Wikipedia:Daily Fail

In an article with an impossibly long title for the Daily Mail, Guy Adams says Wikipedia has totally "banned" the newspaper from this site. To prove the high credibility of the Mail as a source, keep adding those Mail citations here!

Social media and health is an intriguing topic. Social media use is widely considered to be harmful for its users, and it probably kills you according to the Daily Mail. It is especially dangerous to children. Furthermore, social media undisputedly causes mental disorders and immoral behaviour in people.

Health education

Social media has contributed in debunking alarmist health advice. In January 2017, the United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency (FSA) claimed that eating crispy foods, such as toast, may cause cancer. The following public outcry in social media continued even after the initial news were debunked. The chief scientific adviser of the FSA issued a statement in an interview given to BBC. He clarified that eating burnt toast is safe, and assured that there was no reason to panic at the news. However, he still gave a suggestion to avoid eating toast that has been roasted very dark, for those who want to eat toast every day. In the aftermath, Cambridge University statistician and professor David Spiegelhalter confirmed to the Daily Mail that eating crispy food is safe.

Diseases linked to social media use

In 2009 it was reported in the journal of the Institute of Biology, that social media use may increase the risk of serious health issues as serious as cancer, stroke, heart disease and dementia. Lack of face-to-face interaction between people disturbs balance of hormones in the body. For instance, oxytocin levels vary depending on the type of social contact. Mental performance, function of arteries, immune response and the way genes work were identified to possibly being impaired by social media use. Using too much social media can cause sleep disorders, according to a Swedish study.

Mental health

Further information: Internet addiction disorder

Research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine revealed that the more time young adults spend in social media, the more depressed they are. The social media sites may cause internet addiction, that is a proposed mental disorder. Social media is also a suspected risk factor for negative social interactions which may cause depression. Swedish research also found out a correlation between social media use and depression. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg believe that the negative effects of social media are strongly linked with computer and phone use. Count of social media accounts owned was linked with depression in a study conducted in the United States in 2014. Those with seven or more social media accounts were three times more likely to suffer from depression. Researchers also warned that anxiety can also be a result of trying to maintain presence on multiple social media platforms. Previous research had revealed that multitasking is related with mental illness and cognitive deficiency. Researchers hope that designing and implementing personalized public health interventions will be made possible in the future. Social media may be a contributing factor to young women's increasing mental health issues in Britain. Common mental health symptoms such as anxiety and irritability are more common in women, and the gap between genders has been growing since the 1990s.

Personality changes

Researchers have warned that using social media in a frequent and brief manner has been linked with phenomenon described as "moral shallowing". Especially users of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook were found to be prone to being immoral. Experts warned that using social media may be a "significant threat to intellectual, social and moral development", if the preliminary results are proven true. There had already been concerns about excessive use of social media causing negative personality traits such as narcissism and compulsive behaviour. A prominent psychiatrist warned that even typical people may experience a drastic personality change. He compared Twitter anger into a "road rage", and concluded that Twitter and Facebook make people become more aggressive. He also cited a recent poll that had found out that nine out of ten Britons are losing their temper more often online.

Life satisfaction

Boston University researchers found out that people using social media are 32% more likely to leave their spouses. Facebook was singled out as a "significant predictor" of marital issues and divorce. Adding factors such as employment status, age or race did not diminish the correlation. In the same study they found out that non-social media users reported more satisfaction in marriage. It is possible that social media users seek emotional support from the social media. However, effect of mobile-based communication technology to human social behaviour is not yet understood according to the researchers. A British study in 2015 found that 56% of young social media users felt that they were under-performing in body image, career, mood and energy. In comparison, only 37% of elder Britons felt that they were under-performing in their lives. Another study concluded that sharing bad news through social media sites will make them feel worse.

Effect on teenagers and children

See also: Hikikomori

Teenagers are at risk of developing mental health problems later in life as a result of social media use. However, it was discovered that their social skills were not harmed. Many cases of British teenagers locking themselves up in their bedrooms have surfaced. The Sunday Times warned that research on the social media effects on teenagers reveal that in the future economy of the United Kingdom will suffer as a result. It has been reported that in Russia social media has encouraged teenagers to engage in risky behaviours. Selfies are harmful for youngsters, and they cause confidence problems. Social media sites also leave youngsters vulnerable for abuse. Children are especially vulnerable to harm because they trust new technologies, whether or not the threat is direct or indirect. Children who use social media three hours or more are twice as likely to develop a mental health problems. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Britain warned in 2014 that social media is a contributing cause for childhood self-harm. Social media has also been blamed for "targeting" vulnerable youngsters and causing a threat of sexual exploitation.

Quality of sleep in teenagers has been adversely affected by social media. A study made in Wales found out that one in five children, or teenagers, wakes up to use social media at nighttime. Many also reported going to sleep very late. According to an expert, having a regular wake time is more important for children than the amount of time spent in bed.

However, Facebook has been credited for saving lives of young children in 2010, and again in 2014.

See also

• List of fallacies
• Daily Mail#Other criticisms
• Media literacy
• WP:CHERRYPICKING

Further reading

• Julian Knight; Michael Pattison (20 January 2015). British Politics For Dummies. Wiley. pp. 167–168. ISBN 978-1-118-97152-9.
• Josh Smith (15 April 2009). "Is Twitter making you immoral? Daily Mail says yes, science says no". AOL.
• Ben Goldacre (16 October 2010). "The Daily Mail cancer story that torpedoes itself in paragraph 19". The Guardian.
• Lauren Collins (2 April 2012). "Mail Supremacy". The New Yorker.
• John Bohannon (27 May 2015). "I Fooled Millions Into Thinking Chocolate Helps Weight Loss. Here's How". Gizmodo. (See also Daily Mail's coverage here.)
• George Bowden (9 February 2017). "Daily Mail Banned As 'Reliable Source' On Wikipedia In Unprecedented Move". The Huffington Post.

External links

• The Daily Mail Song on YouTube
• Daily Mail at RationalWiki