The world is more connected than ever before and this can be attributed to the rapid progress in technology. While some of the technological forms may have positive impacts on society, there is an overwhelming evidence of the negative impacts, especially when overutilized. Over the past decade, social media has been on the rise as more individuals have been able to leverage the internet. For instance, research shows that in 2005, only 5% of the adults in the US reported to utilizing social media while presently, this number has risen by more than 65% and is now approximately 70% of them use social media. Incline in the number of individuals utilizing Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and other platforms of social medias in conjunction with the increased time spent by individuals on these platforms has garnered interests from clinicians, parents, teachers, as well as policymakers especially in regards to the impacts it might have on people’s lives and mental wellbeing (Allen, 2019). While social media is not fully representative of the new media, which comprises podcasts, music, online articles, websites, emails, and streaming apps (Cote, 2020), it is the most significant “new media” as it is common to almost each individual that has access to the internet. There is a myriad of impacts that the new media has managed to garner especially in regards to the social and psychological effects.
Psychological Impacts of Living in the New Media Society
When it comes to the new media society, there is no doubt that it has had momentous impacts on the mental wellbeing of individuals. These impacts are usually more pronounced in the cases of overuse and misuse, especially on teenagers and children (Legg, 2020). Among the most apparent psychological effect of the new media is in regards to the issue of isolation. While technologies like social media are fundamentally designed to bring more people together, it has had the contrary effects in most cases. This is according to a 2017 research that was conducted on young adults from 19-32 which showcased that individuals with higher utilization of social media were three times more likely to feel socially secluded in contrast to those who did not use it as much (Primack et al., 2017). In another study conducted at the Pennsylvania University, it depicted that high utilization of social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, as well as Facebook, increments one’s feeling of loneliness in lieu of decreasing it. On the contrariwise, the study also posits that the reduction of social media usage can make one feel less isolated and lonely. Media technology, in general has been shown to have this impact as a result of the deprivation of the real human relationship and interaction. Also, emails over-usage causes workplace loneliness in conjunction with weak ties, frustration, and miscommunication among workmates. Loneliness has a myriad of adverse effects on both the mental and physical wellbeing including altered brain functions, depression, decreased memory, antisocial behaviors, and other antagonistic effects.
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Another important psychological impact of new media is regarding anxiety and depression. A 2016 research which studied the link between one’s mental health and new media showcased mixed outcomes. People that had more social support and good interactions on social platforms depicted low levels of anxiety and depression, while the vice versa was also true. This all comes down to perception as those that felt that they had more negative online social interactions and subject social comparison appeared to have higher levels of anxiety and depression. Therefore, whereas there is clear link between mental health and new media such as social media, one of the most significant determining factors is in regards to the interaction types that individuals are having on the platforms. In another study, titled “ Association of Screen Time and Depression in Adolescence ,” more than 3800 adolescents were studied for depressive symptoms on the basis of their screen time inclusive of the amount of time they spent on social media (Boers et al., 2019). The findings of the research indicated that higher amounts of utilization of social media technologies were linked with higher depression levels. This was found to be true at two different levels; when the researchers contrasted between individuals and each person was compared against themselves over a period of time. While it is thought that social networking sites maybe one of the contributing factors to the progression of depressive symptoms, it is likewise presumed that particular traits of online behavior may be the contributing elements in depression. Therefore, Pantic (2014) argue that there is no direct link between the use of social media and depression.
Another important psychological factor to consider in the utilization of new media is the issue of self esteem which is often defined as the value of one self. Lower self esteem is linked to the pathogenesis of a myriad of mental illnesses inclusive of eating disorders, depression, as well as addiction. Studies have indicated that more utilization of social networking sites leads to lower self esteem because these platforms fundamentally entail self-presentation where the main user activity promote or cause narcissistic character. Social media is where people post their perfect moments and individuals always post this “perfect” life with no flaws; which is contrary to the reality. However, when people browse the social networking sites and see the “perfect” life that people are living, they start comparing themselves to these people and thus end up damaging their self-esteem and these are some of the warning signs on one’s path to depression.
However, while most of the psychological impacts of new media have a high affinity towards the adverse, there are also positive impacts. For instance, when people utilize social media, technology, and other types of new media in the ideal manner, it tends to complement their life, rather than having negative impacts on their mental wellbeing. For instance, new media such as social media, music, and other technologies can be utilized as an emotional support especially during tough periods. Besides, people often find an outlet for their self-expression and creativity and thus raises their moods and enables emotional wellbeing. In addition, video games, one of the elements of new media, has been an emotional outlet for many years as people find solace in gaming because it distracts them from the problems they are expressing in their lives.
