Kefas Bangripga
We sometimes find ourselves stressed, depressed, sad or mentally rusty after consuming some information on the social media, especially when the information relate to timely happenings around us bothering on economy, security and so on. Apparently, timeliness as a determinant of news triggers our curiosity due to the fact that, humans have the natural tendency of social consciousness, i.e. we all want to be aware of happenings around us. A lot of people are unaware that some of the information they consume daily on the social media induce some level of deterioration on their mental wellbeing.
The impact of social media on our mental wellbeing is highly connected to technological phenomenon of media convergence due to the swiftness and immediacy it has added to information sharing among the mass audience. Stretching back to the early 90s, the internet revolution has instigated sequence of metamorphoses in communication process. First it was digitisation then media convergence both of which have brought a significant shift in mass communication. People now have access to information about happenings around them and across the world as well as share same with ease and expediency. For instance, Facebook allows users to post opinion, comment, and share.
Media convergence can be viewed from two perspectives; First is the convergence of traditional and social media tools in a single device. For instance, an android phone has; Radio, Internet, Camera, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter etc. The second perspective is the convergence of print and broadcast media on the internet space i.e. they all have gone digital. They have websites where the audience can access their contents remotely with computers or phones.
The statistics of internet users in Nigeria as published by Statista Research Department (2021, August 23rd) shows that, there are 101.72 million internet users in Nigeria and the figure is projected to grow to 142.73 million by the end of 2026. The data also shows that, there are 29.64 million Facebook users in out of which 25. 8 million users in Nigeria visits Facebook each day through their mobile devices.
Media convergence and digitisation have redefined the influence of timeliness as a determinant of news in information distribution and consumption. Davey (2018) wrote that, one of the most significant impact of digitisation and media convergence on news reporting has been the dramatic shift to visual imagery in news items, especially images contributed by the audience and garnered by journalists from social media. In essence, the audience now contribute in news gathering process. As such, in most instances, journalists use images or clips of happenings recorded by the audience with their phones who witnessed such events as they occur. Majority of such clips or images may not be permissible on the mainstream media because of their goriness and tendency to convey fear among the audience.
The first stage of social media influence on our mental wellbeing is Addiction; addiction to the medium itself. The Uses and Gratification Theory presupposes that; a medium is used by the audience when the existing use of medium leads to more satisfaction. Thus, the social media is now our major source of information, due to its accessibility and immediacy in dispersing information that relate to our social reality.
Ashara (2018) says, a study conducted on the influence of social media on the audience indicated that majority of people visit their social media sites several times a day. This shows the extent of addiction to social media among users. Because of human natural tendency of social consciousness, a lot of people constantly comb the social media in search of news that gratify and satisfy their curiosity, as such, they come across a significant number information whose contents are highly emotionalised and sensationalised which consequently lead to overthinking and mental unrest.
The information we consume on social media affect our mental wellbeing due to two fundamental reasons; First is the state of the Nation; Nigeria is going through hard times, as such majority the information about Nigeria on social media is bad news. So it makes it timely for people to post; banditry, terrorism, religious crises, inflation, kidnapping and so on, which in the long run generates scary thoughts among readers. Secondly; the social media is an untamed space. It is a breeding ground for citizen journalists who capitalises on the state of the nation to misinform and disinform people thereby causing public panic.
Against the backdrop of current happenings in Nigeria, popular Facebook newsfeed of outlets like: Sahara Reporters, Critical Times Nigeria, Legit Nigeria, IgbereTV and so on are disposed to bias negativity, i.e. they lash on bad news in order to get more, likes, comments, click-baits and readership. Majority of their contents revolve around; terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, religious and ethnic clashes, economic meltdown etc. because people tend to react faster to such issues. More so, the timeliness of these information makes it difficult for people to resist the urge of reading them. Constant exposure to such information raises worry about the economy, fear of banditry and kidnapping which stimulates feeling of uncertainty then eventually leads to anxiety and paranoia.
Mental health is fundamental in our overall wellbeing not only as individuals but as a society, because a healthy society is a productive one which translates to econonomic prosperity. This underscores why we need to limit our interaction with social media, because as we become overly addicted to it, the information we get exposed to, begin to control our thoughts and perception of reality.
Kefas Bangripga 