Introduction
Network has been in use since 1960s when it was developed by ARPANET to enable them communicate as a group. To date it is widely used and several technologies have been developed to ease communication between people including social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, among others. There are several reasons for network usage which bring about an effect on people’s health. Excessive use of internet among the youth negatively influences their lives leading to dropping out of school, increased family stress, despair, apprehension or low self-esteem and even physical health problems such as sleep deprivation and lack of physical activity . This paper will look at two negative effects of internet use on people health and also a benefit of internet use to people health.
Negative effects and benefit of network on people’s health
According to there are three factors that influence social networks which include neighbourhood characteristics and perceptions; poverty and social exclusion, and social consciousness. In addition according to in their study they found out that the existence of social networks brings a meaning of that people's health is co-dependent and that health care can go beyond an individual in ways that patients, doctors, and researchers should care about. Thus the relationship of network and people’s health is interconnected.
A lot of studies have been carried out about the risks of internet use on people. According to the study on risks and opportunities on internet use by youth, it was found out that network affects youth online behaviour such as cyber bullying and sexual solicitation. This paper had an evidence of physical health where people have sleep dispossession due to long hours of Internet use . According to study of youth who spent more time using Internet went to bed very late during both the week and weekend and they spent less time in bed during the week and reported higher levels of tiredness. In addition, according to the study carried out by in his study the results showed that nocturnal technology use has a negative impact on adolescents’ quality and quantity of sleep. 96 percent of students had their computers at home that cause them sleep less.
Another health problem encountered is mental health. According to he found out that use of Internet was associated with critical increase in depression with 0.11 standard deviations, internet increased due to increased reflection, unnecessary alarm, or over-attention to health problems and that people who used the Internet for communication with friends and family, on the other hand, reported reduced depression after accounting for initial depression. However, carried out a study by surveying therapists who have treated clients with cyber-related problems and found out that caseload of nine clients who they classified as Internet-addicted were treated within the past year, most of them being addicted to cybersex, cyber-relationships or gambling, information surfing, and computer games.
Despite negative effects, the use of network has benefits too. , examined association between Internet use and self-rated health among older people in order to determine it’s independent of socioeconomic position. They found out that Internet users have better self-rated health than nonusers. Internet has benefits of personal and social aspects of their lives such as to younger people, it helps them interact with friends and perform activities that are socially relevant to their age group. Thus improving self esteem, and having excellent interpersonal relation which is vital for one health and to older people, it ensures accessibility of products thus the old are able to shop easily without stress.
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