Brock Bernard

Ms. Hunter
ENG 1201 Online
10/24/19

Miller, Caroline, and Child Mind Institute. “Does Social Media Cause Depression?”
Child Mind Institute, https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/.

The article “Does Social Media Cause Depression?” written by Caroline Miller bridges
the idea that social media and depression have a direct link. In recent studies a higher rate of
depression has been reported to young adults or teenagers who spend the most time on
Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. Another correlation to this is that an increase in
depression occurred with the rise in smartphone use. Smartphones were released in 2007, and by
2015 almost 92 percent of teens owned one. The rise of depression and suicide rates also
increased in those years. One reason for this is caused from young adults not connecting with
their peers in person and them spending more time connecting online or electronically through
social media. Experts say the rise in depression is evidence from social media users talking to
others being less emotionally satisfying leaving them socially isolated. Studies have shown that
although using high levels of social media, if you still have face to face interactions, symptoms
of depression occur not so much. A study in 2018 of a national sample of young adults showed a
direct correlation between the time spent on social media and perceived social isolation. Another
reason for the increase in depression in social media is the loss of self-esteem, especially in
teenage girls, when they compare themselves to girls who they perceive to be more skinny,
pretty, popular and richer. Image-driven Instagram shows up in surveys as the platform that leads
young people to feel anxiety, depression and worries about their body image. Social media takes
time out of teenagers days which could cause less physical activity which is also a big correlation
to depression. Social media and smartphones are huge distractions and often distract young
adults from working out, hanging out with friends and doing their school work. Research shows
that 60 percent of adolescents are looking at their phones in the last hour before sleep which
causes sleep deprivation, ultimately spiralling you down from there.
The writer's purpose of writing this article is to spread the idea that social media could be
bad for young adults and to show correlations to depression. There is also a section in this article
that talks about how to minimize negative facts about social media use. Overall I think she wrote
it so teens understand and maybe use social media less. The audience for this piece is for
teenagers or young adults for them to realize the negative effects of social media. Maybe even
adults or parents to help them understand what smartphones and social media is doing to their
kids brains. The source is reliable because it was written on a well known website and it uses
good sources to back up the facts that it is using. The way it was written affected the source
because it made it clear that kids should use social media less, when it was written tells that the
effects and research are happening recently so it is still happening.
 The writer of this article is Caroline Miller the editorial director of the Child Mind
Institute. The source is reliable because it is a nation wide institute with reliable sources and all
of their claims are backed up by facts.
I can use this information in my research paper because it gives a lot of good facts about
the use of social media and the direct correlation to teen depression. There are also very many
different ways that the article explains depression in young teens from social media including
sleep deprivation, bad body image and social isolation.

Neighmond, Patti. “A Rise In Depression Among Teens And Young Adults Could Be
Linked To Social Media Use.” NPR, NPR, 14 Mar. 2019, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-
shots/2019/03/14/703170892/a-rise-in-depression-among-teens-and-young-adults-could-be-
linked-to-social-medi.

The article “A rise in depression among teens and young adults could be linked to social
media use” written by Patti Neighmond shows the correlation between the depression rates in
teens and their use of social media. A study published in the Journal of abnormal psychology
finds the percentage of U.S. teens and young adults reporting mental distress, depression, and
suicidal thoughts and actions has risen significantly over the past decade. A survey by the
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, they found the rate of individuals reporting consistent
with major depression over the past year increased 52 percent in teens and 63 percent in young
adults. They also found that girls are a lot more vulnerable than boys in this category. Rates of
psychological distress rose by 71 percent among people aged 18 to 25 and death from suicide
increased by 56 percent among 18 to 19-year-olds between 2008 and 2017. The iPhone, which
was released in 2007 is what scientists believe to be the reason for all this rise in depression. All
of the rises in depression occurred around the same time that the smartphone became widespread
and social media started to dominate young people's lives. For example, about 85 percent of high
schoolers visit social media sites every day. Social media causes teens and young adults to care
more about their peer status and their appearance which causes anxiety problems. Social media
also talks time out of young adults days to have real life conversations rather than just talking on
the phone or texting.
The writer's purpose in writing this article is to share statistics about the rise in depression
and depression symptoms throughout the past decade in young teens and young adults. The
audience for this writing is for anyone who uses social media or anyone who wonders how the
brain works, and what social media is doing to it. The article is reliable because it was written on
a national health website and the facts and statistics they use are backed up by other reliable
sources. The way it was written is effective because it uses many facts to try and make you learn
about the rise in depression among young adults.
 The writer of this article is Patti Neighmond. The author is credible because she is writing
on a national health website and every single statistic and idea in the article is backed up by a
reliable survey or source.
This information can be used in my research paper because it gives some very good
statistics about the rise of depression in teens. It gives many facts about the rise in depression
symptom percentages over the past decade and it also tells a little bit about why the depression
symptoms are being caused and it is because of social media. It will be used in the final research
paper because of the use of the facts and statistics it gave me.

