Because of the nature of the university experience, many social interactions in this stage of life are now occurring through various social media websites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. While these sites are certainly advantageous at times, they can also be detrimental to your overall experience in university if you’re not careful about the amount of time you spend on them, and what you do on them.
Having a daily ‘dependence’ on social media can be negative for many university students for a variety of reasons. For one, having to maintain a constant image on social media can be extremely time consuming. For example, when you’re having some downtime and perhaps a drink with friends, instead of simply enjoying yourself, you must always be slightly wary of anyone taking your picture or perhaps posting a silly status about you. It is this constant anxiety about how one appears in the social media sphere that could inherently deplete the importance and joy of what is actually occurring in the real world, making students care too much about how what they are doing is perceived by others. In short, university can create an atmosphere over time that is obsessed with ones image, with isn’t really conducive to real life without social media.
While social media sites do provide many benefits, if used in the right way, people can take them too seriously and rely on them too much at times, especially at a university level. Instead of caring what others think, focus on your day to day life and your personal interactions with others for a healthier and more carefree lifestyle.