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Cameron Funston

Dr. Adrienne Cassel

English Composition II

23 October 2019

How does the use of social media affect mental health?

Social media, also known as social networking, is defined by Merriam-Webster as a form

of electronic communication that enables users to create online communities in order to share

information, ideas, personal messages and other content like videos. For most it is a part of our

everyday lives. This research is meant to answer the question, “How does the use of social media

affect mental health?”.

The following statistics were found at ProCon.org, which is a non profit organization that

uses professional researchers to investigate today’s controversial topics. Their unbiased and

professionally backed data helps to shed light on the issue of social media and its effects on

mental health. The first social media site, SixDegrees.com was created in 1997. Friendster

occurred in 2002, but was overcome by more popular sites like MySpace (2003), Facebook

(2004), Twitter (2006), Pinterest (2009) and Google+ (2012). As more and more social

networking sites cropped up, so did the users of those sites. On October 4, 2012, Facebook

reached one billion monthly users worldwide. To give perspective, that equates to one in seven

people on the planet who had a Facebook account. In 2018, 69% of the American population

were social media users, a drastic increase from the 26% of reported users in 2008. As the

popularity of social networking increases, we must ask ourselves what this usage is doing to our

mental health.
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There are many benefits to social media use. Among them, the ability to connect with

friends and loved ones. Online friend groups provide a network for those in need of emotional

support or guidance. An article recently appeared in Neuroscience News which reported on a

study conducted by Eva C. Buechel and Jonah Berger, entitled, “Microblogging and the Value of

Undirected Communication”. The article, “How Social Networking Keeps People Healthy”,

reports the results of that study. Their study targeted individuals with social anxiety issues. While

the study focused on a select group of individuals, we have all been faced at one time or another

with the desire to reach out to someone, yet being anxious about the outcome. The results

found that social media created a sense of wellbeing and reduced levels of negativity and stress

for the study group. In these instances, social media can provide a useful and positive benefit to

mental health.

While having an online support network is a great asset, its use can become addictive. A

study conducted by Yubo Hou, et al, entitled, “Social Media Addiction: Its Impact, Mediation,

and Intervention.”, looks at the relationship between social media addiction and mental health,

while taking into account the various participants’ self esteem levels prior to taking part in the

study and again at the end. They studied two groups of college students in China. At the end of

the study the first group’s results revealed that their social media addiction had a negative effect

on their mental health and that their self esteem was lowered. The second group received an

intervention during the study to help deal with their addiction. At the conclusion of the study, the

participants of this group showed reduced addiction to social media as well as better mental

health and higher self esteem. These findings show there is a negative relationship between

addictive social media use and mental health. For the casual user these results will not be
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relevant, however, users should be made aware of the consequences of social media addiction

and its effects on one's mental wellbeing.

If you did find yourself becoming addicted to social media and decided to take a break,

what do you think would happen? How would you feel? Would you be better off without it? A

study conducted by Sarah M. Hanley, et al., takes a look at this scenario. The results are quite

surprising. The study, “Taking a Break: The Effect of Taking a Vacation from Facebook and

Instagram on Subjective Well-Being”, explores the effects of avoiding social media sites by very

active users versus passive users. The results of this study conclude that the active users

experienced lower positive effects from the break than did the passive users. This was opposite

of the expected results. The reasoning behind this is that the active users engaged more with

other members of the sites and experienced positive interactions. The passive users, on the other

hand, did not actively engage while on the sites, so they did not receive or miss the interactions

with other members. This study illustrates that taking a step back from social media may actually

have a negative effect on the mental health of individuals who use social networking for

meaningful communication.

Elina Mir and Caroline Novas with the National Center for Health Research, wrote an

article entitled, “Social Media and Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Mental Health.” The article

discusses the pros and cons of social media use among the younger generation. Among the pros

cited is the ability to interact with their friends by sharing pictures and expressing ideas. By

denying them this form of communication, they may become isolated from their social networks

and it could deny them valuable learning experiences. The downside of allowing them access to

this tool are many; peer pressure, cyber bullying, adult content, and possible self esteem issues

from viewing overly positive images of others.

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There were many points raised during this research process that leads to my desire for

more information. Some additional issues, as they relate to mental health and social media use

that I plan to include in my research, are cyberbullying, social isolation and depression.

In all of the research conducted thus far, I see one thing repeated over and over, social

media use can and does affect the mental health of its users. The effect varies by group, severity

and even whether that effect is negative or positive, and it is subject to many variables. As each

individual user is different and has a different life experience, how they interact and react to

social media use is unique to that individual.

Works Cited
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Hanley, Sarah M., et al. “Taking a Break: The Effect of Taking a Vacation from Facebook and

Instagram on Subjective Well-Being.” PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 6, June 2019, pp. 1–13.

EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217743.http://sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.

ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fsr&AN=136835842&site=eds-live

Hou Yubo, et al. “Social Media Addiction: Its Impact, Mediation, and Intervention.”

Cyberpsychology, vol. 13, no. 1, Mar. 2019, pp. 1-17. EBSCOhost, doi:10.5817/CP2019-

1-

4http://sinclair.ohionet.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true

&db=a9h&AN=134920818&site=eds-live

Mir, Elina, and Novas, Caroline. “Social Media and Adolescents' and Young Adults' Mental

Health.” Center4research.Org, National Center for Health Research, 17 Oct. 2018,

http://www.center4research.org/social-media-affects-mental-health/.

ProCon.org, "History of Social Media." ProCon.org. 10 Apr. 2018,

socialnetworking.procon.org/history-of-social-media/

“Social Media.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/social media.
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Society for Consumer Psychology “How Social Networking Keeps People Healthy.”

NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 11 December 2017.

<http://neurosciencenews.com/social-media-health-8166/>