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We've been hearing more and more about loneliness, and the "loneliness epidemic," in recent years, as research has stared to lay out both its causes and effects. There are likely many reasons for this increasing psychological/societal issue, but one that's almost certainly involved is our dependence on screens, and in particular social media. And a new study from the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University finds that social media use-or at least negative experiences on social-is linked to more feelings of social isolation, a.k.a. loneliness. (And below is a worthwhile infographic on loneliness.)

The team had previously reported that in college students, negative social media experiences were linked to depression: for every 10% rise in negative social media interactions a person experienced, their risk of depression rose significantly-by 20%. Positive experiences didn't have any real effect. The authors suggested that the discrepancy exists because of the negativity bias, our tendency to remember and be affected by negative events much more strongly than positive ones. As always, it's likely that the connection goes both ways: that in addition to social media leading to depressive symptoms, people who are already depressed may be more likely to use social media, or have negative experiences with it.

And the new study was very similar. The team queried undergraduates about their social media use, the types of experiences they had with it, and their mental health-in this study, of course, feelings of social isolation were of interest. The two variables were connected in a dose-dependent way: For every 10% rise in negative experience on social media, there was a 13% increase in loneliness. For positive experiences, there was no such connection.

Again, the authors suggest that it's a two-way street-negative social media interactions may make one more likely to isolate, and that existing feelings of isolation could also lead a person to use social media more (and/or perceive more negative experiences on it).

"There is a tendency for people to give greater weight to negative experiences and traits compared with positive ones, and this may be particularly relevant when it comes to social media," said study author Jaime Sidani in a news release. "So, positive experiences on social media may be associated with fleeting positive reinforcement, while negative experiences -- such as public social media arguments -- may rapidly escalate and leave a lasting, potentially traumatic impression. It also may be that socially isolated people lean toward social media use that involves negative interactions. It is probably a mix of both."

Social media use, and closely related screen addiction in general, is probably just one of the many reasons people are feeling more isolated these days-our modern lifestyles, at least in certain countries, don't exactly lend themselves to maintaining a meaningful social life. Variables like living by oneself, far from family and friends, aging alone, a lack of meaningful community, among others, are probably other significant contributors to the loneliness epidemic.

Below is an interesting infographic from Happify.com, which outlines some of the health and mental health effects of loneliness. The point isn't to scare people about the fallout of being lonely, but just to get people thinking about the importance of social connection-and the reality that we should really work to make it a habit. (There are also tips on how to do this.) Just like eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep, social connection is a lifestyle variable that we should see not as expendable, but as a non-negotiable.

I fell into writing about health shortly after grad school, where I realized I didn't want to work in a lab for the rest of my life! My main areas of interest are the brain and behavior, as well as what influences the decisions we make about our health, and how we can chang...

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Loneliness Linked To Negative Social Media Experiences, Study Finds

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We've been hearing more and more about loneliness, and the "loneliness epidemic," in recent years, as research has stared to lay out both its causes and effects. There are likely many reasons for this increasing psychological/societal issue, but one that's almost certainly involved is our dependence on screens, and in particular social media.

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Preoccupations

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Credit Credit David Saracino

I'm a millennial computer scientist who also writes books and runs a blog. Demographically speaking I should be a heavy social media user, but that is not the case. I've never had a social media account.

At the moment, this makes me an outlier, but I think many more people should follow my lead and quit these services. There are many issues with social media, from its corrosion of civic life to its cultural shallowness, but the argument I want to make here is more pragmatic: You should quit social media because it can hurt your career.

This claim, of course, runs counter to our current understanding of social media's role in the professional sphere. We've been told that it's important to tend to your so-called social media brand, as this provides you access to opportunities you might otherwise miss and supports the diverse contact network you need to get ahead. Many people in my generation fear that without a social media presence, they would be invisible to the job market.

In a recent New York magazine essay, Andrew Sullivan recalled when he started to feel obligated to update his blog every half-hour or so. It seemed as if everyone with a Facebook account and a smartphone now felt pressured to run their own high-stress, one-person media operation, and "the once-unimaginable pace of the professional blogger was now the default for everyone," he wrote.

I think this behavior is misguided. In a capitalist economy, the market rewards things that are rare and valuable. Social media use is decidedly not rare or valuable. Any 16-year-old with a smartphone can invent a hashtag or repost a viral article. The idea that if you engage in enough of this low-value activity, it will somehow add up to something of high value in your career is the same dubious alchemy that forms the core of most snake oil and flimflam in business.

Professional success is hard, but it's not complicated. The foundation to achievement and fulfillment, almost without exception, requires that you hone a useful craft and then apply it to things that people care about. This is a philosophy perhaps best summarized by the advice Steve Martin used to give aspiring entertainers: "Be so good they can't ignore you." If you do that, the rest will work itself out, regardless of the size of your Instagram following.

A common response to my social media skepticism is the idea that using these services "can't hurt." In addition to honing skills and producing things that are valuable, my critics note, why not also expose yourself to the opportunities and connections that social media can generate? I have two objections to this line of thinking.

First, interesting opportunities and useful connections are not as scarce as social media proponents claim. In my own professional life, for example, as I improved my standing as an academic and a writer, I began receiving more interesting opportunities than I could handle. I currently have filters on my website aimed at reducing, not increasing, the number of offers and introductions I receive.

My research on successful professionals underscores that this experience is common: As you become more valuable to the marketplace, good things will find you. To be clear, I'm not arguing that new opportunities and connections are unimportant. I'm instead arguing that you don't need social media's help to attract them.

