Podcast Episode Project

The podcast episode discusses the impact of social media on our lives. It acknowledges the positive aspects of social media, such as social connections and resources for mental health, but also highlights the negative effects, including addiction and negative impacts on mental health. The host suggests limiting social media use and taking breaks from technology to improve sleep and focus. The episode also mentions research findings that prolonged use of social media can lead to relationship conflicts and feelings of jealousy and insecurity. The host encourages listeners to prioritize real-life interactions and outdoor activities for better well-being. Welcome to the Tired of It podcast, where we are tired of things happening out there in the world, and instead of complaining, we act on it. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, listeners. I am your host, Eli Rivera. This is episode 323, and today we are talking about social media, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We know social media is great, but like all things, there's a dark side. Picture this. You're out for dinner with your friends on a Friday night. Five minutes go by and no one has said a word. Technology has become the main source of dopamine for people in 2023. Instead of talking to people face-to-face, we prefer to text. In 2023, you pretty much need to live off the grid for your whole life to not be documented on social media. Of course, everyone has the right online, and obviously it's not my intent to discourage anyone from doing that. It's quite literally what I do for a living. So I started thinking about this, and I ended up asking myself questions. Do the negative effects of technology outweigh the positive? Social media has its pros and cons. It's like candy where if you have the right amount, it's great, but too much and you get a stomach ache. On top of that, you can become addicted, and it becomes something you need every day. The scary part about social media, though, you can't tell that you're addicted because most people in our generation are. We joke about it all the time, but it's real. In this episode, we will explain the positive and negative impacts that technology has had in our lives. Also, along the way, I will go over a few things you can do to avoid the negative and improve the quality of your life. If you ever found yourself feeling bad about yourself after seeing someone else's post on Instagram, social media could be affecting your mental health. Personally, I've experienced this. I post fitness content daily, which brings me to my first tip, limit yourself. If you don't limit yourself on social media, you will find yourself going down the rabbit hole. Before you know it, you're scrolling on Instagram or TikTok for an hour when you could have been doing something productive. Seven scholars examined adolescents recently hospitalized for suicide attempts. There were three research questions. Question one and two were, what negative and positive experiences do suicidal adolescents report related to their use of social media? Some of the negatives they found were trouble regulating use, stress related to social media, encounters with triggering content, hostility and meanness, self-denigrating comparisons, and verticent friendship expectations. These are all things that you don't have to be suicidal to feel from social media, but if you are, it can lead to some dark places. Some of the positives included social connection, social support, affecting enhancing content, shared interests and resources for mental health and coping. We can see that like all things, social media has its benefits. Does that outweigh the negative impacts though? I'm not so sure. So maybe just maybe if we're struggling and mentally, all we need is a little time away from our phones, or even if you don't feel troubled mentally, time away from technology could be a good thing for, could be good for sleep, improvements in focus, more time to focus on recovery, less pressure to post and reprise from feeling excluded. These same patients had to undergo a social media detox while in hospitalization, which for many in 2023 would result in death. But what they found interviewing with the patients may be surprising. Two thirds portrayed the experience as predominantly positive. They told the doctors this time gave them benefits for sleep, improvement in focus, more time to focus on recovery, less pressure to post and reprise from feeling excluded. Less pressure to post and reprise from feeling excluded. This statement may be one to throw in a personal experience in mind. Although I'm not a patient like the teams in this scenario, I have been through something like this where I do not have access to technology and basic training. You don't have to have your, you don't have your phone. Not being able to talk to family is very difficult, but like those patients said, not having access to social media or a phone during this time helped me focus on my training and benefited my sleep. Even with an hour, even with an hour long fire guard shift in the middle of the night, I still had better sleep and basic than I do now. Why? Because of the lack of this little rectangular thing on my nightstand, which brings me to my second tip. Stay off your phone for an hour before you go to sleep. This is not easy. I know, but this strategy has proven to improve sleep quality. So we, as a generation have to stop watching YouTube before we go to sleep. I say this, but I'll probably still end up watching something before I go to bed. Sadly, it is an addiction. Have you ever found yourself texting a crush? And then they're not putting the same effort when it comes to communication. Then you become sad because of this, right? Or, or how about this? You send someone a message, they open it, but don't text back, leaving you on read. I know most of you have been there. These four scholars did a study on how teens develop excessive behaviors towards social media and how it affects relationships. They narrowed down to the popular app, Instagram, and found that prolonged use of Instagram reduces overall relationship stratification, which then elevates conflicts and induces negative outcomes. On top of that, the increased use of Instagram may eventually lead to addiction. Something that I've found among myself and others is that we crave acceptance. We want to fit in. Access to information on social media may lead to feelings of jealousy, sense of insecurity, and even lack of trust. My advice to you, if you have a crush on someone, ask them out on a date. Not a Zoom date, a real date. Not a FaceTime, a real date. What happens when we're on social media too much is we overthink and our brains go numb. It's like we're becoming robots. Have you ever heard of someone being called an NPC, which stands for non-playable character? Yeah. Well, it's because that person acts like a robot. Why is that? Because they spend all of their time on technology and don't know how to interact with people. But I want to backtrack to what they said about how access to information on social media may lead to feelings of jealousy, sense of insecurity, and even lack of trust. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. Throw your ego away. Dive into yourself a little bit. Have you ever felt insecure, like you want someone else, like you want what someone else has? Yes? Great. You are normal. This feeling is normal. That's the first thing you need to understand is that everyone has a way because it's human nature to want more. How do we limit that feeling? Well, there's tip number three. Understand that social media is a highlight reel of someone's life. Someone can make it look like they have it all together when 90% of the time they are down and defeated. My example, as a former running back in high school, I didn't put the place where I got tackled for a loss when I was making a highlight reel. I put the place where I got tackled for a loss. I put the place where I got tackled for a loss when I was making a highlight reel. I put the place where I scored or ran somebody over, took somebody's ankles. If you learned one thing from this episode, I hope that it's to limit the time you spend on social media. Go to the gym. But if you go to the gym, don't bring an iPad and watch Netflix while you do one machine. True story, by the way. Go for a walk. Hang out with your friends instead of texting them. Talk to family. Go outside. You need vitamin D. Don't drink Sunny D, though. Studies also show that being outside in nature is relaxing and reduces our stress, cortisol levels, muscle tension, and heart rates. I've been there where you feel depressed, so you're scrolling through TikTok or Instagram, and it feels like the best option. But if you just go outside or even leave your room, man, what a difference it makes. There was a study done in Japan. People living in the same area, those who went outside four or more times a week were less likely to experience declines in basic activities of daily living. All right. So based on all of this information, we've learned that the more time we spend on social media, the more excessive behaviors you build towards it. Also, time away from social media and technology in general improves focus, sleep, and relieves pressure. All right. That's all I've got for you guys today. Have a great day. Go outside. Enjoy the air. Get out of your room and expand your comfort zone. See you next time.