Hailey Richman Richman 1

Prof. Bogle

English 1010

1 November 2022

How Does Social Media Affect Teenagers Mental Health?

Social media is a relatively new subject to everyone these days, but how it’s affecting

growing brains, is the bigger question. Many studies have shown that teenagers that are using

social media daily, are experiencing more mental health issues. This can be caused by

cyberbullying, isolation through social media, lack of concentration, FOMO, and many

more. There are healthy boundaries that can be created with social media and teens but this can

be very difficult with the recent pandemic in 2020.

The social media world is a very new subject to people, which means almost everyone is

exploring it. According to the paper written by Kaur, Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

of Adolescents, “Further, social media users have rapidly adopted online social interaction as a

fundamental part of daily life, as evidenced by the growing number of daily users. In fact,

Facebook alone reported an estimated 1 billion active users in 27 august 2015. It means 1 in 7

people on earth used Facebook in a single day to stay connected with their friends and family”

(Kaur 2). This showed me that there are a growing amount of people using social media. Seeing

how many people are using social media so frequently, makes you think about what the

consequences of the younger eyes might be using it as well.

While the use for social media was intentionally for keeping in contact, there are other

things that can happen while you’re there. In the book, Selected Topics in Child and Adolescent

Mental Health, written by Jonathan Glazzard, “Young people are heavily influenced by
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celebrities and may desire to look like them. If they feel that this is unattainable it can result in

depression, body-surveillance and low body-confidence.” (Glazzard 9). This showed me that

scrolling through social media can see very harmless and mindless while you’re in it, but an

excessive amount can bring negative things, such as body image issues. These body image issues

can lead to low self-esteem and decline mental health, much like the other negative things that

social media brings. Glazzard also explains how most teens have FOMO (fear of missing out)

and the consequences of that. Glazzard specifically states, “They develop a “Fear of Missing

out” (FoMO) which is associated with lower mood and lower life satisfaction. This can result in

young people constantly checking their devices for messages, even during the night, resulting in

broken sleep.” (Glazzard 9). This is particularly important to note because having broken sleep

can mess with the child’s development. This can affect the teen’s focus in everyday life,

especially school and causing them to struggle in many aspects of life.

Another concern among a lot of teenage parents, is social isolation. Considering the

recent pandemic, there has been a lot of social distancing and deprivation. This can cause

teenagers to turn to social media to have some sort of connection to others. In the article, “The

effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health”, it states, “Studies on

adolescent social behavior show that core components and qualities of adolescents' face-to-face

interactions, including information disclosure, interactivity, social reward, and social support, are

present when communicating online.65 Online communication has been shown to remediate

negative feelings after social exclusion.” (Orben 2020). This quote explained to me how children

need that social interaction to fully grow, and even when they turn to the online world to get that,

they aren’t getting the same affect. This article goes on to explain that adolescents need that in-

person interaction to completely flourish and contribute to the real-world.

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While social media can be very harmful, we do have to look at the benefits and consider

what might go into having a healthy relationship with social media. In the article “Is Social

Media Threatening Teens’ Mental Health and Well-Being?”, Anne Marie Albano states, “We

also teach young people how to set limits on social media use. Mealtimes are a great time to put

the phones away. Another healthy habit is to set a time each night when you’ll put all the screens

away to give yourself enough time to wind down and prepare the body for sleep.” (Albano

2021). This quote showed the importance of a healthy balance between real life and the social

media world. Social media isn’t a bad thing and can never really be totally avoided. This shows

us that social media can be okay in moderation, which can be important to teach impressionable

teens.

While is important to note, that these studies are new and not always consistent, we can

learn that it is important to be careful how we use social media on a regular basis. It can be a

very important lesson to teach growing teens how to use social media in a safe way, for their

mental and physical health. Overall, it is important to note every child’s differences and how

they handle different social interactions and to keep that in mind when letting them handle social

media.
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Citations

Bashir, Hilal. Dr. Kaur, Ramandeep. “Impact of Social Media on Mental Health of Adolescents”.

Academia. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/82350428/Vol5-4-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?

Expires=1667408242&Signature=TTo62red3-

oLzD~re05urw22CB4zub8HMRZcvifwIL7UlbyzRmVASlMMggPPftSqVHRr6vqefB50iguxy90M0

qseRJfwp6agLl1nxQl7lFb3GP2tEn9FfgZdWLxQveItsCJKaSfL6xzojYZWSYGLbr11RbWtQ3gzgL

HwDfj4VUyC5mnQ4ZcjD6wroqtZemOhs5TAIE2mOr0YdiBs~LD3Twk3gFCFm9ATMGOdtquG

o9L5-QUrrmkXxrTKxSx7Gn2WUNVtZgd6xFFo9FiFcCIt6kZBBIWuZsM-

TgedfzHJ5g3mMl59FktoxjM7iL1XPk0gpOdPs3V5QCqAmWFMUpfUIA__&Key-Pair-

Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Glazzard, Jonathan, et al. Selected Topics in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Bod – Books

on Demand, 2020. https://books.google.com/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=T3L8DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA7&dq=how+does+social+media+affect+me

ntal+health+on+teenagers&ots=b3Eo_-ZF-u&sig=aKLvlhexMVjdHPNAT-

0_rO12RSM#v=onepage&q&f=false

Albano, Anne Marie. “Is Social Media Threatening Teens’ Mental Health and Well-being?”

Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 20 May 2021.

https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/social-media-threatening-teens-mental-health-and-well-

being
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Orben, Amy, et al. “The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental

health” ScienceDirect. 12 July 2020.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352464220301863