My second objection concerns the idea that social media is harmless. Consider that the ability to concentrate without distraction on hard tasks is becoming increasingly valuable in an increasingly complicated economy. Social media weakens this skill because it's engineered to be addictive. The more you use social media in the way it's designed to be used - persistently throughout your waking hours - the more your brain learns to crave a quick hit of stimulus at the slightest hint of boredom.

Once this Pavlovian connection is solidified, it becomes hard to give difficult tasks the unbroken concentration they require, and your brain simply won't tolerate such a long period without a fix. Indeed, part of my own rejection of social media comes from this fear that these services will diminish my ability to concentrate - the skill on which I make my living.

The idea of purposefully introducing into my life a service designed to fragment my attention is as scary to me as the idea of smoking would be to an endurance athlete, and it should be to you if you're serious about creating things that matter.

Perhaps more important, however, than my specific objections to the idea that social media is a harmless lift to your career, is my general unease with the mind-set this belief fosters. A dedication to cultivating your social media brand is a fundamentally passive approach to professional advancement. It diverts your time and attention away from producing work that matters and toward convincing the world that you matter. The latter activity is seductive, especially for many members of my generation who were raised on this message, but it can be disastrously counterproductive.

Most social media is best described as a collection of somewhat trivial entertainment services that are currently having a good run. These networks are fun, but you're deluding yourself if you think that Twitter messages, posts and likes are a productive use of your time.

If you're serious about making an impact in the world, power down your smartphone, close your browser tabs, roll up your sleeves and get to work.

Cal Newport is an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University and the author of "Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World" (Grand Central).

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Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It.

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Preoccupations I'm a millennial computer scientist who also writes books and runs a blog. Demographically speaking I should be a heavy social media user, but that is not the case. I've never had a social media account. At the moment, this makes me an outlier, but I think many more people should follow my lead and quit these services.

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https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-social-media-is-changing-relationships

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If you think that late-term abortions are for mothers who get to 8.5 months and then randomly decide they no longer want to have a baby, then don't even read this article. This article is not to argue with ignorance. Read some unbiased articles, actually, think about it for two seconds and then realize that women who are due any day now aren't just going to terminate their pregnancies because it is "legal" now. (It is not.)

I've seen so many posts and comments and arguments, the crux of them being, "I can't imagine aborting my child after 24 weeks."
Well, guess what... The women this law will apply to probably can't imagine it, either.
Nearly all abortions occur in the first trimester of pregnancy (approximately 91.1%). This tells us what is (more than likely) a pretty obvious fact: That beyond the first trimester, most women are planning to keep their baby (or give him or her up for adoption). So you can imagine that even being presented with the option of termination would be heartbreaking.

Imagine this: You're pregnant and absolutely ecstatic to bring a child into the world. You go in for an appointment at 30 weeks. During the exam, your doctor is quiet. You are growing extremely anxious. They tell you that they have some bad news. Your daughter has a serious condition, one that will allow her to live less than a year. They can perform a c-section, she will be in the NICU for a long time, but even once you take her home, she has an extremely low chance of survival. Her life will be painful. Or, they can perform an abortion.

What do you choose? For some, they absolutely cannot fathom the idea of termination. They'd rather take a chance at life. And for some, they cannot even fathom the idea of watching their child live a painful, short life that will end in incredible heartbreak.

Both of these are traumatizing decisions. Your pregnancy and your hope for the future and your plans for the child you are so excited for have come crashing down. This is not a lightly made decision. And if you would choose to take your chances, pray for a miracle and get to hold your child in your arms, you should have every single right to.

But if you decide that the trauma of terminating your pregnancy without having to fall further in love with your child and watch him or her struggle every day and deal with the gutwrenching pain of losing them, you should have every single right to make that choice, too.

This is not cut and dry. This is something that changes from woman to woman, from family to family. But one thing stays the same: Learning that the life that you planned for your baby can no longer be as you desperately hoped is heartbreaking. It is a uniquely horrific feeling that, you're right, you can't imagine. No one can imagine it until they're living it. I write about it and I think about it and I have to assume that there is nothing in this world that can prepare you for it.
Posting and commenting that women who choose the path of late-term termination are monsters or killers or heartless is wrong.
Picture this: A pregnant woman and her husband, sitting in an exam room alone after learning devastating news about their pregnancy. They're holding one another, sobbing, thinking through their options. Trying to decide if ending their pregnancy, crushing the hopes and dreams they had for their little baby is the right choice, or continuing on and hoping for a miracle but knowing they should prepare for the heartbreak of their lives. Picture them, through tears, while holding an ultrasound photo to their chest, telling the doctor they choose to terminate. Picture them going home, sitting in the nursery they decorated, calling their parents and telling them their grandchild won't be arriving.
Are you picturing a couple of monsters? A couple of heartless killers?
Or do you see a family put into an impossible situation, trying to make an impossible decision for themselves and their unborn child? A family who threw a baby shower and decorated their nursery and argued over the perfect name for months. Who took progress photos of their baby bump, who talked about what sports their kid would play, who had to hear the devastating news that turned their world upside down?

I don't see a monster. I don't see a killer.

I see pain, I see hardship, I see love.

And I hope that you do, too.

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Why Social Media Is Changing Our Relationships

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If you think that late-term abortions are for mothers who get to 8.5 months and then randomly decide they no longer want to have a baby, then don't even read this article. This article is not to argue with ignorance.

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1. What do you think about social media? What kind of social media platforms do you use?

2. In what ways could you make use of social media in the working life? Have you used social media in your job for example?

3. How do you see social media's role in the future?

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platform -> in this context for example Instagram, Facebook etc.
network
communication
relationship
technology
privacy
interaction