By Rachael Simm, Sports Editor
The first thing the majority of us do when we wake up is check social media. With the ever increasing number of social media accounts, it is no surprise we are all gradually becoming addicted. Over 45 million people in the UK now have at least one social media account, which is rapidly approaching 70% of the population.
The first thing the majority of us do when we wake up is check social media. With the ever increasing number of social media accounts, it is no surprise we are all gradually becoming addicted. Over 45 million people in the UK now have at least one social media account, which is rapidly approaching 70% of the population.The average person spends almost two and a half hours on social media a day, which may not sound a lot until you think about what you could have achieved in that time and how much time you have just wasted.
Social media has also allowed the world to become more aware of current events. For example, the recent Australian bushfires became international news within hours thanks to social media. Thousands of posts and photos were shared on Facebook spreading the news across the world. Because of this, over $26 million dollars were raised solely from Facebook which is the highest amount of money ever raised via social media.
However, whilst we are becoming more interconnected with other countries, we are beginning to lose connections with those close to us. With school taking a lot of time out of teenagers’ lives, very little time is spent with family and friends. Social media takes a further two and a half hours out of each day, so almost no family time remains. You may think you are connected with the world around you through news pages on Facebook and the explore page on Instagram, but do you really pay attention to the world more close to home? Probably not as much as you should. We claim to know about our family and friends’ lives but when was the last time you had a proper conversation without at least one of you casually scrolling through social media whilst only half listening? 8 out of 10 teenagers claim to know their friends better via social media. But often we forget that we only see the best parts of someone’s life on social media.
Next time you meet up with a friend, why not turn your phone on silent and put it face down, or even try keeping your phone in your bag? You will be surprised by how little you actually need your phone despite thinking it plays a critical role in your life.
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