The internet has an impact on our lives. There are several benefits and drawbacks of the internet, which are frequently discussed. Social media is a huge part of the internet, and it currently dominates our daily lives. Everyone uses social media, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, YouTube, or some other platform.

You might have noticed, social media consumes a large portion of our daily and, in some cases, midnight hours. In recent years, excessive use of social media has been linked to cases of anxiety, panic, relationship issues, or even divorce. We need to become aware of it and start using it carefully.

The other day I got a call from a client who was very upset because her husband didn’t wish her on Facebook and didn’t share her picture.

One day, a mother called me and said she was angry with her son because he hadn’t put her photo in his WhatsApp status on Mother’s Day.

In one of the counselling sessions, I asked a boy how many friends you have? he said over 50. I questioned him more because I was curious to know how many of those were his best friends. None, he said; they are all my online buddies. We speak and play online games even though we don't know each other personally. It’s very heart-breaking to learn that he began to believe his online friends to be his actual friends and hardly made any more in real life.

We agree that WhatsApp has helped us stay in touch with our friends and family anytime, but it is also increasing the spread of rumours and misleading messages.

The endless scrolling on Instagram also triggers emotions such as jealousy, anger even fear of missing out.

People have started comparing their lives with people they see on reels and YouTube videos.

Also, there is trend to share each and everything on the internet. Teenagers are making various accounts to post their stories and parents are becoming more worried.

The examples are many; let’s see what we can do to take control back into our hands.

1. Keep the phone away 30 minutes prior to your sleep time.

2. Do not touch your phone immediately after waking up.

3. Limit the amount of time you spend scrolling through stories and videos on social media platforms.

4. Decide what needs to be shared on public platforms and keep private moments for your memory.

5. If you and your spouse keep arguing about behaviour on internet platforms, seek help from the professionals.

6. Do not try to spy on your kids or family members by using fake internet profiles.

7. The people showing extreme happiness or even negative emotions in reels may not be real; it is media to earn money, so believing everything is not right.

8. Hate comments, negative comments, and showing disrespect to people on social media is very easy these days. Check if you are also part of this trend and stop yourself before you type something that is absolutely not necessary.

9. Sharing any information without checking the facts is not good; you may be spreading rumours, and that could be dangerous.

10. Remember, the time you spend watching those trending reels and videos is helping the creator earn views and money, but at the same time, you are wasting your precious time.

11. Check your friend list on FB and Insta followers; you can remove people who are no longer in your contact.

12. Unless you are a content creator, the number of followers or friends in your social media account doesn’t make any difference in your personal life. The bond that you share with your actual family and friends matters more than that with your virtual friends and followers.

Before sharing, commenting, or following any trend, ask yourself:

1. Is it helpful?

2. Is it necessary?

3. Is it funny? or will it hurt the person?

4. Is this information right and all facts are true?

5. Is this what I really like?

 As we say, "be a responsible citizen," similarly, we have to be responsible netizens.

Teja Shivasharan