Bulletin board systems, as the first social network, were launched in the USA in the 1970s. The Fidonet massaging network and Internet relay chat launched in America in 1980. The third social network was SixDegrees.com, which became known in 1997. Then, other social networks, such as Friendster, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Facebook, became widespread. All these platforms allowed users to create profiles, connect with friends, and share updates.
Positive and negative effects of social networks on humans
Connecting people
Nowadays, we have an opportunity to interact with people all over the world. Social networks provide groups and communities where we can find people with the same interests. Thus, we can make new friends through social networks. We can also continuously keep in touch with our relatives when we travel abroad. We can send any item from one place in the world to another using communication on social networks. Moreover, we can organize social, cultural, business, educational, or political events in our countries and invite anyone we want. Thus, social networks themselves can influence any country’s activities.
A social network as an efficient tool for business
Social networks are good places for branding, marketing, and advertising. Companies can open pages for creating online shops for all their products. They can advertise their products and brands using advertising tools to increase their visibility and make them accessible to all relevant customers. Customers can contact them using social networks without reaching their shops and ordering anything online. Customers can also leave feedback, which will help companies gain popularity among citizens, find their lapses, and improve and develop their businesses accordingly. Companies can post job announcements on social networks, and we can find job positions using, for example, Facebook.com or LinkedIn.
Why is Sharing limited information and ideas vital?
We can share any information that we want on social networks. From the positive point of view of sharing information, they are very productive platforms for learning new things for free and finding answers to any questions we desire. There are plenty of informative pictures, videos, real-life stories, and articles on social networks. Some people can make money on social networks, for instance, through video blogging. The only problem with sharing information is that there is always a privacy concern. Others can use the information we share against us. We have the risk of becoming victims of hackers and criminals. Adults can be victims of financial machinations, while children can become victims through cyberbullying and other criminal deeds. Thus, it can disturb a human’s private life. Sharing information can also cause unhealthy comparisons between human beings, which can put people under stress and negatively impact their self-esteem.
Social networks as an addiction pill
Different people have various kinds of addictions to social networks.
Gambling
Many people are addicted to online gambling. They start to lose money because of online games, and their lives worsen.
Video games
Teenagers get stuck in the virtual world playing overwhelming video games. They stop going out and get psychological and mental problems. As a result, it becomes hard for specialists to bring them into reality.
Social comparison
As mentioned above, comparison also becomes a kind of addiction among girls and women, who begin to show their lives more colorfully on social networks than they are in reality. They start to feel stuck and paralyzed when they realize that there is no end to the process of showing beauty and perfection.
Thus, as a result, they also have mental problems. More than 6 out of 10 men and 5 out of 10 women have social network addictions.
Social networks, as a possible factor in fatal cases
Social networks can cause mental problems (stress, depression, anxiety) in people leading them to suicide.
The other two social network addictions are extreme food consumption and actions taken by many video bloggers. They reach such an extreme while shooting their video blogs, suddenly becoming victims of suicide.
Sometimes, network users can kill themselves because of internet trolls who get enjoyment from writing negative things on others’ posts. Thus, we can limit interaction with social networks and use them as development tools, not addiction, and as a means of showing our best sides and searching for approval.
Formation of relationships through social networks
It is possible to build relationships through social networks. But psychologically, most people are not ready to get into relationships through social networks. Moreover, social networks have significant negative impacts on the institution of marriage. While it is now easy for people to connect and find potential partners through social networks, it has also led to an increase in divorce cases and a decrease in the number of marriages all over the world. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the marriage rate in the United States has decreased by 50% since 1970. Face-to-face communication is vital for a healthy and successful relationship and marriage. Serious relationships demand hard work, not just sitting and chatting. Ironically, as the American author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek says, “Become a pickup master.” Unfortunately, social networks have also become reasons for family collapse and short-term marriages. People have lost the most important values, such as mutual respect and love, kindness, and tolerance.
Interesting statistics on social networks
In 2024, 4.95 billion people use social networks throughout the world.
Facebook has over 2.96 billion monthly active users. It is the largest social network in the world. Facebook Messenger has 931 million monthly active users.
YouTube (2.5 billion monthly active users) is the most visited website with videos.
WhatsApp is the most popular platform with its messages and video calls. It has about 2 billion users worldwide.
Instagram (2 billion monthly active users) and TikTok (1.05 billion monthly active users) are famous platforms for their images and videos. Monthly TikTokers, on average, stay online for 31 hours and 32 minutes.
WeChat (1.31 billion monthly active users) is the most popular Chinese social network.
There are also other famous social networks, like Snapchat (631 million monthly active users), Pinterest (518 million monthly active users), and Reddit (73.1 million daily active users).
