Durolin 1

Vernese Durolin

Professor Colecio

ENC 1102

1 October 2021

Annotated Bibliography

The controversial topic of social media is well known for its ability to allow others

around the world to be able to communicate in a very fast and easy way. It is an imperative part

of people’s daily lives and society. It has also become the basic need and quality of human beings

to be social. However, the effect social media can have on ones’ overall mental health is not

specifically stated or talked about amongst groups. Authors such as Karim, F., Oyewande, A. A.,

Abdalla, L. F., Chaudhry Ehsanullah, R., & Khan, S, and, many more conduct asymmetric

reviews about social media use and its connection to mental health. I will be researching the

topic of how social media affects one's overall mental health. I will incorporate sources that

focus specifically on the importance of mental stability, while also tying it back into the overall

objective of this paper.

On the other hand, many people would oppose the idea that social media does indeed

affect mental health, believing that social media is not an aspect that can play a role in how one

behaves or affects one mental state. Why? Some would believe this because many believe that

social media is a blessing to society rather than a curse. I will include sources that go against the

entire purpose of this paper, only to shine a light on the counter-claim of my argument. Raising

questions, that allows the readers to see that there is more to this question than one can think of.

Despite this, I have decided to devote my time to deeply analyzing how social media; Twitter,
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Snapchat, Facebook, and many more, affect someone’s sanity​with the hopes to answer the

question, How Does Social Media increase isolation and depression?

The main purpose of this paper is to inform the readers about the negative impact one can

encounter when using social media. In order to do this, I have structured my paper to evaluate six

sources and their different opinions and positions based on the matter. I will incorporate graphs

and images that help further the viewpoint of the chosen article. I will also incorporate sources

that specifically focus on mental health as a whole, and the opposing side of this paper, which

believes social media does not hinder one mental health. At the end of each source, I will explain

why I specifically chose each source I incorporated, and how it helps strengthen my main

objection for this paper.

Cataldo, I., Lepri, B., Neoh, M. J. Y., & Esposito, G. (2021, January 13). Social media

usage and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence: A Review.

Frontiers in psychiatry. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7838524/.

This source lays out an outline of the cognitive, psychological, and social outcomes that

corresponded with the problematic and complex use of social media sites during the

developmental stages, from age 10 to 19 years. Compared to the last article, this paper

specifically focuses on the factors of depression, anxiety, eating, and neurodevelopmental

disorders. Furthermore, they also discuss evidence associated with genetic and neurobiological

concerns, cooperatively with the implications in clinical work and upcoming directions under a

multidisciplinary perspective. They incorporate supporting graphs and tables, as shown below, to

help further their point. Figure 1 illustrates the number of monthly active users worldwide. This

enhances our understanding of the impact of social media on teenagers' lives. Passive social
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media use appears to be increased by depressive symptoms, loneliness, and high levels of stress,

concluding that advance in technologies does not help with this problem.

I chose this source of how in-depth it goes to explain in detail how platforms such as

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many more, can affect people’s ability to function. It provides

data and relevant information based on research within the source, which aids my point that

social media hinges on one’s mental health. It does not only talk about social media effect on

mental health, but it also talks about how the increased use of social media can result in obesity,

cyberbullying, self-harm, alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and also suffering from nomophobia, a

fear of not having your phone that's so persistent and severe it affects daily life. As I read this

particular source I was amazed to learn that using social media not only hinders ones’ mental

ability but also affects many other factors in someone’s life that I would never think of.

Screen Time Argument Essay. Geunseok Song Writing celebration. (n.d.). Retrieved

October 5, 2021, from

https://writinggeunseok.weebly.com/screen-time-argument-essay.html.
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In this source Song talks in detail to explain that a great deal amount of screen time does

not result in a decrease of intelligence, brainpower, and health, it also results in conflicts with

friends and acquaintances. To support his thought Song incorporates a survey, “Screen time may

damage teens’ sleep” by Kathryn Doyle. In this survey, they found that 90% of girls and 80% of

boys reported utilizing their cellphones in the hour before bed. This results in them being tired

the next day in school, with less ability to concentrate. In addition, Song also utilizes the article

“How is your device controlling you” by Jan Bruce, Ceo, that states, “61% of people have felt

jealous, depressed, sad, or annoyed after checking updates on their social media account, and

81% of people admit to interrupting conversation mealtime or playtime with family or friends to

check their social media, text messages, or email.” In conclusion, this source summarizes how

the use of screen time for social media can be detrimental to people.

