Nigerians have been called upon to mitigate the hazards of social media by prioritising their mental health and taking proper care of themselves.
The call was made at a programme organised by the U.S Embassy in collaboration with Jela’s Development Initiatives to commemorate this year’s World Mental Health Day.
The event had a screening of the documentary “The Social Dilemma” which portrayed the impact of social media on everyday life and how it in turn affects the mental health of users.
The Documentary analysed the consequences of the growing dependence on social media with tech experts from companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook sounding the alarm on their creations.
It also examined how social media’s design nurtures addiction to maximize profit and its ability to manipulate people’s views, emotions, and behaviour and spread conspiracy theories and disinformation.
One of the discussants at the event, Angela Ochu-Baiye, CEO/Founder of Jela’s Development Initiative, stated that the best way forward was moderation, she advocated for the limiting of social media time by children and adults alike.
Referring to the documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’ she spoke on how it elaborated the trend of suicides and death rates among teenagers which could also be traced back to social media use. “Cyberbullying is one of the leading causes of depression among youths”.
Similarly, Chris Chukwunyere, Executive Director of Inspire World International Foundation, noted that the social media menace needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
He based his argument on the documentary which showed that users spend more time on social media and are being targeted as products sold by big tech companies for advertising and money-making venture.
Another discussant, Aisha Abdullahi Bubah, founder of the Sunshine Series-Mind Wellness noted that even though the impact of social media on the human mind was high, she disagreed with the narrative of people always watching and monitoring your every move.
Bubah added that some patients who are schizophrenic already have such thoughts and adding to it would be detrimental to them.
A participant at the event, Rafat Salami noted that as a mother, raising three teenage boys, limiting their use of social media is quite challenging but is a task that parents must look into with utmost seriousness.
