The Impact of Social Media on our Mental & Physical Health

Normally I blog about cryptocurrency, finance or technology; however, I read a book on vacation this week that was particularly powerful and I wanted to share some thoughts. Chances are you, the reader, have a social media account. In fact, you may have many accounts on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc. And chances are you have a Gmail account or at least have performed a Google search. If you have, then I would recommend that you read a book titled "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now" by Jaron Lanier. Here are some of the key takeaways I noted when reading this excellent book:

• Facebook makes more money when people are irritated, angry, obsessed and divided.

• How can you find happiness and be authentic when everything you read, say or do is fed into a judgment machine?

• Facebook naturally promotes tribalism and is tearing society apart. People stay in their little ideological echo chambers and what they see is specifically targeted to their tastes, so they don't see other points of view very often.

• Empathy is the fuel that runs a decent society, and Facebook slowly removes a person's ability to empathize.

• In the scientific community almost everyone agrees that climate change is a huge deal and we must confront it sooner rather than later, yet a small but powerful group of business people and politicians don't buy it. They see climate change as a con to attack their wealth and power.

• Immunization is one of the most powerful inventions in human history. It has basically erased things like polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, rubella, etc. You and I probably know people who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine. They believe all kinds of ridiculous propaganda they have read or heard about the vaccine (much of which they have consumed on social media). And their paranoia puts other people at risk.

• The crazy world we now live in has devolved to such a point as to where real news is called "fake news" and fake news is what many people believe. It is almost as if the movie Idiocracy is happening in real life.

• Scientific studies have proven that social media makes users less happy. They see other people on vacations or driving nice cars and they feel that they are not pretty enough, don't make enough money are not popular enough, etc. This is especially true with teenagers girls and we've seen an increase in suicide, eating disorders and other issues as a result.

• Facebook and other social media companies have become the "ransomware" of human attention. They have such a hold of our attention that they have essentially become the gatekeepers to our brains.

• Social media platforms have helped some of the most selfish, cruelest leaders get elected around the world. It happened in the USA with Trump's boost thanks to Cambridge Analytica's targeted Facebook campaign -- and you have seen it in other countries like Turkey and Austria. There have also been social media campaigns used to target the Rohingya's in Myanmar and certain tribes in South Sudan. It was even used to organize the Capitol insurrection in Washington DC.