Social media IS NOT real life; your neck is

Young adults, grownups, and even children can name celebrities and brands, but they cannot name flowers, plants, or stars. While social media provides connectivity, it is also changing our perceptions of ourselves, others, and real life.

The online culture has boomed while screen time has gone up. The point is that social media has been changing the way information is disseminated; not just that, it is also changing our physical posture.

One thing real in the digital world is a text neck, also called a tech neck. I had never noticed a large bulge on the back of somebody’s neck until recently. The size of the bump surprised me. In another circumstance, I saw a photograph of a well-known young man, and I couldn’t believe it. I took a screenshot and looked up the bulge on the Internet. It is a blessing that technology and the web can provide us with searchability, reproduction, and information. As a side note, photographers should exercise caution when photographing from angles.

Texting and scrolling are the causes of tech neck syndrome, which is becoming a widespread problem affecting adults and children. Data has connected physical changes to the use of computers and smartphones. According to the National Biotechnology Information site, the rise of this clinical condition of looking down while using a smartphone can cause mechanical stress in the cervical spine, resulting in bad posture and inappropriate body alignment.

The website claims that it can cause dysfunctional movement, weak balance ability, and disrupted respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and neurological system functions. Eye movement dysfunction is also on the list of ailments. A domino effect will occur when bending the head forward for too long.

Text neck syndrome is also affecting children and adolescents who spend a lot of time playing on their devices. Gaming is a growing lifestyle. They may, however, be unaware of the clinical and physical consequences that will affect them later in life with illnesses such as pain and disabilities. According to an article in the Radiology Case Reports journal, tech neck progression has been insufficiently treated or studied.

Social media plays an important role in connecting and developing relationships between individuals and institutions. Its portability bridges distances. However, the world of social media is a creation, a construction that can influence people’s emotions and priorities. It can make people happy, anxious, or distressed. We spend more time on social media than maintaining social ties, and one day this fake world can fall flat! Authenticity is a scarce commodity on social media.

We have seen a surge of ‘social media celebrities’ out of imaginary and glossy posts, and these celebrities have become trendsetters. As with anything else, there is both good and bad. It is a career that could easily vanish when new and more advanced communication and information technologies emerge. By that time, a portion of the brainpower has most likely been burned, and the ‘celebrity’ will have little knowledge and skills to retain.

People are growing more comfortable with the use of social media without realizing their dependency on visibility, but they are also conveniently using the strategies offered for invisibility. Visibility is the social fabric of social media, in which we share information, photos, and events without knowing who is lurking in our sphere and watching our every move.

What about the young adults and children who are already addicted to social media? Recently, I came across a cartoon for babies created with artificial intelligence, a ChatGPT babysitter. So, for those who were born and raised with smartphones, the digital world is an integral part of their existence. However, the generation is deemed to have lost touch with social values and emotional attachment. Many physical and mental disabilities are looming on the horizon!