Impacts of New Media on Society
There are varied impacts of new media on the society inclusive of both positive and negative. One of the positive impacts of new media include the advantages that are a result of the increased connectivity and communication in a broader social context. For instance, new media enables high levels of communication, community development, and social interaction, across boundaries of social context, space, as well as time. This creates novel and niche communities that would not be possible had new media not existed. Instances include the gaming community, music community, and other communities where people who have similar interests share the goal of contributing to the community and making it grow. Most of them act as knowledge bases where people help one another in different contexts and thus more connection and connectivity, which brings about cohesion and oneness.
New media has also enabled diversity and promoted the development of minorities as it enables people and accelerated the democratization of knowledge bases. Via new media, novel learning methodologies are conceivable, as are different working ways, and this provides better opportunities to individuals in under-served regions and communities and thus enabling diversity and minority communities. The democratization of knowledge prevents monopolies from controlling the existent industries and thus media-audience interactions are presently more organic and natural. People are thus more capable of expressing themselves, offer questions as well as criticisms and this sets the foundation for the functioning of a democratic society. For instance, recent research showcases that young individuals aged between 15-25 are utilizing new media to engage with political issues and peers and as per the research, young individuals are more likely to defy conventional norms of youthful political apathy via the utilization of these platforms to undertake things like sharing political videos, starting online groups, and also sharing stories on political issues.
New media such as social media has enabled people to grow their businesses immensely and thus better economic performances from local and national economies. New media has been extensively used as a tool to spread awareness on products and services and thus businesses are capable of leveraging this capacity to increase their sales and revenues. Besides, the use of online platforms by businesses is presently being considered as a competitive advantage because a business with an online presence has more chances of success as result of e-commerce and online sales. The online platforms are usually less expensive for businesses for advertisement and they can be able to reach larger audiences that are globally based. Besides, via feedback and interaction with clients on online websites and social media, businesses are able to understand their consumer needs and adjust accordingly and thus more chances of success. This, consequently, enables the economic prosperities of societies that have embraced new media.
However, the impacts of new media are also as colossal as its advantage. For instance, new media such as blogs, news, websites, and social media have served as network for propaganda as the capability to reach vast audiences makes it a great weapon for use to spread false and potentially dangerous information. Some governments are notoriously known to utilize propaganda for political reasons and this undermines the foundation of democracies. New media has also been a haven for hackers and fraudsters as people usually use their identities and personal information to access these websites. Therefore, predators and hackers undermine privacies in societies because new media gives them an incentive to exist.
Recommendations on Use of Media Technologies and Consumption of Media
Media consumers ought to consume new media moderately because the overuse of new media is what leads to the development of the adverse impacts, for instance, depression due to the overuse of social media. Therefore, behavioral change is necessitated in order to reap the positive benefits of new media.
Media scholars ought to join hands with the policymakers in order to create the best policies for new media. I.e., they should collaborate with policy makers. This is because the scholars have the low-down on how new media functions and can thus help policy makers in crafting holistic and comprehensive laws that encapsulate the immediate issues faced by society members.
All new media operators should strive to protect and uphold the privacy of its users and prevent any personal data leakage. Moreover, they should try to democratize the platforms as much as possible in order to avoid different parties from controlling information and selectively exploiting their positions to suit their needs. Policy makers should ensure that the new media operators are checked and are continuously evaluated for conforming to the stipulated rules and laws.
References
Allen, S. Social media’s growing impact on our lives. Retrieved 16 December 2020, from https://www.apa.org/members/content/social-media-research
Boers, E., Afzali, M. H., Newton, N., & Conrod, P. (2019). Association of screen time and depression in adolescence. JAMA pediatrics , 173 (9), 853-859.
Cote, J. (2020). What is New Media? Retrieved 16 December 2020, from https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/2020/02/what-is-new-media
Legg, J. T. (2020). Negative effects of technology: Psychological, social, and health. (2020). Retrieved 16 December 2020, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/negative-effects-of-technology
Pantic, I. (2014). Online social networking and mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking , 17 (10), 652-657.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., yi Lin, L., Rosen, D., ... & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the US. American journal of preventive medicine , 53 (1), 1-8.
