As part of my regular-breakfast-rotation, I went to Panera Bread yesterday morning. First, I placed my order and then I took my “pager” and my large drink cup and headed for my seat. That’s when my attention was grabbed!
I was approaching the seating booths and saw a lady taking pictures with her cell phone. As I passed her, I saw a young boy sitting across from her in their booth. She was taking a picture of him with a partial bagel hanging out of his mouth. I knew right then that I was witnessing a Facebook moment. I think my expression looked a little like this:
I am regularly asked about whether my law practice will be affected by driver cars. I don’t think about that as much as, how the future of my law practice will be affected by kids who have every moment captured for Facebook or Instagram. What will their expectations for attention be, when they are adults.
Which leads me to an article from Allthemoms.com (article here) titled Too Much Social Media Can Hurt Your Teen. Now, I am guessing that most would agree with that statement, if they really thought about it. And it’s not really just restricted to teens.
However, in many instances, the computer and iPad have replaced Disney movies on TV, or the babysitter, for something else to occupy and entertain. Now, there is a study that quantifies the impact of too much social media.
A four-year study conducted in England, with participants between the ages of 10-15 and over 1500 participants, revealed the following:
Social media sites including YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter, affected teens’ well-being. The study found that social media worsened:
- Body-image worries.
- Depression.
- Sleep problems.
- Loneliness.
- Fear of missing out.
- Anxiety.
Instagram is largely to blame for negatively impacting teen body-image feelings, according to the study. YouTube impacted teens’ sleep. I attached the article above with more detailed information on the study.
So how will that impact the future of social interaction? Well, Facebook has taught me that some of my high school friends are very opinionated, and that they like to travel, and post pictures of their food. And yet, I continue to be fascinated. Of course, there is also much positivity. At least I have that going for me.
Plus, the posting of one picture can reach the heart; like this picture from an article at WTTV (article)
These two dogs were left behind during the flooding in Texas. Social media has now impacted me to the extent that I am so hopeful that they were rescued. One picture is worth a thousand words.
And for pic 0′ day, how about some political humor! This is also a picture from Facebook. So, the influence continues!
