SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES in English Magazine by Chahat Chanchlani books and stories PDF | SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Its hard to remember life before social media. How did we ever know what our distant high school friends kids looked like? Or the fabulous places they visited or their seemingly bi-monthly tropical vacations? There is more information flowing into people’s lives. It is easier how to track what friends ,frenemies and foes are doing which leads to interruptions and distractions .This study explores the relationship between social networking sites and stress. The reports shows that more we make friends on social networking sites the more it takes toll on stress levels. This has created many psychological issues among young generations. It is found that while overall use of social media affects the quality time which can be productively used. One area of focus in these studies is the effect of social media on mental health. Recent research has shown that using social networking sites leads to rise in cortisol- the stress hormone and increase teenagers stress levels, produce anxiety and negatively affect a person’s sense of self. Social media sites allows people to create the image they want the world to see. Creating a profile allows the person to show different side of his personality hence leading to a near-obsession. This can adversely affect person’s self esteem. Some people feel a constant urge to update their status and pictures on mobile device. This also motivates them to keep a check on newsfeed which only increases people’s anxiety levels by making them feel inadequate and generating excess worry and stress.

Additionally, studies show people find difficulty sleeping and mentally get surrounded by negative emotions because of constantly comparing themselves to others, leading to feelings of inadequacy.

Facebook can also increase the amount of social anxiety a person has upon meeting someone for first time.Prior this study experts hypnotized that for those with social anxiety, looking at persons facebook or other social media profile prior to meeting could help alleviate some of their feelings of nervousness. Reviewing someones social media profile is a way to get to know someone prior to meeting them. Other studies have shown that people with social anxiety prefer communicating with people via the internet rather than in person, so it would be an ideal way to initiate relationship. Psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chabbria says, “The higher number of friends you have, the more curiosity and more competition with others. And where there are negative emotions like jealousy, envy ,comparision there is always more stress involved. According to her people have stopped enjoying the moment in order to capture moment and create a show-off. These fashion is also taken by kids as young as six to seven years old which has derailed their innocence into fakeness. Most teens are so aware of notifications, that they constantly check their phones. Adding more friends or more activity on social media also leads to switching off from real world.

We asked people an established measure of stress that is known as the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). This PSS consists of the questions and measure the level of stress individually.

In last month, how often have you:

Participants responded on a 4 point scale from “frequently” to “never”. The nine items were combined to that a higher score indicates higher stress (the scale ranges from 0-30 with zero representing no stress and 30 representing the highest level). On average, women report of experiencing significantly higher levels of stress than men. The average women score 10.5 on the PSS while the average men score 9.8.

Studies revealed those who are more educated and those who are married or living with a partner reports lower levels of stress. The frequency of internet and social media use has no direct relationship to stress in men. For women, the use of some technologies is tied to share their emotional experience with a wider range of people than do men. Women are more aware then men of major events in the lives of people who are close to them. In addition, we found that women who were married or living with a partner and women employed in paid work outside the home, were more aware of events in the lives of their acquaintances but this is not related to awareness of events in the lives of close friends and family.

In some ways, using internet can be compared to driving a car. As you have probably noticed, not all who have license are responsible drivers. Its similar with people who use internet. Two aspects of social networking that deserves your serious considerations which are- your privacy and your time.

YOUR PRIVACY

Privacy should be first thing in your mind before getting signed in various sites. Nevertheless, not taking precautions can lead to disaster. Think of your personal information as your cash. With that in mind, look at the list below and check of the items that you would not feel comfortable advertising to a complete stranger.

You need to be thoroughly familiar with its privacy settings and use them. Don’t leave it upto the networking sites to protect your privacy. Always remember that when it comes to internet, “privacy is merely a relative term .Why? “Large web sites back up their databases.” What we put on cyber space never truly goes away. We have to consider it permanent because there is likely a copy somewhere, to think otherwise is foolish.

YOUR TIME

You need to budget your time. Remember your time is like your money. So don’t let a social networking “bankrupt” you . Afterall , there are things in life that are more important.