Social Media vs Mental Health
- onceuponageneratio
- Jan 8, 2022
- 3 min read
As science and technologies are getting more advanced day by day, we constantly have to surround ourselves with all types of recent electronic devices and digital platforms. Social media is considered one of the most important internet platforms of communication and entertainment for people of all ages, this includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and other virtual gaming apps. These online websites have been expanding rapidly fast for the past decades or so, and they are very accessible to all individuals around the world, especially the younger generation. Research finds that 92% of teenagers in the US go online daily and 71% of them use more than one social network site (Pew Research Center, 2015). During the Covid-19 pandemic, the usage of social media among teenagers and young adults increased tremendously as schools and workplaces operated mostly online. According to Elite Content Marketer, a study by Cambridge Open Engage collected data regarding the screen time usage of more than 3,000 Iowa State University staffs, faculty, and students during the pandemic, found that their screen time has increased up to 20-30%. A landmark report by Common Sense Media found that on average, teenagers spend around 9 hours per day on entertainment and social media.
Looking at a screen for 9 to 10 hours a day is not good for our eyes nor our physical health. However, it is important to note that social media has been very useful for spreading mainstream information and allowing people to connect with each other more easily. According to the Education Policy Institute, social media can also have beneficial impact on people’s mental health by improving their social skills. Young adolescents share their lifestyles, hobbies and cultures online to find similar kind of people to talk to and exchange opinions with. When teens become more comfortable reaching out to other people, they are more likely to talk about themselves and ask for emotional support from their friends. Social media is not only a coping mechanism for people who struggle from different mental illnesses, it also acts as a big environment for activists and social media organizations to spread awareness of mental health and global issues. Social media does not always deteriorate our mental health like we think it does. Mental health illnesses are usually caused by many factors and to say that social media is the main causation for bad mental health is simply not true. The media or the older generations often hold the belief that social media is “ruining” the younger generation or “destroying” their mental health. An Atlantic article, “HAVE SMARTPHONES DESTROYED A GENERATION?” written by Jean M. Twenge, discussed how teens are more likely to feel less happy if they spend more time on their phones, “All screen activities are linked to less happiness, and all nonscreen activities are linked to more happiness. Eighth-graders who spend 10 or more hours a week on social media are 56 percent more likely to say they’re unhappy than those who devote less time to social media.” (Jean M. Twenge, 2017). This data that she provided only stated that teens feel less happy when interacting with more social media, but it does not explain why teenagers feel more unhappy while doing this activity. As previously mentioned, there are many causes for teens to feel sad, lonely, and depressed. Every person’s emotional feelings or experiences are different, so she should not blame it entirely on social media.
However, there are certain risks that most people have to face when using social media, which are cyber-bullying, sex-text, short attention span, bias, toxic, and unsafe media…etc. Social media is designed to be addictive, it distracts people and prevents them to be more productive in doing their work. This can shorten our attention span and affect people who struggle with ADHD or people who have problems with focusing on a specific task. Moreover, many opinions, lifestyles, videos and images that people share on social media can be very biased, discriminatory, offensive, and inappropriate to some people. Healthy lifestyles eventually turn out to be “toxic”, making others feel insecure about their habits and appearance. For example, the trend of being “that girl”, which is when people tried being an “ideal” human being who wakes up early every morning, eats healthy, and stays productive throughout the whole day. This trend is unrealistic because every lifestyle is different and no one should behave a certain way in order to be considered as “healthy” or “successful”. This also applies to many standardized beauty standards and body types. Every individual is unique in their own way, and they shouldn’t be judged, stereotyped, and discriminated against by the media.
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