Side-Effects Of Insta/Facebook Reels And Youtube Shorts On Your Mental Health, Patience And Attention
Dr. Priya Chandak
September 21, 2024. 4 minute Read
I mean, do you know how much time we spend watching reels on an average daily?
According to Instagram’s official page for businesses, Reels are played over 140 billion times across Instagram and Facebook every day.
But wait, there’s more, right!
And do you also find yourself comparing your life with the content that comes in these reels?
Welcome to the club!
Current research has indicated that active social media use is connected to feeling connected and belonging to a community, while passive use of social media is linked to adverse mental health outcomes such as depression and anxiety.
While utilising these social media platforms,users evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to what they see other users post. The positive mental effects include happiness, motivation, and social connection. The adverse mental health effects include:
- The fear of missing Tout,
- Feelings of jealousy,
- Anxiousness as per one's situation (thanks to AI), and
- Wanting to avoid social media when confronted with death or negative comments.
Picture yourself , seated at lunch scrolling through social media reels and pausing on short, snappy reels presenting ‘ideal lives’- ‘The life you’d love to have’. It was funny at first but then the next recommended video made you feel like your life is incredibly boring. This constant comparison can trigger negative thoughts and make you feel a bit anxious and depressed.
As Jim Kwik said,
"
“One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is your own attention.”
Social networking sites have grown extensively over the past decade, coinciding with the growing use of internet-enabled smartphones that allow access to these sites virtually in any place and at any moment. Some social networking apps such as Facebook,Youtube,Instagram, allows for passive observation of others photos,videos and extant research has connected this type of usage with myriad negative outcomes including lower self-esteem and depressed moods.
Among all the contents, reels significantly contribute to the deterioration of our mental health.
Recent studies has shown that,
Social media has recently become part of people’s daily activities; many of them spend hours each day on a number of popular social media platforms . The number of social media users worldwide in 2019 is 3.484 billion, up 9% year-on-year.There is no denying that social media has now become an important part of many people’s lives. Social media has many positive and enjoyable benefits, but it can also lead to mental health problems.
Impacts Of Reels On Mental Health, Patience And Attention
In the current times, short reels—short-form video content across various social media platforms—have gained immense popularity. Although these platforms can bring a bit of fun and entertainment, they also have the tendency to lower our self -esteem resulting in poor mental health as well as patience, focus.
Detrimental Effect on Mental Health, Impatience and attention spans
1. The Rise of the Comparison culture
What happened in reality now happens in reels!
What happened in reality now happens in reels!
The rise of comparison culture is one of the most damaging implications reels have: they cause you to compare yourself to others. These constant comparisons make us feel depressed and dull. These short- flashy, attractive reels showcasing the exotic lifestyle of others lead to feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, and low self-esteem because, at the end of the day and in retrospect, what have we done with our lives?
2. Leads To Questionable Addiction and Dependence Promotion
The algorithm posing as a news feed made it so very easy to sit and watch back to back two hours of content, mindlessly scrolling. This cycle of compulsive behaviours can make users feel more alone or dependent on social media while they may also be destroying real-world relationships and obligations.
3. Fear of missing out
As reels are consumed at a quick pace, many users feel pressured to keep up with events, trends, or social gatherings, which can lead to feelings of anxiety and always feeling as though they are missing out.
4. Instant gratification
Reels are designed to give brief periods of entertainment with little to no effort, which can lead to habits of instant gratification. This may change the way an individual has a mindset for doing something that requires some time, patience and effort on their part.
5. Shortening of attention spans
Research indicates that consistent exposure to high velocity content can increase an individual’s incapacity to focus their attention overall. An individual may find that they are experiencing greater difficulty with videos longer than a minute, articles longer than a paragraph, or holding a conversation.
So, how to address the negative impact of reels/ short videos?
The answer is we mistake healthy entertainment content for any negative entertainment content that leads to a restless mind and decreases patience. What looks shiny and fancy is not always good for our health.
The harms of reels on our mental health & tolerance and how we can avoid them:
1. Set time limits
Cut the time we use in front of screens every day. Doing this will help you stay away from overuse of social media platforms. Get involved in activities that offer face-to-face interactions, such as joining clubs, participating in sports, or spending quality time with friends and family.
2. Practise mindfulness
After watching reels, take a moment to assess your feelings. Check whether you are feeling anxious or inspired. If you are feeling anxious, then adjust your feed and make it more inspiring while minimising exposure to such negative feelings.
3. Cultivate patience and focus
Engage yourself in longer activities that require patience and effort. Dedicate time to pursue activities that require sustained cooperation.These activities can help your mind to enjoy the activities and to incorporate patience in life. Besides, meditation and yoga can improve concentration and sense of balance.
4. Seek Professional help
If reels are genuinely causing you distress – if you notice a snappishness and lassitude and a feeling of being untethered and on the brink of despair – then you may also want to talk to someone about your mental health.
Therapy can help you deal with anxiety and depression and provide valuable coping strategies tailored to your needs.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion
Suppose short content videos give us some entertainment and joy. In that case, it is also necessary to understand whether its effect on you is positive or negative, which includes but is limited to mental health dependency, addiction, FOMO, instant gratification, and shortening of the attention span.
You can create positive relationships with social media by using practical strategies such as setting limits on usage, practising mindfulness, patience, and focus, encouraging in-person interactions, and seeking professional assistance.
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