Dr. Shyam P Lohani

In 1997, the first social networking site, SixDegrees, was launched. This site enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with others. Since the availability of the first blogging site, social media began to explode in popularity creating a social media sensation. Beginning early 2000s, LinkedIn, MySpace Photobucket, and Flickr gained prominence and enabled online photo sharing. YouTube launched in 2005, providing an efficient way for people to communicate and share with each other across the globe.
Beginning in 2006, Facebook and Twitter both became available to users throughout the world. These two sites remain the most popular social networking platform to date with the largest base of users. There are numerous networking sites like Instagram, Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare, and Pinterest that began popping up during the same period of time to fill specific social networking slots.

Effects
The term social media implies the various internet-based networks that enable users to interact with others, verbally, and visually. Approximately 3.4 billion people worldwide were connected through social media in 2019 which saw unprecedented growth in the number of people using social media over a couple of years only. With the affordability and easy availability of smartphones, mobile data packages, and wi-fi connection, connecting to different people through social media sites has never been easier. However, as the rate of accessing the internet and being an active member of social sites increases, so does the risk of developing a range of psychological issues.
Owing to the increased accessibility and availability of the internet, social media use has increased exponentially over the years. Parallel to the increased use, individuals are developing excessive use habits and symptoms similar to traditional addictive disorders. Over the last decade, checking and scrolling through social media has become an increasingly popular activity. Even though the majority of people’s use of social media is non-problematic, there is a small percentage of users that become addicted to social networking sites and engage in habits of excessive or compulsive use.
Social media allows users to openly share their feelings, values, relationships, concerns, and thoughts. With the flexibility with which social media provides a platform, users can freely express their feelings, emotions, and concerns. However, not all the contents in social media are great. They may also cause discrimination and cyber bullying. People show more courage to write something bold rather than to say it in person, thus, discrimination and cyber bullying are more prevalent online.
The content on social media is not always palatable and it is not definitely normal to wake in the night to use it or spend an incredible number of hours every week, returning again and again even though it can make us feel depressed and lonely. None of these behaviours were normal until a few decades ago, nor are they especially useful to us today, but they are practised by billions of people across the world.
The use of social media for two hours every day adds up to an extra fourteen hours per week which are totally free to do whatever we want with. A recent review shows that youth who spend excessive time on social media platforms have increased concerns about body image; they experience more negative thoughts and moods and increased urges to alter their appearances.
The various contributory factors complicate the relationship between social media use and mental health problems. A recent report has suggested impaired sleep as an important mechanism of this complication. Internet use is sedentary behaviour, which in excess raises the risk of health problems. A recent meta-analysis showed that sedentary behaviour has a negative effect on mental health in young people. It is a known fact that people with mental health problems may be more likely to be less physically active.
There is an increased concern about the effect of social media on sleep such as adjusting time for work responsibilities and direct face to face social interactions. Internet addiction is not only affecting people’s waking hours. Research reports that nearly two-thirds of adolescents are getting inadequate sleep. Studies also show that a lack of sleep due to internet use during night hours may be one of the biggest contributing factors in the increasing numbers of teen mental health issues.
Social media addiction can cause or affect depression and loneliness. Youths report compulsively checking social network profiles and updates frequently. They can make riskier decisions and are prone to online exploitation. The word ‘addiction’ carries a similar meaning as alcohol and drugs. The addiction to social media is a recent phenomenon that has evolved in the last 20 years along with social media hype. It does not cause physical harm, such as those caused by tobacco and alcohol, but it has the potential to cause long-term damage to our emotions, behaviour, and relationships.

Solution
There is no straightforward and well-recognised treatment for social media addiction. However, we are starting to become aware of this growing problem; there is no classification of social media addiction as a mental disorder in the same way as substance misuse. Governments and organisations should work together to minimise and prohibit the use of mobile devices in special circumstances. Smartphone use is banned while driving in many countries and has proven to be an effective measure to reduce road traffic accidents.
It is a well-known fact that social media use may lead to loss of productivity in the workplace and poor performances in educational settings. Therefore, employers, schools, and colleges need to come up with better policies to ensure that people are focused on their required tasks and activities. Many schools throughout the world are banning the use of smartphones in the classroom. Similar prohibition in other contexts such as workplace settings is also justified. Moreover, it is up to individual users to use social media wisely.

(Professor Lohani is the Founder and Academic Director at Nobel College. lohanis@gmail.com)