Bobby Kearney

Professor Slanker

English Composition 1201

November 3, 2019

How Does Social Media Affect Young People?

Taking a look at almost any young person today, especially between the ages of middle

school to high school, one will see a phone in hand. Most of these phones have some sort of

social media app downloaded on them. These same people use those social media apps at least

once a day. Probably more than once a day. A lot of these same young peoples’ lives revolve

around those phones and the social media that is on them. At social events, one is focusing on

social media instead of participating and interacting in the real world. Liking pictures of an

unrealistic lifestyle, sending rude messages to people, or even receiving rude messages. One is

most likely viewing content that someone of their age should not be exposed too. If one takes a

look at any one of these people, there is a high chance that their mental health is either slowly or

quickly deteriorating because of social media. Our society has accepted this lifestyle and has not

really questioned it much which makes the issue even more alarming and in need of addressing.

It has become clear that it is negatively affecting the youth of today in multiple ways. The

excessive use of social media in young adults increases the chances of cyberbullying, the

perception of having a perfect life, and over exposure to inappropriate or dangerous content at

too young of an age. All of these can increase the risk of depletion in one’s mental health.

Cyberbullying is a bigger issue than some might think. People might say to just ignore it,

shut your phone off, or even block the person from your phone. The problem is that it is really

not that easy. With all of the social media platforms available today, it can happen anywhere.

With the amount of time that young people spend on their phones, eventually the rude and
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disturbing things said about, or related to them will be seen. This will obviously cause emotional

distress and lower self esteem. Russel Viner, a professor at the Institute of Child Health in

London did a case study that showed how very frequent social media use predicted a lower

wellbeing in young people. This might be attributed to cyberbullying and/or loss of sleep and

exercise. However, to make sure there isn’t a decline in one’s mental health there should be

efforts to prevent cyberbullying and promote an adequate amount of sleep and physical exercise

in young people (Viner). Of course it is easy to say to just ignore the posts but if someone

already has low self esteem then social media can become a tool to escape how one feels about

self and the negative things happening around them. Cyberbullying can then intensify whatever

is already going on in their life.

Fig. 1

This figure shows five effects of cyberbullying. Although there are many more effects of

cyberbullying, the five displayed represents all the effects well. Anger, Isolation, Depression,

Illness, and Humiliation all can lead to depletion in one’s mental health. The figure also

represents the thesis well.

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In this day and age cyberbullying happens all the time. No matter how impactful the

cyberbullying is, it is as if our society just ignores it. People will see it and not even give it a

second glance, or worse yet, choose to participate or go along with the bullying. Thinking and

reacting like this happens all the time, “it’s not really that big of a deal”. It is a big deal though.

Or “Oh that wasn’t that bad, I’ve seen worse”. People won’t even reach out to the victim of the

bullying. One usually won’t even tell anyone about it or report it to an adult. One will just gossip

about it behind the person’s back or add to the problem with additional comments that feed into

the bullying. This is why cyberbullying can have such a huge impact on the person being bullied.

In addition, the perception of a perfect life is presented all over social media. This

includes the picture of having the perfect body, having the perfect accessories such as cars,

houses, and other things, or even having the perfect relationship. No one has a perfect life.

People might like to post on social media about having a perfect life, but in reality no one does.

This can make people believe that their life is terrible. It can make them try to live up to this

false standard that social media has created. People will change their body, go into debt to have

nice things, and fall into the trap of trying to show that one has a perfect life. As Rachel Ehmke

explains in her article, “How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers”, “... kids today are getting

actual polling data on how much people like them or their appearance via things like “likes.” It’s

enough to turn anyone’s head. Who wouldn’t want to make herself look cooler if she can? So

kids can spend hours pruning their online identities, trying to project an idealized

image”(Ehmke). These same youth are constantly comparing everything in one’s life to the false

reality presented on social media and coming up short because it is what advertisers want them to

believe. In fact, Delonia Cooley and Rochelle Parks-Yancy presented “a study which showed

how the media uses celebrities, influencers, and people they know in real life to affect
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millennials decisions while on social media and in everyday life. This can affect mental health

even more because most young adults look up to these celebrities and social media influencers,

thereby trusting the information presented and thinking they should look and act the same way”

(Cooley and Yancy).

Young people also become sucked into all of the information and products that are

available to view online. This includes all of the advertisements on social media, many of which

are not appropriate for the ages viewing them. There are many things young people should not

see on social media including nudity, violence, and inappropriate language. Although there are

ways to avoid seeing the bad content, pop ups will constantly come up which makes people

curious. It encourages young people to experiment and see what one can get away with. If one

wants to see something on social media, with the click of a few buttons one can find it. Seeing

these things on social media that young people shouldn’t see can change how one behaves in the

real world. If one sees someone doing something on social media that looks “fun” or “cool”.

