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Kinsey Blain

English 1201

Dr. Myers

March 14th, 2020

Literature Review

Social media is a common issue in today's society. There are multiple viewpoints on

social media and its effects on people. Over the past decade, social media has taken over many

people’s lives and it is getting more popular day by day. A majority of teens use social media on

a daily basis so, what effect does social media have on these teens? Are there any positive effects

for teenagers on social media platforms? This topic has drastically changed over the past years.

With new social media apps coming and going and apps being modified all the time.

One key point that is expressed in multiple sources is health information. People using

Twitter will seek out people with the same symptoms that they are experiencing. Others will

follow people with the same health conditions that they have (Kloth). This helps teenagers and

young adults with similar symptoms and health conditions reach out to each other to share their

common experiences.

While reviewing the medical side of twitter, the question that comes up is ‘Is the

information accurate?’ Most of these tweets provide citations and links to medical websites and

professionals. Meaningful data is important when trying to figure out if the information is

correct and reliable.

Another useful aspect of social media to teens, is the communication part. With recent

events going on, Twitter is one of the main platforms for communication and spreading news.

This can be helpful in some cases, or hurtful in others. One downside to this is fake news can be
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spread fast and can be misleading however, 40 percent of users use the app for breaking news

(Rosenstiel et al.). 67 percent of people use any form of social media for news (Elezaj).

Instagram is a major help for small businesses trying to grow and reach out to people.

They can link their websites to the pictures they post. This is a useful tool when people are

scrolling through the app and come across something that they like. Most small businesses can’t

afford big ads to put themselves out there. Instagram helps them with reaching out to possible

customers (Jackson).

A downside to Instagram that has been explored, is the way it affects body image and

mental health. This is a huge problem that arises with any social media platform. On Instagram,

people want to meet the social expectations that have been created. To show this, “according to a

study done by Mercy Multiplied, 90 percent of those with eating disorders are between the ages

of 12 and 25” (Campos). It can lead to mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression which can

get worse overtime (“How Heavy Use of Social Media Is Linked to Mental Illness”). Instagram

is a huge part of everyday lives for teenagers. On the daily, seventy-two percent of teens use

Instagram (“Is Social Media Your Friend?”). It also is reported that most of the cyberbullying

comes from these platforms (Roose).

Some teens can develop bad habits and bad time management skills. Teens spend an

average of 3 hours a day on social media platforms ("Social Media and Young People's Health”).

This can lead to bad habits by prioritizing social media over other important things in their loves.

Some sources for this topic are not reliable. Some are blogs of parents who do not cite

sources, but use their own opinion and logic. Most parents want to inform others of their

experiences with these topics. These can sometimes be tricky to spot, however once you know

what to look for, it gets easier to narrow down the reliable and credible sources.
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Some sources are used for describing the basics of Twitter and Instagram. Such as the

functions of the apps and the years they were made and what they were first used for. Twitter

was founded in 2006 and Instagram was founded not long after that in 2010. Instagram still holds

the main function that it was originally made for (Bellis) (Harrison).

Another useful way people use Twitter and Instagram is for educational purposes.

Healthcare workers use these platforms for conference notes and for highlighting main points of

meetings (Pizzuti). This is the source where the chart is from. This shows that there are positives

to social media platforms.

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Works Cited

Bellis, Mary. “How Was Twitter Developed and Who Invented It?” ThoughtCo,

ThoughtCo, 3 July 2019, www.thoughtco.com/twitter-1992538.

Campos, Gabby. “Instagram and Its Effect on Body Image.” Amherst Wire, Wire, Apr. 2016,

amherstwire.com/26484/lifestyle/instagram-and-its-affect-on-body-image/ .

Ehmke, Rachel. “How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers.” Child Mind Institute, Child Mind

Institute , 2 Mar. 2016, childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/ .

Elezaj, Rilind. “Ways Social Media Apps Influence Our Daily Lives.” INQUIRER.net

USA, Inquirer, 13 Dec. 2018, usa.inquirer.net/17386/ways-social-media-apps-influence-

our-daily-lives.

Harrison, D. “George .D Harrison.” Instazood Instagram Bot, Publisher Name

InstazoodPublisher Logo, 16 Sept. 2019, instazood.com/blog/the-history-of-instagram/.

“How Heavy Use of Social Media Is Linked to Mental Illness.” The Economist, The

Economist Newspaper, 18 May 2018, www.economist.com/graphic-

detail/2018/05/18/how-heavy-use-of-social-media-is-linked-to-mental-illness.

"Is Social Media Your Friend? Instagram was launched in 2010 with just a handful of

users. Today, almost a billion people use the platform every month worldwide--but is that

a good thing?" Choices/Current Health, vol. 35, no. 3, Nov. 2019, p. 5. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,https://link-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A605011552/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=64277a5b. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.

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Jackson, Dominique. “12 Ways to Use Instagram for Small Business.” Sprout Social, Sprout

Social, 13 Feb. 2020, sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-for-small-business/.

Kloth, Yasmin M., et al. "What Twitter teaches us about patient-provider communication on

pain." PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 12, 2019, p. e0226321. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A609782071/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=e2d83ff3. Accessed 20 Mar. 2020.

Pizzuti, Adam, et al. “Healthcare Practitioners' Views of Social Media as an Educational

Resource.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 6 Feb. 2020,

journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0228372.

Roose, Kevin. "To Curb Online Bullying, Instagram Has to Spot It." New York Times, 10

May 2019, p. B1(L). Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A584947674/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=80abbba3. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020

Rosenstiel, Tom, et al. “Twitter and News: How People Use Twitter to Get News.” American

Press Institute, American Press Institute , 2 Sept. 2015,

www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/how-people-use-

twitter-news/.

"Social Media and Young People's Health: Are Alarmist Narratives Wrong?" The

Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 66, no. 17, 17 Jan. 2020, p. A19. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,https://link-gale-
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com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A613341109/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=134f6b38. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.