I chose this source because of how it connects back to my overall paper. Although it does

not specifically talk about specific social media sites, Staring at a phone correlates with staring at

a social media site. With iPhones, There is a setting called “Screen Time” that allows one to see

the average amount of time they spend on certain social media or let one see their most-used app.

As I read this source, I started to compare the average amount of time I, myself, spend on the

different types of social media. Based on my average screen time in a week, I spend 11 hours and

4 minutes on social apps, 1 hour and 45 minutes on education apps, and 1 hour and 37 minutes

on travel apps. My most used app is Snapchat with an average time of 7 hours and 19 minutes in

a week. Taking this source into consideration, with my weekly average screen time, I can

personally say that this source has a point. Decreasing my average amount of screen time would

benefit both my health and well-being. I can do this by instead of going on my phone at night
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time to look at social media sites, reading a book would not only benefit me but also increase my

mental ability.

Karim, F., Oyewande, A. A., Abdalla, L. F., Chaudhry Ehsanullah, R., & Khan, S. (2020,

June 15). Social media use and its connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review.

Cureus. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7364393/.

This source summarizes the effects of social media usage on mental health. They classify

everything into two categories: anxiety and depression. They concluded that although there is

evidence for a positive link between social media and mental health, reports have revealed the

opposite. Studies found, as stated, “no relationship between the amount of time spent on social

media and depression or between social media-related activities, such as the number of online

friends and the number of “selfies”, and depression”. Social media is a new study that is rapidly

growing and gaining popularity. However, there are numerous undiscovered and unforeseen

constructive answers linked with it.

I chose this source because of how it correlates with my first source. It includes graphs

and tables to prove how individuals' lives and their social behavior have been tremendously

changed by the phenomenon of social media. Unlike the other sources, the information, and data

used in this source can not only be useful to medical professionals but also to social science

research. As I read through this source and analyzed it, I was able to get a deeper meaning of

social media and understand its connection to more than one aspect of someone’s life. The results

from this study can be used to explore and inspect more relationships with a further

manufacturer, this would allow and supplement the findings to diminish anxiety and depression.
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MediLexicon International. (n.d.). Social Media: How does it affect our mental health and

well-being? Medical News Today. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/275361#Could-Facebook-be-used-to-improve-

mental-health-and-well-being?

This source is broken up into multiple subtitles, which allows the reader to easily

navigate throughout the source. Subtitles such as; What is social media? Social Media Addiction,

The negative impact of social media, and many more. Regardless of this, this source talks about

how social media feeds anxiety and increases a person’s feeling of inadequacy. Stating that the

use of social media tends to make one feel ‘miserable’. The source included a survey that found

that 53% of participants said social media sites had changed their behavior, while 51% of these

said the change had been negative. People who reported that their lives were worsened by social

media, also reported that they felt less confident when they found themselves comparing their

achievement and success to friends and those around them. They conclude this paper by

explaining the use of social sites is unlikely to decrease over time, resulting in higher mental

health issues.

I chose this source because compared to my other three sources, this source was not

created by a specific person. There is no particular author that is listed. Moreover, this source is a

newsletter, rather than a systematic review. It does not include data and research. However, it

does go depth to talk about social media and its background. Even though it speaks about how

social media affects people’s mental health, it also includes benefits to the use of social media.

The source states, “Social networking sites could be a useful tool in identifying individuals with

mental health issues” I included this source because I caught myself relating to the statistics of

55% of people who felt ‘worried or uncomfortable’ when they were not able to log in to their
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social media accounts. This reminded me of the time when the app Snapchat was experiencing a

glitch causing many, including me, to lose access to their account. I tried refreshing the app,

restarting my phone, deleting the app, and reinstalling it, and nothing seemed to work. I began to

feel anxious at the thought I was never going to be able to use Snapchat again.

