Negative Effects of Facebook Addiction

Social networking website, Facebook is very popular at present and human being becomes habitual of it. The number of Facebook users boosts up day by day. Apart from the positive sides of Facebook, it also has some negative effects also. People, especially teenagers make their habit to Facebook without

realizing the negative effects of Facebook. Some studies have suggested that Facebook can cause many negative things. Nowadays everyone has a Facebook account but it is used for personal use by some people and other uses it for advertise, or to keep people up to date on events, etc. The users’ decision causes either positive or negative aspect so they need to know how to manage, maintain, and use their own account. If people can not keep control over this addiction, then it may turn into the negative things. Sophomore Mark Zuckerberg of Harvard University and two other colleagues developed a free-access social networking website, Facebook in 2004. Users are allowed to connect with family, friends and relatives all over the world by Facebook. Users can share their feelings, find their old friends, add friends and send messages, play games such as Poker and Bejewelled, be a part of many applications ETC, write on their walls, upload pictures and comment on their friends pictures, update their personal user profile to notify friends about them, and make new friends at Facebook. According to a survey everyday, an average user spends approximately one hour on Facebook. A large mass of Facebook users belong to the 35+ age groups. People favor instant messaging over face-to-face conversation these days. Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research conducted a study that shows Facebook is checked in the morning by one-third of women in the age group of 18-34. They wake up in the middle of the night to check Facebook, admitted by around 21 percent of the 1,605 surveys. Source: futurelab.net Facebook is accessed by over 100 million users through their cell phones. People, who use personal computers to access Facebook are less active in comparison to those, who use their cell phones for the same. The entire world spent up to a whopping 6 billion minutes a day on Facebook. The requirement is to give a serious thought to this question whether time is spent or wasted on Facebook. Some symptoms of Facebook addiction are given below to help users in realizing whether they are really addicted to Facebook. Users and their siblings communicate through Facebook wall and messages, even if they stay in same house. Users check Facebook for updates and comments after every hour at their workstation or on their cell phone. Users wake up in the morning, and log onto their Facebook account first. Users’ Facebook wall is full of status updates, comments, and applications that they just used. Users give priority to Facebook over their commitments in professional and personal life. Users spend over an hour on Facebook at a stretch or in short episodes over regular intervals. Users can not stop thinking about Facebook updates and comments when they are offline. Users look forward to get home in the evening so that they can see what is happening in cyberspace. (on Facebook to be precise) Users can not go for a day without using Facebook, and even this thought makes them go into sort of depression. Users’ day ends with checking Facebook for that one last time bidding people 'good night' through their Facebook status update. If users are facing any of these activities, then they are suffering from Facebook addiction disorder. Facebook addiction disorder contains the tendency to affect some serious problem of their mental health and social life. Therefore they need to throw away this habit as soon as possible. Negative Effects of Facebook Facebook is used by the hundreds of millions of people as a part time activity. The round-the-clock connectivity has enticed other people. Thoughts, ideas, and pictures are shared by people with their friends and family members at Facebook to be re-connected with their former high school classmates, former work mates with whom they have lost contact or as only a way to relax with one of the many Facebook applications that comprise games, puzzles, and quizzes. This type of using Facebook is generally harmless and fun. However, Facebook is allowed to replace the parts of users’ real lives. In some cases, users will be connected with strangers and users’ real friendships and healthy interactions with others will be replaced. Sometimes Facebook users are unaware of the dangers of the internet issues like hacking. A third party generally writes Facebook applications and that party is capable to allow Trojan horses, viruses, and worms into users’ computer. The third party can let tracking cookies so companies can learn more about users’ internet habits. Users thought that they are downloading a game, but actually they could be opening up their computer to someone, who can observe their bank statements, passwords, or any other sensitive information on their home computer. Facebook addiction disorder is a modern addition that can affect the young and old alike all over the world. Facebook addiction disorder contains many negative effects given below. Privacy Blow Up: Facebook is a social networking website so many people use it to connect with lots of people. In those people, many people can be their identified people but surely some people may be totally new for them. Users can not keep any information private due to any of the people can get their personal information. So, users must not place their detailed personal data on Facebook. Does not Care about His/Her Surroundings: If someone is previously addicted to Facebook, then the possibility is that he/she would not care about his/her surroundings. This person only care about his/her world. Facebook users check their Facebook profile to see who has written on their wall, commented on their photos or commented on their status, etc; this activity takes them away from spending time with friends and family. Less Social Interaction: People make a lot of friends in Facebook and interact with them at internet. But in the real world, they have no time to interact with others. Actually, people spend most of their time with the internet and the result is they are reducing their social skills, communication skills as well as verbal skills. Bad for Health: Obesity is among the negative effects of Facebook. If people will sit in front of the monitor all the time and will eat snacks then their physical activities will reduce and certainly they will be fatter. If this process will take place the whole month then they will become less attractive in front of their opposite sex. Reduce the Time for Study: Facebook attract people by allowing them to do time pass with their family, friends, and relatives, whole time. Students also browse Facebook after coming from school and this way, they reduce the time for their study. Possibility of Conflict: Many immature people create stupid status, upload embarrassing picture and many other ridiculous actions. By these actions, definitely conflicts can be set up with others. So users need to be aware from these kinds of problems. Less Family Concern: Facebook becomes a trend so people are interested to be Facebook users. Users give importance to their Facebook friends and community in comparison to their family members. Actually the words, “Family comes first” are losing their meaning for Facebook users. Many websites provide information about Facebook Addiction Disorder, with the aim to help users if either they are suffering from Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD), or they are moving to reach that disease. The best treatment for Facebook Addiction Disorder is to find an activity to replace it. Use of Facebook is an enjoyable activity but users need to protect themselves for staying safe. Users need to allow only recognized people to interact with them by using privacy settings. Ensure the computer is sufficiently up-to-date with its virus defense. How to handle Facebook addiction? To handle Facebook addiction, people need to recognize and admit that they have an addiction to Facebook. Then they need to take some time to think and list down other things in which they spend time besides browsing on Facebook. They need to make a schedule that they can spend 20 or 30 minutes a day for Facebook and use their other time for some another activities. Also carefully follow the schedule. Users need to delete their Facebook account in the case, worse comes to worst. Reduce Facebook tracking: Users can slowly decrease the time of spending on their Facebook account. For instance, if they open a Facebook account in every 10 minutes, then they can do so every 30, then every hour, then every other day, until they can exist not opening Facebook at all. Consider other alternatives: Users need to spend their time in something else besides Facebook like go to the gym or take a stroll around the neighborhood. You can also visit the spa or the salon. Meet up with your friends: Users can use Facebook to be connected with their friends and schedule meet-ups. The main reason of using Facebook is to reach out to people; especially those users who have not meet for a very long time. Activate Facebook blocking applications: Applications that can block the social networking website can be downloaded to help in stopping Facebook addiction. When users have to attend very important task, they can activate these applications. Use self help CDs: For stopping Facebook addiction, many self help CDs and self help tapes are available in the market. The inspiration and motivation to stop Facebook addiction is provided by subliminal messages or affirmations that are included in majority of self help CDs and self help tapes. Share your thoughts: If users share their feelings with their friends and family members then they can help users in eliminating their addiction by providing moral support. Buy a mobile phone with no Internet capabilities: If users purchase a mobile phone without Internet capabilities, then they can stay protected from internet addiction. A mobile phone without Internet capabilities is cheaper and helpful for user to stay connected with their friends and relatives.