Isabella Emanuel

English Composition

Professor Johnson

March 23, 2020

Literature Review

How does social media negatively affect teenagers' mental health? The topic discovers

how the use of social media can affect teenagers brain function and their everyday life. Social

media has had a major impact on teenagers in the recent years. Social media platforms may seem

to have all positive impacts, although ”According to the study, which was published in the

journal Lancet, 27 percent of the teens who frequently used social media reported high

psychological stress.” In the past 10 years, the teen use of social media platforms have become

increasingly popular. Many teens have become addicted to platforms, such as Snapchat,

Instagram, VSCO, Twitter, and Facebook. Those platforms are just the main media sources that

teenagers spend their time on. Social media has greatly impacted teenagers in the relationships

they form, their sleep schedules, and increased anxiety rates.

Social media has greatly evolved in the past 10 years and the use of the platforms has

also changed drastically. USA Today wrote an article discussing the evolution of social media in

the past decade in December of 2019. Dalvin Brown from USA today stated, “Over the past 10

years, social media has largely evolved from keeping in touch with others to flaunting what we

have for attention or curating unrecognizable versions of our real selves.” Social media may have

begun as a way of communication, although it evolved to be something very detrimental to many

humans' health. Over the past decade, there has been crazy amounts of liking, commenting, and

posting on social media apps. It is safe to say that these commonly used social media apps are
not going away anytime soon. Each frequently used social media app has had a negative effect

on the humans using these apps. For example, Facebook's negative impact consists of, “The

decade was most notably defined by privacy scandals, and Facebook has famously been accused

of propagating and spreading so-called "fake news."” The source will allow me to understand

how social media has evolved and how it has affected people's mental health over the years.

The main idea that is discussed in three of my sources include explaining the effects that

social media has on teenagers' health. These sources include topics, such as sleep deprivation,

anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying. For example, the first source talks about cyberbullying

and explains, “Furthermore, more than half of teens had unfriended a social media connection as

a result of cyberbullying.” This article refers to a survey they held on teenager girls and the

unhealthy relationships that they formed over social media. The second source refers to

cyberbullying as, “The other big danger that comes from kids communicating more indirectly is

that it has gotten easier to be cruel. “Kids text all sorts of things that you would never in a

million years contemplate saying to anyone’s face,” says Dr. Donna Wick, a clinical and

developmental psychologist.” Social media has led to an increased rate of cyberbullying, because

it allows kids to say cruel things behind a screen and not in person to one's face. The third source

addresses cyberbullying as, “According to a new study, over 33% of teenage social media users

have been a victim of cyberbullying.” All of the sources will contribute important information to

my research essay because they provide different aspects of similar topics. This will allow me to

provide a lot of information in my research paper to answer my research question.

There is one source that disagrees with my other sources, because it looks at the benefits

of social media on people's mental health. This source will allow me to look at the other side of

my research and explain how social media could provide some opportunities for the users. The
ways in which social media can have a positive effect on people is it can relieve loneliness, it can

allow people to shift to a healthier lifestyle, build social support, and it can allow the creation of

new friendships. This article talks about shifting to a healthier lifestyle when it says,” One of the

most important social media benefits to mental health is its ability to change a person's lifestyle.

Many people use social media platforms as a motivational mechanism.” It does make sense that

social media can allow for these benefits, but there is a different way each benefit can be

acquired. For example, motivation for a healthy lifestyle can be found through dietitians or

nutritionists who could help someone find a healthy lifestyle. This source allows me to look at

the other side of my argument, but also explain how the negative effects outweigh the positive

ones.

Each of my sources addresses the misconceptions in a different way. Social media can be

understood in many different ways depending on the person addressing it. The sources refer to

how social media can be interpreted from a different aspect than what it really is. For example,

Dalvin Brown refers to, “...others to flaunting what we have for attention or curating

unrecognizable versions of our real selves.” This quote is very powerful because it explains how

people show the best of themselves on social media, and do not allow for people to see the real

person behind the screen. These sources will allow me to explain the incorrect views that some

people have associated with social media.

Each one of these sources will play a vital role in the creation of my research paper. My

research question will be answered in numerous ways through the essay. Social media has many

effects on teenagers' mental health. I believe that I can have a strong essay with all of these

sources compiled together and answer many questions relating to the effects of social media on

one's mental health.

Works Cited
Brown, Dalvin. "Remember Vine? These social networking sites defined the past decade." USA

Today, 19 Dec. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/12/19/end-decade-heres-how-

social-media-has-evolved-over-10-years/4227619002/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2019.

Constantin, Gajura. "The Ways Social Media Negatively Affects Your Mental Health." Thrive

Global, 19 July 2019, thriveglobal.com/stories/the-ways-social-media-negatively-affects-

your-mental-health/.

Ehmke, Rachel. "How Using Social Media Effects Teenagers." Child Mind Institute,

childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/.

"The Psychological Effects of Social Media on Teens." Newport Academy, 15 Oct. 2019,

www.newportacademy.com/resources/mental-health/psychological-effects-of-social-

media/.

Quill, Mary. "5 Ways Social Media Benefits a Person's Mental Health." Tech Times, 20 Jan.

2020, www.techtimes.com/articles/246963/20200120/here-is-a-list-of-social-media-

benefits-to-a-person-s-mental-health.htm.