How Social Media Affect our Emotions and Psychology

Given their profound impact on the modern user, Social Media are undoubtedly a main factor of shaping human emotions and collective psychology. The online existence has penetrated the offline existence in a way that made the line between internet connection and real-life seem really blurred. To what extent do Social Media affect the psychology and emotions of the modern user? Where does the real self end and where does the virtual self begin? In order to answer these questions we need to move on to a more detailed approach, focusing on the online behavior of the Social Media users and on how it affects their overall psychology and emotional status.

Social Media and Communication

Over the past decade, Social Media have clearly stolen the spotlight from other forms of communication. The concepts of online available and unavailable, posts, status updates, followers and likes have become key terms of modern communication. At the same time, discussions are now moved in online chat environments and emoticons can reflect all kinds of our emotional engagement with online content.

Why though would a user log-out from real life in order to connect to Social Media and share personal information with his online friends?

The Need of Sharing

Most researchers argue that there is a link between Social Media and depression, but they admit that it is complicated. A study by the University of Missouri-Columbia argues that many Social Media users who feel jealous may develop feelings of depression, while other research conducted on first-year university students has shown that unreasonable use of Social Media is associated with high levels of loneliness and dissatisfaction. Finally, a recent study published in Frontiers of Human Neuroscience, shows that a high percentage of people who are using Social Media extensively would prefer a different kind of life, the kind of life that they are searching for in the digital world. On the other hand, some refer to a particular trend that makes Millennials want to publicize all aspects of their personal and professional life.    

Should We Share Everything?

The answer is no! The fancy lives of Social Networks do not, in any way, reflect our true self. The colourful photos that people share in Social Networks do not reflect their everyday life. They are just an isolated and (in most cases) filtered presentation of their life's best moments. This means that before we hit the share button, we filter and fine-tune our everyday life, which we then share on our profile.

Are Social Networks Evil?

Under no circumstances should we incriminate the channel. Social Networks have been created precisely to entertain us and to help us meet our deepest need for communication. They were designed to offer entertainment, not to harm the user. However, intense and extensive use can produce undesired results. It is obvious that if the user consumes significant time of his everyday life in Social Media, neglecting other needs such as the need for real socialization, surely the impact of Social Media could be extremely negative or even (in rare cases) catastrophic.