Social Media Impact on Mental Health

Social media is noted for its various advantages, such as improving communication between individuals. While there are different advantages associated with social media, negative aspects of social media can also be noted. One negative impact of social media is the impact on the users’ mental health. Over the years, various social media platforms have been developed, and this has led to an increase in the number of individuals that use social media. The increase in the use of social media resulted in the reliance on social media platforms for different activities and functions. When addressing the impact of social media on the mental health of the users, some of the aspects that can be considered include the self-esteem of the users as well as the occurrence of depression and even addiction. According to Pantic (2014), various impacts on users’ mental health can be noted after the prolonged use of social media. Examples of this include the reduction of self-esteem following the prolonged use of social media as well as the occurrence of addiction to online social networking (Pantic, 2014). The importance of addressing social media’s impact on users’ mental health emerges from the noted negative impacts that can be associated with the continuous use of social media specifically when individuals are spending more and more time on social media platforms.

While Bhat (2017) notes that despite the expected negative impacts of social media on the mental health of individuals, various studies note that the use of social media can be attributed to the increase in the self-esteem of the users. However, Bhat (2017) notes that the prolonged use of different social networking platforms is noted to negatively affect the mental health of individuals by causing depression. Jelenchick et al. (2013) provide a clarification that notes that the occurrence of clinical depression cannot be linked with the prolonged use of social networking sites and, therefore, the identification of the link between the use of social networking sites and clinical depression requires additional research. On social media platforms, there are different aspects that individuals can encounter that are likely to result in a user feeling sad, anxious, or even depressed. With the continuous increase in the number of individuals that use social media, the likelihood of these aspects occurring increases. Aspects of social media, such as cyberbullying, are likely to result in self-harm and even suicide (Luxton et al., 2012).

Digital literacy involves the ability to make use of different information and communication technologies to efficiently perform different actions using the information that can be obtained from the technologies. These technologies include different available social networking platforms. When using these technologies, it is likely to encounter different aspects that are noted to impact the mental health of the individuals using the technologies. The occurrence of different mental health conditions, such as depression as a result of the use of social media, leads to the different aspects of digital literacy not being achieved. An example of this can be seen in the collaboration aspect of digital literacy, where the occurrence of mental health conditions prevents those affected from collaborating online. Therefore, understanding social media’s impact on mental health provides an opportunity to comprehend social media platforms and their impact on identity and community.

References

Bhat, S. (2017). Social networking sites and mental health: A review. International Journal of Advanced Educational Research, 2(5), 357-360.

Jelenchick, L. A., Eickhoff, J. C., & Moreno, M. A. (2013). “Facebook depression?” Social networking site use and depression in older adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(1), 128-130.

Luxton, D. D., June, J. D., & Fairall, J. M. (2012). Social media and suicide: a public health perspective. American journal of public health, 102(S2), S195-S200.

Pantic, I. (2014). Online social networking and mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(10), 652-657.

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