A Survey taken by Pod Space, showed that out of the 2,000 18-24-year-olds in the UK who took part, it averaged out that the amount of time spent on social media per day is four hours, whereas the amount of time spent exercising in comparison is only half an hour.
Is social media affecting my health?
The time spent browsing social media per year adds up to an astonishing nine weeks, and only two weeks of the year in comparison is spent exercising on average. Is social media becoming an issue in diverting teenagers and younger adults from taking the time to exercise and work towards a healthier lifestyle, instead of spending their free time scrolling through their Facebook or Twitter feeds as the need to be constantly updated grows.
A little rest and relaxation is an essential part of anyone’s day, and not finding the time for yourself can lead to higher levels of stress. Young adults should reevaluate how they spend their hours to spend more time focusing on themselves instead of the latest on social media, which can also lead to higher stress levels.
For young people today, there is this blurred line between that of reality and constructed social media that we are exposed to 24/7. Many people use social media as a means of escape and a form of relaxation and taking some time to yourself, but its dominance within society has meant that the mass of social media users often engage with it much more than before. It is considered to be highly addictive to go onto as we as an audience never want to feel as though we are disengaged or ‘missing out’ from any information – whether it is news or social sharing from users that we follow or friends and family.
Social media = Stress.
Finding more time to fit in exercise or other activities as simple as picking up and reading a book, are more effective in relaxation and can help de-stress a lot more effectively. Based on findings by the Pew Research Center, social network users are 14% more likely than non-users to become more stressed in their day to day lives. When surveyed, 40 percent of social media users admitted they often post things to improve their image. People who say they post things on Facebook or Twitter to improve their image are over 4.5 times more likely than other people to “always” feel stressed.
Focus on your personal wellbeing.
It is not a bad thing to use some downtime to get yourself up to date with social media sites, but too much can actually do more harm for stress levels than good. Making time for yourself can mean a variety of other methods, such as some time at the gym, going for a long walk or reading a book, as each of these has extra benefits that can in-turn affect your general health and well-being, and happiness.