Amad, A. (2016, January 22). Study shows that social media does not affect mental health.

Science Times. Retrieved October 13, 2021, from

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/8252/20160122/study-shows-social-media-affect-

mental-health.htm.

. Compared to the previous sources that have been stated, this source does the opposite of

explaining social media damages mental health. Instead in this source, Amad talks about how

there is no exact factual clarification that directly links social media to the mental health of an

individual, or the suicidal tendencies of an individual. With the belief that online interactions can

actually help lift the mood of a certain individual who is undergoing mental health problems.

Pointing out that there are also credible organizations found on social media sites that deal with

possible mental issues for anyone to reach out to if they feel as though they need help. Stating

that although social media can be linked to various mental issues, it can also be linked to

providing emotional support and also provide one with mental health issue knowledge that can

be very beneficial in the long run.

Many may be wondering as to why I chose this source for my paper. Compared to my

other sources that all talk about how the use of social media damages ones’ mental health, this

particular source allows the reader to see a different viewpoint on the matter. As I stated earlier

many would oppose the idea that social media does indeed affect mental health, believing that
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social media is not an aspect that can play a role in how one behaves or affects one mental

health. This source shines a light on the opposing side of this entire paper.

Rehab, P. by P. R. C. (2021, July 8). What is the importance of mental health? PRC.

Retrieved October 13, 2021, from

https://prcrehab.org/what-is-the-importance-of-mental-health/.

This source differentiates from the previous five sources because it does not talk about

anything that involves social media, but rather focuses on mental health entirely. Having a

healthy mental state is an essential part of overall wellbeing, comfort, security, happiness, and

adequate health. It includes Mental Health statistics, specifically a study called Globen burden of

Disease that states 792 million people live with a mental health disorder. This source defines

mental health as “ a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities,

can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to contribute to his

or her community”. They further this by listing characteristics of poor and good mental health.

People who are not mentally well or healthy can emerge significant various issues or mental

illnesses that could be lethal.

I chose this article because it goes in-depth to talk about the importance of mental health,

and what is it as a whole. As I read through this source I was intrigued by the number of facts

and information I was learning and gaining just from reading. Although I knew mental health

was important, I had little to no idea of how mental health could affect someones’ entire life.

Ranging from being able to solve life problems effectively, being able to make better judgment

and decisions, being able to have high self-esteem and self-confidence, and many more. I was

amazed to see that mental health plays a crucial role in all stages and areas of life, literally.
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Realizing that eating healthy, and exercising daily, is not enough. If the mind is not mentally fit,

or ‘exercise’ all of those other things will not mean anything.

References

Amad, A. (2016, January 22). Study shows that social media does not affect mental health.

Science Times. Retrieved October 13, 2021, from

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/8252/20160122/study-shows-social-media-affect-m

ental-health.htm.

Cataldo, I., Lepri, B., Neoh, M. J. Y., & Esposito, G. (2021, January 13). Social media

usage and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence: A Review.

Frontiers in psychiatry. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7838524/.

Karim, F., Oyewande, A. A., Abdalla, L. F., Chaudhry Ehsanullah, R., & Khan, S. (2020,

June 15). Social media use and its connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review.

Cureus. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7364393/.
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Screen Time Argument Essay. Geunseok Song Writing celebration. (n.d.). Retrieved

October 5, 2021, from

https://writinggeunseok.weebly.com/screen-time-argument-essay.html.

MediLexicon International. (n.d.). Social Media: How does it affect our mental health and

well-being? Medical News Today. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/275361#Could-Facebook-be-used-to-improve-

mental-health-and-well-being?

Rehab, P. by P. R. C. (2021, July 8). What is the importance of mental health? PRC.

Retrieved October 13, 2021, from

https://prcrehab.org/what-is-the-importance-of-mental-health/.