Problematic Social Media Use

Source: aurielaki

In this modern age, social media platforms have become a part of our daily lives. It is most apparent on how convenient it made communication than ever before. According to Ermasys (2019), there are 3.2 Billion social media users from all over the world which equates to about 42% of the population. Not only with connectivity social media stands out, but also with its wide range of entertainment online, and it also provides necessary news and keeps us updated with the world and to be aware of it. We can even build our business through these platforms as well. It is no doubt very helpful to us humans. On the other hand, everything has their pros and cons. We should be aware of its negatives as well and be conscious of balanced usage. 

We conducted an interview with 3 participants to support this matter answering the following statements:

• Understanding/Perspective about social media.

• Different types of owned accounts; the most used; and usage duration.

• When social media use becomes problematic.

• Thoughts about harmful behaviors in social media.

• Suggestions/ways of healthy and  moderate browsing.

Our first interviewee is a senior high student currently in 12th grade named Angel. Social media for her is to communicate with other people and for the purpose of sharing of thoughts. She stated that it also serves as a stress reliever and time killer from boredom. The participant uses most of the popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. Angel spends the whole day on her phone most of the time according to her. She especially uses Facebook/Messenger to chat with her friends. 

We proceeded to ask her when social media use becomes problematic and its cause and effects. She says, "‘Yung buhay natin hindi kumpleto or ‘yung araw natin hindi kumpleto ‘pag di tayo nagamit ng mga social media natin. Kase nasa daily routine na natin ‘yon. ‘Yung epekto naman nito, 'yung nga ,'yung sa pag-aaral ganon minsan na i-impluwensiyahan ‘yung sa pag-aaral mo kaya mababa ‘yung grades ganon."

She also added about privacy leak and different controversy and issues, especially when bashers take advantage on anonymous applications like Curious App. With the next question, we asked her opinion about harmful behaviors in social media. (ex: can be rants/internet fights/trolling etc..). "Isa ‘lang masasabi ko. Wala akong pakialam sa kanila [chuckles] Ah, ano kase, pag-pinakealaman mo sila, papakealaman ka din nila, kaya mind your own business." she replies. Finally, her suggestion of maintaining a balanced use of social media is handling of an individual's limitation and time management.

Our second participant, Patricia, who is currently a fresh graduate of tourism management, for her, social media is a huge platform where different people uses to share their own opinions and thoughts; they also share a bit part of their lives such as their photos and share them to their friends or family as well. The interviewee's most used social media platform is Facebook and spends her time in social media around five hours a day.

We proceeded to ask her when does social media use becomes problematic and its cause and effects, as well as her opinion about harmful behavior in social media. She said that “I think one of the problems in sharing in social media is... I think it would be problematic if people use to over share such as their photos, they over share their photos or daring photos or nude photos online also videos and people will tend to blackmail them and also its problematic when they use social media to bully other people.“ She also added, "people should be mindful about their post in social media because it can be used against them."

Lastly, she suggested to be careful on what they post online and think before you click

We had our former professor Mrs. Gutierrez  who teaches in Humanities as one of our interviewees to furthermore strengthen our study.

Source: good studio

"Okay, so yung social media... so alam naman natin na it's a computer based technology where in it's very interactive, it facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, information and of course in terms of business and shopping so pwede na rin siya; and syempre social media it's also an electronic communication." Mrs. Gutierrez stated with our first question of her perspective about  social media. 

Mrs. Gutierrez only uses Facebook and Messenger primarily for her small business. She only spends seven to ten minutes of usage every hour to check her inbox. 

We proceed with the question of when does social media becomes problematic along with  additional thoughts about harmful behaviors regarding the matter. 

Source: good studio

"So syempre nagiging tamad ang mga kabataan and then nagiging adik and syempre pag nagiging tamad at nagiging adik narereduce yung family closeness and syempre pag narereduce yung family closeness nagkakaroon ng "lack of emotional connection" sa bawat isa; nakikita naman natin sa bawat pamilya halimbawa habang kumakain hawak-hawak ang cellphones and dahil dito imbes na magkaroon ng magandang connection between the family nababawasan siya dahil nga nakafocus sila sa pagamit ng social media. And nagiging inauthentic yung expresion of feelings, and syempre pag nagiging adik tayo sa pagamit nagkakaroon tayo ng "poor sleep quality". 

Marami po sa atin ang nag be-base sa number of likes kapag nag popost yung tipong pag hindi marami yung likes na iistress tayo kung bakit ganon yung sa friend ko mas marami yung likes ganito ganyan so parang nagkakaroon ng competion and comparison nagiging lead rin siya for depression din minsan na tipong akala natin walang may gusto satin bilang tao or parang walang nag aagree satin sa mga pinopost natin. 

And another effect is nagkakaroon ng iba't ibang klase ng krimen like for example we have cyberbullying, online threats, stalking, and meron din tayong tinatawag na hacking and fraud. Paano ba itong nangyayari ang sinabi nating hacking and fraud halimbawa nagkakaroon ng mga fake accounts na kung saan yung isang tao maaring magkaroon ng maraming fake accounts tapos pwede siyang makapanloko ng ibang tao and dahil don pwede niyang ithreaten yung isang tao kung halimbawa meron siyang hawak na private video and so on and so forth. Social media rin ay ginagamit for buying illegal things. Posting videos of criminal activities, so yung mga horrible na mga pinapakita o pinopost online where in fact na hindi naman dapat. At tsaka may tintawag na "vacation robberies" halimbawa pagnag post sa facebook na naandon sila sa ganitong lugar, so nagkakaroon ng pagkakataon yung mga masamang-loob pagnakita nila na nakapost na nasa ganitong lugar sila na  "ah pwede pala nating itong nakawan" parang ganon. Nakakapag lead rin siya sa mga krimen, kung baga nagiging platform din siya sa mga crimes."

 To conclude our interview with Ma'am, she gave her expressed her suggestion on how to maintain a healthy and balanced use of social media. 

Source: Simone Golob 

               Comparing the interviews above, it's safe to say that most of us understands how social media (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube) works. The interviewees are also aware of its negative consequences as well. Especially when it comes to sensitive private information, that is vulnerable to be taken advantage of.  As much as we need to secure our privacy online, we also need to take care of our well-being too.  Taking example from the statements of the interviews, Angel uses social media for almost the whole day. Which is obviously not healthy. Whilst Patricia spends approximately 5-6 hours of browsing, it's definitely still a lot of time. 

 It also becomes a hindrance to our emotional connection with others in real life as Mrs. Gutierrez stated. And on extreme levels, it can also lead to mental disorders. To sum it up, each of us should always be mindful of our social media use. Both with our digital personas and physical selves.