Waldemar. “Does Social Media Cause Depression?” World of Psychology, 8 July 2018,
https://psychcentral.com/blog/does-social-media-cause-depression/.

The article “Does social media cause depression” written by Christian Waldemar is about the
idea that social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and more have
become a source of depression in young teens and young adults. Researchers say that likes, and
comments through social media and our mobile devices create a positive feeling of acceptance
and it can simulate a release of dopamine during the product use to make us feel good about
ourselves. But when we are not getting this dopamine release from the apps and smartphones we
feel anxiety and loneliness. Another way that social media can tap into a user’s psychology is
through a concept known as emotional contagion. In a study conducted by E. Ferrara and Z.
Yang, 3,800 randomly selected social media users were tested on the contagiousness of the
emotional tones of the content they viewed online. The study found that emotional states are
easily manipulated through social media. Social media applications act as the catalyst for
destructive behaviors like comparison, cyberbullying, and approval-seeking. Cyberbullying is a
main source of depression. Where users can hide behind anonymity and remove themselves from
the consequences of harassment. This harassment can have fatal consequences and on social
media it only makes it easier for it to happen. Lastly, a UK study carried out by the Royal
Society for Public Health tested the impact of social media use on 1,500 adolescents and
concluded that almost every major social media platform had a negative impact on the subjects’
psychological wellbeing, ranging from anxiety and self-esteem.
The writer's purpose in writing this article is to spread information about the use of social
media and the negative effects that it can have on people, especially on young teens and adults.
The audience for this piece is for people who use social media a lot and people who want to learn
more about the negative impacts that social media can have on young people. The context in this
article was written in order to inform people to the negative impacts of social media.
The writer of this article is Christian Waldemar. I know that the author is credible
because he has written many articles before and they were all credible. The author has adequate
information for the article because he uses other credible resources and studies used by
trustworthy scientists and their information.
I will use this information in my paper by using the facts and studies established and
posted throughout the article that helps back up the idea of social media. This article will be very
helpful for my research paper because it gives a lot of great information in the topic that I am
researching.

Howard, Jacqueline. “Social Media and Depression: Link Might Be Stronger in Girls.” CNN,
Cable News Network, 4 Jan. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/health/social-media-
depression-girls-study/index.html.

The article “Link between social media and depression stronger in teen girls than boys,
study says” is an article to show how depression can be caused by social media and how it is
more evident in young girls than it is in young boys. Among teens who use social media the
most, the study showed a 50% increase in depressive symptoms among girls versus 35% among
boys. The cause of these depression symptoms can include feelings of unhappiness, restlessness
or loneliness. A study also described other factors such as lack of sleep and cyberbullying which
could help explain this association of social media. In a study they found on average, girls had
higher depressive symptom scores compared with boys. The researchers also found that girls
reported more social media use than boys; 43.1% of girls said they used social media for three or
more hours per day, versus 21.9% of boys. For teens using social media for three to five hours,
26% of girls and 21% of boys had depressive symptom scores higher than those who used social
media for only one to three hours a day. The most important experiences tied to frequent social
media use that plays a role in depressive symptoms is sleep deprivation and cyberbullying. Girls
are more vulnerable when it comes to depression because of the perception and their ideals about
their bodies are affected by the famous girls and models on social media sites. The article also
tells how to not use social media so much, including not getting on your phone before bed and
setting your kids a limit to how much they could use it per day.
The writer's purpose in this article is to compare and contrast social media's influence on
girls and boys and viewing the differences. The article was written to tell how much evident
depression from social media is in girls than it is in girls. The audience for this article is for
anyone who uses social media and anyone who wants to learn about how girls are more
vulnerable to depression than boys.
The writer of this article Jacqueline Howard. The author is credible because she is writing
for a major news source and uses adequate information backed up by real research and facts.
This information will be useful for the research paper because it gives different facts than I have
had before. The facts of the differences between girls and guys and the statistics that the article
gave me will be useful because it gives me something else to write about inside the article about
how girls use social media more and them seeing their body image which gives them a better
chance to develop depression symptoms.
Hurley, Katie. “Is Social Media Affecting Your Teens' Mental Health?” Psycom.net - Mental
Health Treatment Resource Since 1986, https://www.psycom.net/depression-teens-social-media.

