The Negative Effect of Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Negative Effect of Social Media - Essay Example The psychological and social impacts of social media are surfacing as the usage of social media is increasing our lives. Social media impacts on different aspects of our lives including emotional state, identity development and even the direction of our lives in some cases. Of these, the emotional impacts of social media are perhaps the most discussed negative implication. Social media has been criticized for the effects it has on the psychological state of its users. According to Lippy Copeland, ‘Facebook appears to exploit an Achilles heel of human nature’ (Copeland). Social media has created a culture where everything a person does is posted on Facebook. This has become an addiction and a burden for the users. Often users post information that becomes a source of envy or depression for their friends. When users see their friends having fun in their lives, they feel a sense of loneliness or depression. The excitement in the pictures may be fake or just a small part of the friend’s life but it creates a feeling of envy in the user. Even the user’s friends who post happy and exciting pictures online are not immune to the negative effects of social media. Information that a user posts online is being used to develop a profile of the user. This process also referred as data mining is used to develop aggregate information about the user using his social media information across different websites. This information is then sold to employees, insurance companies, and other interested parties. According to Lori Andrews, ‘our application for credit could be declined not on the basis of your own finances or credit history, but  on the basis of aggregate data’ (Andrews). Facebook users, as a result, may be robbed off a certain job because of what they posted online; or their insurance premium may rise when they start showing more interest in dangerous sports. While