With the rise of access to smartphones and social media, a significant amount of research has been devoted to the impact of social media usage on teenagers. The focus has increasingly been on the negative effects of social media and research has found that excessive usage of social media has a negative effect on teenagers’ mental health, self-esteem, and social skills. On the other hand, the usage of social media has positive implications as well and, in moderation, can provide positive social support, comfort, inspiration, and confidence.
The most worrisome factor of social media, however little the usage, is the impact it has on the mental health of teenagers. While the effects of social media increase with the amount of usage, even a slight amount of exposure can have a lasting impression on the user. Social media users, for example Instagram users, tend to post ‘perfect’ pictures of only the highlights of their lives and while this creates an aesthetically ideal Instagram page, it also perpetuates a version of life that is ideal but very unrealistic. Other viewers begin to feel incompetent or otherwise dissatisfied with their own lives and teenagers specifically begin to feel discontent with themselves; socially or personally, leading to the aggravation or development of mental health problems. This effect is known as ‘social comparison’.
The use of social media increases the comparisons made by individuals, whether upwards or downwards, and increases the likelihood of depressive symptoms. Simply put, social comparison has been linked as a mediating factor between depressive symptoms and use of social media. The ‘FOMO’ effect, a colloquial term that stands for “Fear Of Missing Out” on social events/gatherings or inside jokes, is also known to heighten anxiety and depressive symptoms in teenagers. Additionally, nighttime use of social media is particularly damaging to teenagers as they become more vulnerable to depression and anxiety if they experience sleep loss or poor quality of sleep.
Teenage consumers of social media may also face cyberbullying while on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, etc. Behaviors such as slut shaming and ‘dragging’ are prevalent throughout social media due to anonymity and lack of regulated use. Often times the presence of cyberbullying on social media has a desensitizing and dehumanizing affect on teenagers as they begin to consider bullying, violence, slut-shaming, mockery, and public shaming as a normal and socially-accepted behavior. This can result in the victims experiencing low self-esteem and isolation as research suggests that social media will often provide an illusion of companionship and social circles, while fostering emotional distance.
Deteriorating social skills is another negative effect of excessive social media use, particularly from a young age. Children need face-to-face interaction with other people in order to learn crucial communication, self-expression, and relationship-building skills. If this stage of interaction is replaced with online communication, children become unable to function and operate with other individuals.
In the next post we’ll look at some of the positive effects of social media.