The article “Is social media messing with your teen’s mental health?” written by Katie
Hurley talks about the scary risks and possible benefits of living in a social media dependent
world. Social media majorly changed the way that we communicate, socialize and maintain
friendships. Many of the youth miss out on critical social skills developed when talking to people
in real life but instead they only talk behind a screen. They can also get lost in a world of
unrealistic comparisons, cyberbullying and feeling left out. Research shows an increase in major
depressive episodes from 8.7% in 2005 to 11.3% in 2014. It is a lot easier to make harsh
judgements and comparisons online and behind a screen than it is in real life. A report by the
Royal Society for the Public Health in the UK surveyed young people, which found that
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and SnapChat had negative effects on mental health and Youtube
had the most positive impact. The symptoms of depression caused by social media include,
feelings of hopelessness, loss of interest in normal daily activities, irritable mood, diminished
self-care, guilt, difficulty concentrating, social isolation. It also tells parents how to not let these
symptoms occur and how to help if they occur. One is to ask questions often about stuff that
arises online. Another is to model appropriate behavior, sticking to your own boundaries. Lastly
talk often to your children which can help play a critical role in helping teens process and cope
with what they are seeing and witnessing online.
The writer's purpose in writing this article is to inform people about the dangers of social
media and how to cope and help and catch the symptoms before they occur. The audience for
this article is parents of kids who use social media often to help them understand what their kids
are going through. It was written to help parents understand what is going on in social media and
for them to talk to their kids and help them from getting depression.
The writer of this article is Katie Hurley. I know this author is credible because
she doesn’t over exaggerate any topics and only gives facts that are backed up by research. The
author has adequate information because it is backed up by facts and reliable resources.
This information will be used in my research paper because it gives very good
information to parents about how to stop the social media from causing depression in their kids
and that is information that I did not have before, so it could easily be used for my research
paper.

Nalin, Jeff, et al. “Social Media and Teen Depression: The Two Go Hand-In-Hand.” Anxiety and
Depression Association of America, ADAA, https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-
experts/blog-posts/consumer/social-media-and-teen-depression-two-go-hand.

The article “Social media and teen depression: the two go hand in hand” written by Jeff
Nalin talks about the correlation between teen depression and the high use of social media in the
lives of young adults. Teenagers feel a need to fit in with their peer groups and have long before
social media, but technology magnifies the problem in a major way. People want to show off the
world when posting online, so they only highlight their best moments. When teenagers scroll
through their feed it is easy for them to think that all their friends and classmates are perfect
which makes them feel left out. Social media also causes decreased social skills. Because
teenagers often rely on social media to stay in touch, they don’t have to have real interactions
with others. Social media also allows teenagers to communicate with all their friends at the touch
of a button, which makes it that easy to reveal secrets and spread false information online and the
results could be very bad. Cyberbullying can ruin or destroy a teenager’s reputation in a matter
of hours which can cause them to commit suicide.
The writer's purpose in this article is to spread awareness about the negative effects of
social media and what causes them to happen. Also to show how to stop the effects from
happening and to not let cyberbullying become a factor in young teens lives. The audience for
this piece is for teenagers or anyone who uses social media. The context in which this article is
written affects it because it makes it clear that social media does bad things to the brains of
young adults and they should use it less.
The writer is Dr. Jeff Nalin. The author is reliable because he is a licensed clinical
psychologist, a certified chemical dependency intervention specialists and a certified youth
residential treatment administrator. He has been a respected leader in the field of emotional
health, behavioral health and teen drug treatment for more than 15 years.
I will use this information in my research paper because it gives good reasons and facts
on how depression can be caused from social media and new ideas that could cause it and it also
gives a lot of solutions to avoid the risk of social media and still allow teenagers to enjoy the
benefits of social media.

Hurley, Katie. “Social Media and Teens: How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health?”
Psycom.net - Mental Health Treatment Resource Since 1986, https://www.psycom.net/social-
media-teen-mental-health.

The article “Social media and teens: How does social media affect teenagers’ mental
health” written by Katie Hurley talks about how teenagers mental health is often negatively
affected by social media. Some studies show that online connections between small groups of
people can be beneficial to teens, while others point to a rise in symptoms of anxiety, depression,
and eating disorders. Those who had spent more time on social media had 2.2 times the risk of
reporting eating and body image concerns, compared to their peers who spent less time on social
media. The participants who spend the most time on social media had 2.6 times the risk. But the
article also talks about the upside of social media for teens. Those teens who are antisocial might
benefit from connecting with other teens through social media. Also teens struggling with mental
health issues can find support and friendship through use of social media. But the downside of
social media can greatly outweigh the benefits. Focusing on likes and follows on social media
can cause teens to make choices they would otherwise not make, including altering their
appearance, accepting risky social media challenges and engaging in negative behaviors.
Cyberbullying mainly in teen girls is a main risk of social media. Comparisons of teens to their
peers and other famous idols is also dangerous. Having too many fake friends can cause
problems as well, spreading rumors screenshotting photos and having no privacy on social
media. Lastly no social interaction with people in real life is another risk that social media is
causing.
The writer's purpose in writing this article is to inform people about the dangers of social
media and how to cope and help and catch the symptoms before they occur. The audience for
this article is parents of kids who use social media often to help them understand what their kids
are going through. It could also be written for the kids who use social media to help them
understand what it could be doing to them.
The writer of this article about social media and its influence is Katie Hurley. The
author is credible because she only uses statements when they are backed up by facts and can be
easily retraced by a source. Also the article is written for a very well known mental health
website. She has the adequate information because her information is based off of scientific
studies and surveys and backed up by facts.
I can use this information in my article because it has a pro and con side to the use
of social media and it also gives me new ideas for how social media could be causing depression
in teens. I can use the pro sides and then counter argue them with the cons to make a more
compelling argument in my research paper.