Odds are that one will try it. This not only can be bad in the moment, but it can influence the

direction in which one’s life is going. A good kid can easily become a bad one just from the

influence of things seen on social media. This is the basis of where the juul/vaping epidemic

started. Teens started to see it on social media in a manner where it was put out as being cool and

then one tried it. Not only is it illegal for them to use nicotine, it’s very harmful especially

considering they’re underage. Now there is even evidence showing the lung damage that can

occur due to the use of vaping.

Another danger for children who get on social media before one should is all of the

sexual predators misleading young people by pretending to be someone different. Social media is

one of the easiest ways for these predators to connect with underage people. A lot of accounts are
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public and anyone can message or interact with them. Often times thinking that is a cute boy or

girl close in age. Nicole Fabian Weber explains in her article, “8 dangers of social media to

discuss with kids and teens” how sexaul predators use social media to interact with children.

‘“Cyber-predators don’t just see a child online and then look for their address and go take them,”

says Getz. “That’s a predator of opportunity. Internet predators are predators that groom.

Predators cultivate relationships with a child online and then have the child come to them, so the

predators don’t have to take the risky approach of locating the child to abduct them”(Weber)’.

As evidenced from the information presented above, a young person’s mental health can

be influenced by all three of these social media influences. The depletion of one’s mental health

has become a common and very scary thing. Studies have been done on social media and the

depletion of young people’s mental health. The more time spent on social media the faster and

more one’s mental health is depleted. In Sabrina Barr’s article, “Six Ways Social Media

Negatively Affects Your Mental Health” it talks about social media’s relation to mental health.

“Not only has social media been proven to cause unhappiness, but it can also lead to the

development of mental health issues such as anxiety or depression when used too much or

without caution. In March 2018, it was reported that more than a third of Generation Z from a

survey of 1,000 individuals stated that they were quitting social media for good as 41 percent

stated that social media platforms make them feel anxious, sad or depressed”(Barr).

Suicide rates are increasing at an alarming rate. Some could even attribute this to social

media depleting young people’s mental health. The article “Suicide among teens and young

adults reaches highest level since 2000” by Gretchen Frazee and Patty Gorena Morales shows

the suicide rate statistics among the 15 to 19 age group. “In 2017, there were 47 percent more

suicides among people aged 15 to 19 than in the year 2000. --- With more than 6,200 suicides
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among people aged 15 to 24, suicide ranked as the second-leading cause of death for people in

that age group in 2017” (Frazee and Morales).

Fig. 2

Although US teens believe social media is slightly more positive than negative, the

reasons for why the teens believe social media is negative are important. 27% believe it is

negative because of bullying/rumor spreading. 15% believe it is negative because of unrealistic

views of others’ lives. 4% believe social media causes mental health issues. These numbers
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along with the research and data provided determines these factors come from the negative

effects of social media.

Something must be done by parents and social media platforms to change this disturbing

trend. Although there is only so much that can be done to stop someone from posting what’s

wanted, there are some things in place to attempt it. Social media platforms try to enforce rules

about misconduct, such as cyberbullying as best as possible. The problem is that it is just not

harsh enough. If they would enforce stuff like cyberbullying age restrictions more harshly, it

could start helping the problem even more. Parents could get more involved in the children’s

lives, especially the children’s social media accounts. By monitoring the children’s social media

accounts, a lot of these issues could start to be resolved. Especially the issue of children seeing

things one shouldn’t and cyberbullying. Nicole Fabian Weber also explains in her article, “8

dangers of social media to discuss with kids and teens” how to enforce this. ‘“I recommend that

every family has a technology contract that provides structure and family limits around the use of

screens,” says Grover. “For instance, there should be tech-free zones in the house that everyone

respects. There shouldn’t be cell phones during meals, limited cell phone use on vacations and

tech blackouts around bedtime. The more parents and children follow these guidelines together,

the less resistance parents will face from their kids”(Weber)’.

Mental health problems can also be solved in another way. The use of mental health

technologies is explained in Lindsay Dewa’s article, “ ‘Young Adults’ Perceptions of Using

Wearables, Social Media and Other Technologies to Detect Worsening Mental Health: A

Qualitative Study”. “The study was done on young adults who had suffered from mental health

problems previously. Somewhat of an interview was conducted in a private room at a mental

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health site with the young adults. The four main themes were dealing with mental health

symptoms, signs of mental health deterioration, technology concerns, and ways to identify

worsening mental health with technology. It was determined that technological options could be

used to detect worsening mental health in young adults as long as they followed through and

trusted the technology shared” (Dewa).

