25 Ways Social Media Is Ruining Your Life (4 of 5)

More Expenses

You might not think much of it, but social media can be expensive. Of course there are all kinds of tools and resources that businesses can use on social media sites, but even for the average person it can be costly.

You’ve got the buy and sell groups on Facebook, as well as other companies pushing various products at you. Furthermore, there are thousands of boards on Pinterest giving you how-to guides for various crafts and recipes as well.

It’s easy to find yourself scrolling through these various things and either doing this yourself or paying a freelancer to do these for you. These of course are sudden expenses that most people don’t plan for.

It Invades Your Privacy

If you’re on social media, there is a good odds that your information is public knowledge by now. You are literally one search away from people seeing where you live, your phone number, and what your name is.

What’s worse is that you may be providing more information than intended. With apps and sites allowing you to post locations, people can tell where you are and whether you’re at home or not. This can lead to people breaking into your home or apartment and stealing valuables.

You’re Not Living In The Moment

Social media has pushed to the point where people want to be cataloguing everything. It’s about sharing moments of joy, life, achievements and more. And while so many of us feel the urge to capture those moments and share them with others, that actually takes away from the moment.

And over time, sharing those moments becomes less and less important. It’s important, because when you are taking a picture or a video, it takes you away from that moment. You’re not living in the moment, but rather living life through a lens.

It Can Quickly Become An Addiction

The constant desire to check our phone and see what’s happening on social media is by all definitions an addiction. As you can tell already, the implications of this addiction are far reaching. But like every other addiction, it can be difficult to break it.

Social media in general provides a means for us to communicate. There’s also push notifications and there is always a sense of delight when we notice a lot of notifications as well.

All of this works because our brain has a pleasure center that responds positively to validation and novelty. There is also dopamine, which is an addictive and feel good hormone. It’s that rush whenever we get a response from a message or when someone likes our post. It’s a rush and we want more of it.

It Sets Higher Expectations For Us

A few of the points we’ve made already hint at this one. It’s the fact that social media pushes us to have higher expectations of reality. This is one of the root causes for our instant gratification and perhaps lashing out at things that break the norm.

Overall, social media has created this reality that many believe is the world we live in when it’s really not. People filter and while some people are authentic, there are things they’re not talking about.

At the end of the day, we place ourselves with unrealistic expectations that we’re not able to accomplish. This can lead to us being dejected and depressed amongst other things.