There are multiple ways that social media can affect people, making new insecurities rise, causing loss of sleep, causing depression and reducing face-to-face interaction.

Many people lose in-person contact due to being able to keep in touch with one another through text. It is easier to text than to meet up and have a one-on-one conversation compared to when messaging, you have time to think about your response and correct any incorrect word usage.

Social media gives us the freedom to communicate with our family and associates however, our seemingly happy digital lives could be damaging our in-person relationships. As people communicate more via social media, people communicate they lose touch in person.  New research from Kaspersky Lab shows that a third of people communicate less face-to-face because of social media. A study shows that a third of individuals confessed that they now talk less with their parents, children, partners, and friends because they can see and talk with them through social media. According to Dr. Astrid Carolus, “Studies show that today digital communication complements real-life communication.” 

Some may say that social media may not affect us, and that it could be used in a positive way, which is only somewhat true. Mesfin Awoke Bekalu claims, “Social media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and strengthen their in-person networks and interactions.” But unfortunately, he is wrong. Social media can make or break you, and if it does break you, many things might happen on social media. You could get cyber-bullied or feel insecure about how someone looks compared to you. It might push you to believe that people outside of social media will judge you the same.

Social media companies need to change just a little bit. They can help adjust people who aren’t as socially active outside of their apps to where they can be social. They could make in-person meet-ups or little incentives where people can get together, just so people don’t feel left out or disregarded.

Taking everything into consideration, social media might be making us less social by having people make us feel less than they are. As humans that have feelings, everything impacts us differently and makes us feel some type of way. When feeling that way it makes us upset, and one might compare themselves with another making it where they have to perfect themselves before going out, or doing simple tasks. If they feel that their worth is less than someone else’s then they might try to shy away from people or go places, making themselves introverted to avoid embarrassment.