TABLE OF CONTENTS:

W H AT C A N W E
WHAT DO WE KNOW ALREADY?
E X P E C T F R O M
F U T U R E
G E N E R AT I O N S ? RESEARCH

REFLECTION
SOCIAL
MEDIA
AND
M E N TA L
H E A LT H
 WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE
IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA?

POSITIVE:
1. Allows us to keep up with
relatives and friends.
2. Connect with people
around the world.
3. New ways to make money
through social networking.
NEGATIVE:
1. Internet addiction.
2. Become dependent on social
media usage.
3. Unrealistic expectations
from internet influencers.
The first thing to "Technology and social media scholar Danah Boyd (2014) has
consider is the spent considerable time among teenagers, and one of the things
she has studied is their use of social media. She suggests that
relationship contemporary teens use social media to hang out with their
friends in the same way that teens from earlier periods socialized
teenagers have with at shopping malls or on city streets."
social media and -Social Media Effects: Self Esteem

the exposure that "Teenagers also use social media to track favorite
celebrities, feeling that it makes those celebrities a part
causes them to of their own lives. However, celebrity friending, following,
and sharing enhances the commonality of negative
develop unrealistic comparisons between young people and the idealized
images presented by celebrities."
ideas about who -Social Media Effects: Self Esteem

they should be.

Now that we know
"A national survey of U.S. young adults, found that
teenagers are spending compared with individuals who use 0 to 2 social
extended periods of time media platforms, individuals who use 7 to
11 social media platforms have substantially
on social media, how does higher odds of getting increased levels of depression
and anxiety symptoms."
that display in mental -Social Media and Mental Health Challenges

health? Teenagers are "Once social media use becomes part of lifestyle,
becoming dependent on it becomes almost like a routine to follow. Several
studies have linked social media to anxiety and
these social media compulsive behavior."
-Social Media and Mental Health Challenges
platforms which causes
different forms of anxiety
and depression.
 Let's look at some of the negative
effects that teenagers have
experienced because of social media.
It appears that bullying is the
number one thing that teenagers
experience with social media while
mental health concerns are lower
at the bottom. This is interesting
because many argue that
cyberbullying may have a direct link
on mental health issues such as
depression and anxiety.
Let's go back to our original question:
What can we expect from years to
come?
As we can see from the
graph, there has been a
steady increase in the
creation of social media
networks over the last
several years. If this
trend continues, we will
close to 72% of the
population by the end of
2025.
 LET'S REFLECT
What have we learned?
It's clear that there is a direct link between
mental health and social media. While
technology is a great thing to be utilized, it
must be used in moderation before an
unhealthy relationship with social media forms.
Teenagers are impressionable and will so easily
fall into traps that will ultimately be the cause
of many mental health issues. These can include
but are not limited to depression, anxiety, body
dysmorphia, etc. If there is no change in
moderation of social media intake, it could
mean a surge in levels of mental illness.
 WORKS CITED:
Purdy, Elizabeth R., PhD. “Social Media Effects: Self-Esteem.” Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2020.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ers&AN=141571948&site=eds-live&scope=site
Srivastava, Kalpana, et al. “Social Media and Mental Health Challenges.” Industrial Psychiatry
Journal, vol. 28, no. 2, July 2019, pp. 155–159. EBSCOhost, doi:10.4103/ipj.ipj_154_20.

CHARTS:
https://www-statista-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/statistics/304737/social-network-
penetration-in-usa/
https://www-statista-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/statistics/207489/teenagers-personal-
experiences-on-social-media-websites/

PICTURE CREDIT:
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/crying-boy-chained-in-neck-with-smartphone-vector-29927701
https://www.reddit.com/r/PhonesAreBad/comments/ds3pt7/good_art/
https://www.pinterest.com/marionf8/internet-addiction/