Researchers came to the conclusion that interacting with others in this way has a positive effect on body and mind. This contrasts with the advice of doctors, who generally recommend people have real, rather than virtual, friends. As this study was done on 30 young students only, it is hardly definitive, but the publication still managed to produce the conclusion that "the success of social networking sites might be associated with a specific positive affective state experienced by users when they use their account".
What the researchers don't mention is the mountains of other (equally limited) research identifying the negative effects of social media - which include shortened attention spans, loss of empathy and even an increase in STIs.
Psychiatrists have decided that social media sites which involve online identities may cause people to place less value on their real lives, increasing their risk of making impulsive acts or even attempting suicide. There is a danger that the fast-paced cyber world where relationships can be ended with the click of a mouse and socially unacceptable profiles quickly deleted threaten to make the real world seem boring and unstimulating in comparison.
Perhaps most worrying are the claims that using Facebook may give you cancer. These have been extrapolated - in a convoluted way - from an article which expressed concern that a reduction in personal contact may increase the risks of heart disease, stroke and dementia, based on research into the effects of social isolation on health.
Other studies have also found social isolation can affect the activity of genes in white blood cells, increasing those involved in inflammation during stress and illness and decreasing those involved in fighting disease. If we are to believe all the research findings, Facebook and its kind disturb sleep, increase general morbidity and mortality, and even affect the success of medical treatments.
Given our rapid and increasingly prolific use of social media, should we all be worried?
Personally, I doubt the vast majority of us need to take these results seriously. None of the studies has looked at whether social networking or computer usage directly caused adverse health effects. Instead they looked at the effects of social isolation or loneliness, with no report on whether these were as a result of increased computer usage. I'm a big fan of Twitter, and those of you who follow me will know I spend far too much time engaged in "social interaction" there. And as far as I'm aware, it hasn't done me any harm, other than pose a serious distraction from working out when I'm in the gym.
Dr Christian Jessen-
No comments:
Post a Comment