With the new influence of social media, new phenomena of mental illness are emerging.
One of these new phenomena is FOMO, which stands for Fear of Missing Out. FOMO exists because of the toxic atmosphere on social media platforms. On platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Co., people share photos and videos of their daily lives. This sounds very harmless at first, but the pictures most users share do not reflect reality. In that way, a fake world is being created, and people start to compare themselves to unrealistic standards and lifestyles. This leads to the increase of feeling unsatisfied with one's life and thinking other people experience more in their life. We all contribute without even noticing how the things we post, in the hope of keeping up with others, affect the people around us. So this chain reaction is kept alive by letting the surreal affect our minds and giving in to the masses by posting.
Users do not only compare their lifestyles, they even compare their looks. Editing apps used to be utilized to edit the lighting or clean up the setting of a picture. Compared to nowadays, it is insane when you realize how people do not use filters and editing apps to increase the quality of the picture but instead to make themselves look different. These filters were only the beginning. Faceapp and more programs started to be used, and people started to change details of their whole faces. In the past, it has mostly been models or celebrities who edited their pictures, but it has become a trend for the masses. Until the point where we are now, people tend to edit their whole face and do not seem natural anymore. Some edit their noses, some their fat, and so much more. It gets people to the point where they don’t accept their natural facial features anymore but want to fulfill some kind of impossible beauty standard.
"Catfish" has been the term for people who fake a personality on the internet and are not really who they pretend to be online. In the modern social media age, this term has earned a new meaning. Catfish nowadays are people who do not look like they do in their pictures uploaded on their social media accounts due to filters and editing.
Face-editing is being normalized in our society even though it should not be. Due to the fact that it destroys our image of beauty and diversity, people start to be ashamed of their real beauty, which can lead to serious self-doubt and mental conditions like depression. For a lot of people, the constant pressure that comes with feeling observed and comparing oneself leads to body dysmorphia. Body dysmorphia is a condition in which someone falsely believes that there is something seriously wrong with the size or shape of their body. Some people who suffer from body dysmorphia are not able to imagine their appearance. This leads to eating disorders, so it is true that mental health affects physical health and one also needs to focus on one's mindset and mental health.
More and more people undergo risky procedures and operations because they have been influenced on social media by promotions for operations that downplay the risks of dying during the operation.
Another point which comes with the modern age is fame. There have been famous people before the era of social media, but due to these platforms, being famous has taken on a new dimension. Private pictures of and information about famous celebrities spread faster than ever, and celebrities are constantly being observed. Most people connect being famous with wealth, fun, and opportunities. And in some cases, it is true, but it does not mean that being famous makes you happy. Some of the world's greatest artists, like Renliang Qiao, committed suicide. He has been cyberbullied and could not handle the huge amount of negativity. So this tragic event shows us again that we should be careful with the things and comments we publish on social media because we have an influence on other human beings. It is critical to remember that behind every account is a human being who may be hurt by our words.
So let us be kind to each other and try to bring some reality to the social media platforms.