Facebook addiction: Are you safe?

About two-thirds of the world’s population is now accustomed to using social networking sites including Facebook. Statistics show that over 2.7 billion people around the world are involved in social media at any rate.

This situation has a huge impact on society’s norms and behaviours. Of course, those of the networking sites are badly needed in today’s world as the sites facilitate communication system effectively, building strong relationships with strangers as well, having the opportunity to express opinions with likes and dislikes. It has huge impacts on our body, mind and soul and even on the whole life as well!

Let’s find out the impacts we have:

Digital Cocaine- Psychologists now call online addiction as digital cocaine. Many of those who use Facebook have asked if there are any new notifications that they want to see after a while. And once they enter, they don’t even notice when the hours pass.

Does it sound like drug addiction? Brain scans show similar images of drug addicts and online addicts. The brain controls human emotions, attention and decision making ability every time we take a decision. So uncontrolled use of social media can unbalance your emotions, ruin your focus and your ability to make decisions.

The human brain secretes a chemical called dopamine. But if something suddenly happens that is better than expected, then the flow of this dopamine suddenly increases and the brain is said to increase the reason for the increase in feeling better. Addiction is the name given to the need for extra dopamine and to constantly increase this temporary feeling of feeling good.

Loss of Concentration- Some may think that you can become a skilled multi-tasker by snooping on social media at work. Wrong! Social media and multi-tasking are two different things. Studies have shown that those who use social media too much have fewer work skills than others. Rather, their attention is so distracted that they lose their memory faster than others.

How is it? Suppose you are doing something with deep attention, what does it feel like when your mobile phone rings at that moment?
Well, wait! Wait !! Did the mobile really ring?... ghost call!

A phone call or (SMS) did not come but do you think the mobile is ringing? Or cutting the phone set in the pocket of the pants! If so, you should know that you are suffering from Phantom Vibration or (Phantom Call Syndrome). And the reason for this is the excessive use of mobile phones in modern times. This dimensional addiction is creating hallucinations or illusions inside the brain.

According to a survey, 90 percent of university students surveyed have experienced this phantom vibration. Smartphones have overwhelmed us so much that we don’t pick up our mobile phones without realizing it and want to see if someone has sent us an SMS or mail or something new has come upon social media.

Self-centred- Not surprised to hear? The fact is that social media is constantly making you antisocial. It’s making you isolated and selfish as well. How?

Studies have shown that when a person talks to another person face to face, he talks about his subject 30-40 percent of the time. Listen to the rest. But when a person spends time on social media, he spends 80 percent of his time talking about himself. So it can be said that social media is not always making you self-centred but is pushing you away from the people close to you behind the scenes.

Dream-breaking- We often hear about love or marriage on social media, but the statistics say that a large part of them can no longer sustain the relationship. Because people in the virtual world and people in the flesh are often not the same. It is not uncommon for a young man in the airy world to discover that he was an extraordinary lover, but in reality, he was discovered to have a bad temper and a naughty nature. Do you have any guarantee that the attractive young woman on Facebook will look like a beautiful and cordial lady?

Incidents of sexual harassment, money laundering, defamation and even being forced to commit suicide are happening in the society. Ill-motivated use of social media is sometimes responsible for those of the incidents.

Wahid Tawsif is a media activist