PANAJI
Smartphones are now accessible to almost everyone, even underage kids. However, the overuse of these gadgets, have contributed to growing mental strain and increasing addiction in which individuals tend to display excessive and sometimes harmful behaviour, several studies have established. Some of these studies have also zeroed in on 'social media' as the culprit behind attracting the most attention from smartphone users, disturbing their mental stability.
Even physical appearance and human interactions have their own standards validated by social media users, especially body image and financial status which ironically social media, itself exploits, according to a 2022 study by Siavosh Sahebi and Paul Formosa, both affiliated to Sidney-Australia's Macquarie University. This, along with several other factors cause several negative impacts on mental health paradigms.
According to several other studies, prolonged use of social media platforms increase the signs and symptoms of anxiety and depression and causes severe addiction. which also negatively impacts several areas of cognitive and behavioural functioning. including learning. Cell phone addiction can negatively influence academic performance, studies have established.
Students have been noted to multi-task when engaged with academic tasks, often talking on the phone or messaging.
While this may seem efficient, no matter how good individuals become at multitasking, they might not be as effective and efficient as when they do one thing at a time. We know that human beings in general have a finite amount of cognitive processes and these can be overloaded after which deeper processing and learning cannot occur, according to research by Richard Mayer and Roxana Moreno of the Department of Psychology University of California, Santa Barbara.
Ignorance is bliss, but social media brings to your notice events you would otherwise not have known of and therefore not be bothered by, robbing the bliss. And as a double whammy, it has the dangerous trait of feeding 'half-knowledge' which is often worse than ignorance.
Nonetheless, smartphones are a piece of technology that have brought in tremendous benefits by way of ease of day-to-day living, communicating and numerous other benefits. Yet, valid negative outcomes that it brings, when used incessantly.cannot be ignored or neglected.
