Social networks. Impact on mental health and worldview

УДК 811.111:004.73

SOCIAL NETWORKS. IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH AND WORLDVIEW

students Chepelnikov E.C., Potachits N.U.,

scientific supervisor – senior lecturer Korzun O.F.

Belarusian National University of Technology

Minsk, Belarus

In 1971, the first email was sent. Since then, social networks have started to evolve. Nowadays we can't imagine our life without them. Such a surge is generally a harmless phenomenon, but some researchers believe that social networks can affect our health and worldview.

In 2012, a study was published saying that using the Facebook network can fuel internal anxiety and increase a person's sense of inferiority.

Study, led by psychiatrist Ethan Cross from the Medical University of Michigan, showed that using the Facebook network can even reduce the level of happiness.

At first glance, social networks provide an endless resource to fulfill a person's basic need for communication, says Dr. Cross. But we found that instead of improving the worldview, using the Facebook network often provokes the opposite result.

Social networks are sites that allow people to communicate with each other from anywhere in the world, send messages, photos and videos.

Social networks call its goal: To give people the opportunity to communicate, to make the world more sociable. People can always be in touch with family and friends, find out what is happening in the world and share news.

Most users log in to the network daily. The main goal pursued by these people is entertainment. A system of conditioned reflexes that strengthen psychological dependence is developing very quickly.

Those who post status updates receive constant positive reinforcement in the form of comments and likes. Of course, if this habit is fixed for years, it is not so easy to give it up.

The phenomenon of Facebook addiction is so widespread that a special addiction scale has even been developed, which is called the Facebook Addiction Scale. This scale was developed by Dr. Cecilie Andreessen and her colleagues from the Medical University, and uses six questions to measure the degree of psychological dependence on Facebook. If you answer four out of six questions often or very often, then this directly indicates your psychological dependence on Facebook.

Based on these studies, scientists conclude that many users who are addicted to Facebook use it as a way to get other people's attention and increase their self-esteem. But can a social network have a negative impact on the mental health and well-being of the user?

Many people use social networks to compare themselves with others, and such a comparison can lead to negative emotions. Comparing their life achievements with those of their friends – they lose self-confidence.

“This problem has certainly been gaining momentum lately,” says Dr. Rauch. We know that people on social networking sites often create idealized versions of their lives, embellish reality, which can lead to distorted perceptions and negative emotions.

Another problem of social networks is virtual violence. As mentioned above, the bulk of social media users are people under 30 years of age, of which the lion's share falls on teenagers.