study showed that a few hundred Facebook users were more compelled to use social media that was causing them stress.
The stress cycle begins when the user opens their social media app then if something stresses them out, they flip to another social media platform. While they don’t necessarily close the social media platform that stresses them out, they tend to distractingly themselves with something else that helps them forget the stress, but then cause them to go back and check the platform again.
What is the reason for this continuous stress cycle?
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Well, we have to start first by asking ourselves why it is we browse through social media platforms anyway. If you live in a busy city, and you’re caught in a traffic hold with others, sometimes the most common reaction is to look down at our phones and ignore the reality that’s taking place around us. Sometimes, our jobs even require to know what’s the latest happening at all times, or we may even seem smarter amongst peers to constantly know what’s happening in the world around us.
There are even people who do not engage on social media whatsoever due to the chronic stress of being looped into the world around us. We can often find things on social media unsettling or ecstatic. Both are accepted as a staple to our attention. If we are upset by social media, it affects us, if we are overjoyed with what we discover on social media, we are equally as affected. Or sometimes if we have friends or acquaintances that we see are going in different directions, we may question our own life values.
It’s quite common as a single female to notice you’re different if most of the women on your friends’ list are married, have kids, or have an established career already. These types of affects occur in our daily life because of what we perceive on social media.
Why do we continue to log into these platforms?
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Co-author Christian Maier of University of Bamberg, Germany says, “Because social network sites offer such a wide range of features, users can find they act both as stressors and as a distraction from that stress.” Social Media has proven to be such a huge successful for connecting the world, that it even provides a place of escapism if you wish to escape its intricate world as well. Platforms like Facebook provide users with online games and short quizzes to entertain them, thus quickly removing any ill-feeling and replacing it with something good. So, even if we are, unfortunately, willed to our social media life, at least we know, we are not alone.
