Over the previous two decades, social media platforms have demonstrated increment in different dimensions, including quality, quantity, and utility. The increased social media platform has positively contributed to multifaceted developmental sectors. Notably, most individuals utilize social media platforms for relaxation purposes during leisure periods. Besides, social media forms the integral platform different companies employ for marketing and organizational reputation establishment. Social media enable individuals to amass huge followers through their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and MySpace accounts. As a result, social media utilizers have espoused online social communication as an integral dimension of mundane life. However, despite the continued growth of social media and its vast positive impacts, this communication mechanism depicts detrimental consequences. Notably, social media depicts an association with mental health implications and negative consequences on mental health, especially daily users and teens. Various studies try to investigate whether social media affects mental health. This paper analyzes the effects that social media has on the mental health of its users.
Social media use shows a conspicuous association with increased risks of mental health complications. Although adults experience mental complications resulting from social media use, children and youths present a higher percentage of being negatively affected by social media platforms (Bashir and Bhat, 2017, p. 127). Social networking’s mental health problems include anxiety, loneliness, reduced individual self-esteem, stress, and empathy. Some articles reveal that social media use has addictive impressions on users, which results in sleep deprivation and mental health problems (Sadagheyani and Farin, 2020, p. 43). A significant number of youths are addicted to social networking, and smartphone use indue them to have depressive disorders, which culminate in suicidal ideation. Factors inducing mental health complications to adolescents following social media interaction include media bullying, trolling, elevated expectations, and reduced physical, social interactions with friends and peers (Naslund et al., 2020, p. 248). Social media networks reduce the time take for physical interactions with other individuals for social development (Sadagheyani and Farin, 2020, p. 43). Besides, time taken on social media networks has negative repercussions on user mental health. Prolonged social media utilization contributes to increased risks to mental health.
Notably, juvenile individuals depict encounters with embryonic life stages characterized by an increased risk of developing mental health problems (Bashir and Bhat, 2017, p. 128). Juveniles present the most common social media users and higher affinity towards mental health problem engulfment. Bashir and Bhat associate social media use with anxiety development. According to Bashir and Bhat (2017), 45% of adults feel restlessness following failure to access social networking platforms (126). Besides adults, younger individuals comprehend restless perception when they fail to access their messages and comments within social media sites. Bashir and Bhat (2017) also associate social media with loneliness establishment. The current younger population possesses a higher loneliness rate than other groups. Unhygienic, uncontrolled, and compulsive social media utilization elevates loneliness. Engagement in social relationships creates a healthy mental state and alleviates possible mental health complications. However, increased social media use results in physical and social interaction decline, resulting in loneliness and ultimate anxiety (Nesi, 2020, p. 117). This implication agrees that social media contributes to mental health complications, including loneliness and anxiety. The primary factors portrayed correlates with a reduction in physical and social interactions among social media users.
Low self-esteem, stress, and suicidal ideation are the other main detrimental consequences associated with social media use. Despite being reported to create support and induce people connection, social media use increases the risk of low self-esteem, stress, and ultimate suicidal ideation (Nesi, 2020, p. 118). Social media use induces low moods among adolescents. Low self-esteem induction depicts an association with photoshopped images within social media sites. The huge expectations regarding user body image and social media culture influence induce low mood and detrimental psychological consequences. Research reveals cases of suicidal ideation connected to social media use. Stress and low self-esteem established results in potential suicidal ideation. The primary factors connecting social media with adverse mental health include higher expectations, trolling, and bullying.
Besides, the increased use of social media on smartphones, has effects on youth’s mental health. Currently, studies reveal that higher percentage of youths depressed compared to the previous generation. Notably, this increased rate of depression amongst teenagers does not indicate any biological explanation. Rather, it seems to be contributed by the involvement with social media sites on smartphones. There is a conspicuous strong relation between depression among youths and the increased use of social media (Naslund et al., 2020, p. 250). Notably, the more depressed youths become, the more increase the social media use (Braghieri, Levy, and Makarin, 2022, p. 3663). Consequently, the more youths continue using social media, the more they become depressed. This implication reveals a direct relationship between depression amongst teenagers and the social media use.
Studies reveal that there exist no other variable or determinant that has transformed remarkably during the previous decade except social media, prevalence of digital technology, and prevalence of smartphones to describe the exceptional increased rate of depression amongst teenagers. Almost twenty-two percent of youths portray multifaceted symptoms of depression. As per the CDC, seventeen hundred and sixty-nine youths committed suicide in 2015, which increased from thirteen hundred and eighty-six cases reported in 2010 (Braghieri, Levy, and Makarin, 2022, p. 3667). Besides, the new technologies and the use of smartphones has also increased sexuality through the internet pornography accessibility. Markedly, approximately three-quarters of Snapchat images entail selfies, portraying most teenage girls and young ladies posing in a sexualized manner. These new cultural norms result in reduced self-esteem and depression and anxiety in relation to the user’s body appearance.
In conclusion, the new digital technologies alongside prevalent smartphone use, Internet accessibility, and social media use have clear negative effects on the current generation. Besides the new benefits created by these digital technologies, their use results in user’s loss of attention, distraction to concentration, affects person’s cognition, and also contributes to depression amongst the users. With the current elevated utilization of social media, adolescents face an increased risk of developing mental health problems. Besides affecting individual mental health, social media depicts a possible association with school failures and reduced self-motivation. This implication means that the entire community possesses a risk of experiencing more problems besides mental health problems’ percentage increase. Notably, substantial youth proportion engages in intensive smartphone utilization characterized by media multitasking. Notably, extensive smartphone uses and social media sites utilization culminates in chronic sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation results in deleterious consequences on an individual’s cognitive control and socioeconomic performance. Social media and smartphone use depict conspicuous addiction. Addiction to social media uses results in mental health complications, including depression, stress, and suicidal ideation. Prolonged social media use increases the risk of developing mental health complications among younger adults. Among the mental health complications, long-time social media use results in stress and depression disorders.
Bashir, H. and Bhat, S.A., 2017. Effects of social media on mental health: A review. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 4(3), pp.125-131. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shabir-Bhat/publication/323018957_Effects_of_Social_Media_on_Mental_Health_A_Review/links/5a7c9e97aca272341aeb7472/Effects-of-Social-Media-on-Mental-Health-A-Review.pdf
Braghieri, L., Levy, R.E. and Makarin, A., 2022. Social media and mental health. American Economic Review, 112(11), pp.3660-3693. https://assets.aeaweb.org/asset-server/files/17593.pdf
Naslund, J.A., Bondre, A., Torous, J. and Aschbrenner, K.A., 2020. Social media and mental health: benefits, risks, and opportunities for research and practice. Journal of technology in behavioral science, 5, pp.245-257. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41347-020-00134-x
Nesi, J., 2020. The impact of social media on youth mental health: challenges and opportunities. North Carolina medical journal, 81(2), pp.116-121. https://ncmedicaljournal.com/article/55247.pdf
Sadagheyani, H.E. and Tatari, F., 2020. Investigating the role of social media on mental health. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 25(1), pp.41-51. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MHSI-06-2020-0039/full/html?utm_campaign=Emerald_Health_PPV_Dec22_RoN