There are some positive impacts from social media. Three of the seven ways listed by

Kevin Naruse in his article, 7 Ways Social Media Can Benefit Mental Health”, in which social

media can benefit mental health include the ability to “Relieve social isolation and loneliness by

opening up new communication pathways, Inspire healthy lifestyle changes, and Strengthen

existing relationships”(Naruse). As “Social media offers the chance to connect with others, and

offers enough anonymity to allow people with mental illness to express themselves without

revealing their identities” (Naruse). Social media can also help when “ Announcing a goal via

social media and regularly posting about it promotes accountability to others, creating positive

reinforcement from friends and stimulating an online “social support system” which may lead

the aspirant to form or join other communities dedicated to similar pursuits” (Naruse). The last of

the three ways in which social media can be positive is it “can also help manage relationships,

especially with those who live far away from each other, thus breaking down geographical

barriers. It can also be helpful at maintaining relationships for those with disabilities, such as

elderly individuals and people with physical handicaps which limit their mobility and prevent

travel outside the home” (Naruse). Although all of these are beneficial and positive, the negative

effects of social media still outweighs the positive effects.

It is apparent based on the research and data that is available that cyberbullying, the

perception of having a perfect life, and things young people shouldn’t see are all on, or a part of,
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social media. Each of these items by itself can quickly affect a young person’s mental health in a

negative way. When all three things are combined, it makes a young person’s mental health go

down the drain even faster. Reducing young people’s time on social media could help with the

issue. Paying closer attention to what the content is and who is communicating with young

people is another way to help decrease the negative affect. One of the most important factors

should be for the parents of the children and the social media platforms to participate in making

stricter rules against cyberbullying and excessive time spent on social.

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Works Cited

Barr, Sabrina. “Six Ways Social Media Negatively Affects Your Mental Health without You

Even Knowing.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 15 Oct. 2019,

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/social-media-mental-health-

negative-effects-depression-anxiety-addiction-memory-a8307196.html. Accessed November

2019

Care.com. “Top 8 Dangers Of Social Media For Kids And Teens.” Care.com, Care.com, 23 July

2019, https://www.care.com/c/stories/4275/5-dangers-of-social-media-to-discuss-with-you/.

Accessed November 2019

Cooley, Delonia, and Rochelle Parks-Yancy. “The Effect of Social Media on Perceived

Information Credibility and Decision Making.” Journal of Internet Commerce, vol. 18, no. 3,

July 2019, pp. 249–269. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/15332861.2019.1595362. Accessed 20

October 2019

Dewa, Lindsay H., et al. “Young Adults’ Perceptions of Using Wearables, Social Media and

Other Technologies to Detect Worsening Mental Health: A Qualitative Study.” PLoS ONE, vol.

14, no. 9, Sept. 2019, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0222655. Accessed 20

October 2019
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Ehmke, Rachel, and Child Mind Institute. “How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers.” Child

Mind Institute, https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/. Accessed

November 2019

Frazee, Gretchen, and Patty Gorena Morales. “Suicide among Teens and Young Adults Reaches

Highest Level since 2000.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 18 June 2019,

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/suicide-among-teens-and-young-adults-reaches-highest-

level-since-2000. Accessed November 2019

Naruse, Kevin. “7 WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA CAN BENEFIT MENTAL HEALTH.” Painted

Brain, 30 Oct. 2019, https://paintedbrain.org/editorial/7-ways-social-media-can-benefit-mental-

health-2/. Accessed November 2019

Viner, Russell M., et al. “Roles of Cyberbullying, Sleep, and Physical Activity in Mediating the

Effects of Social Media Use on Mental Health and Wellbeing among Young People in England:

A Secondary Analysis of Longitudinal Data.” The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, vol. 3, no.

10, Oct. 2019, pp. 685–696. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30186-5. Accessed 20

October 2019

Image Citation:
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Cheng, Jenny. “Business Insider.” Business Insider, 1 June 2018,

https://www.businessinsider.com/teens-social-media-effects-mostly-negative-pew-research-

2018-6. Accessed November 2019

Roberts, Emily. “Verywellfamily.” Verywellfamily, 29 Sept. 2019,

https://www.verywellfamily.com/what-are-the-effects-of-cyberbullying-460558. Accessed

November 2019