Social Media as a Form of Escapism: Is It Really a Bad Thing?

Social media has revolutionized the world and has become a new norm. From university students to the old ones, from basic every day socializing apps to white hat gaming casinos that offer you amazing bonuses and great games.

While using different social media sites aids in providing abundant information to students in less time, it has become an addiction, giving the youth an easy way to escape from the real world. Here is social media as a form of Escapism: Is it really a bad thing?

Attention time

There are different opinions on this issue of using social media as escapism. While some studies believe the social media escapism is necessary to take some time away from the negative world, other theory states there are cons more than pros. Our generation enjoys the benefits of a more connected and interactive world community but with a much weaker mind and a limited attention span. There are just not enough brain cells in our heads to process the onslaught of information. As we retreat into virtual worlds, our capacity to concentrate on one thing at a time is failing, and our actual lives are becoming more chaotic. The chaos is created by the people who use online sites such as Facebook and others to enjoy the random content that has become less productive and organized. They push everything to the deadline instead of doing the tasks in the first place and procrastinate.

Furthermore, it is a fact that a human is spending more hours in the digital world than in reality. Youngsters have started preferring online friends over physical ones. This is having an effect on their minds. Their minds are getting exhausted in less time due to this platform.

Psychological Impacts

The above mentioned are not just the only problems of social media escapism. This addictive site also has some psychological impacts on university students. Due to a load of studies and stress, students use these network sites to relieve the harsh realities of the world. From YouTube to Twitter, students spend hours watching random videos and waste time. This further creates an academic burden on the students. It leads to issues such as stress and anxiety. Lack of communication and interaction is yet another arising issue as spending hours on these network sites hampers confidence. These arising issues are all because of social media escapism. They would have talked to people physically and gained some confidence if social media sites were not there.

Insecurities

Another point to take into consideration about social media is the arising insecurities among people. Social media escapism has also caused insecurities among the youth and even university students. Likes on different digital networking platforms give the affirmation that insecure people need, so much so that it encourages them to post more. The cycle of obsession with media continues, feeding into the never-ending demand for approval. It has turned the online platform into a source of uneasiness.

According to a report on social media, self-disclosure on social networks activates the same area of the brain that lights up when consuming an addictive substance. As a result of their fascination with likes and comments, a user begins to compare himself so much to someone who has more friends or massive social media influence. This is not just a theory on paper; many of you might experience this in real life. We all have some peers who have been engaged in using social media for years, trying to increase their followers. The motivations in their lives revolve around more followers and shares. They have based their motives of life on this instead of focusing on real-world issues. Therefore, they keep on posting content on the site, whether it is relevant or not. The negative relationship between youths and the internet has created numerous insecurities.

Addiction

According to an analysis, due to easy access to random content, it is very easy to lose yourself in the fictional world of Youtube and forget your life problems. It is high time for people to realize that they rely on internet material to escape from their own mundane, dull existence in the present world. I’m not suggesting it’s bad to enjoy a bit of amusement, but excessive digital stuff may be just as detrimental. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and other content should be used within a limit.

Day after day, we have so much work, then we come home and spend endless hours enjoying the latest Call of Duty game, watching the latest Netflix show, and reading celebrity tweets and pictures posted. It does not stop here. We enjoy the comments and share stuff just for fun. We have no idea when we have crossed the threshold from “casual consumers” to “addicts.” The youth has no motivation to achieve things in life today. They have no such goals and aspirations. And online sites play a major role in taking away their ability to establish real-life future goals and aspirations.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, social media escapism is a rising issue. There is no doubt that this new digital world is related to a lot of negatives. A user is getting obsessed with the cons of the internet rather than its pros. The internet indeed has numerous advantages that have revamped the world, but we are hardly using this side. Instead of reading an informational article, we prefer watching a random compilation video with no useful content.

We must keep in mind that our life has an ongoing narrative, unlike the social media bubble, which is the reality, and we don’t want the chapters to be blank or uninteresting when we depart. We need to acknowledge that we are addicted and trapped in the circle of social media escapism. We are not aware of this new addiction.

One has to work things out on their own. It might take a few years, but it will be worth it. One has to stop wasting time on vital responsibilities and opportunities that they had sitting around.