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By Jess Domenici
As humans, we depend on companionship, and social connections can significantly impact our mental health. We thrive off of having interaction and making new connections. At first glance, the idea of social media seems fantastic because it is a way to connect even when we are apart.
Social media was initially used to connect with family and friends from all over the world. It was supposed to make communication easier and bring people together. According to the Pew Research Center, about 72 percent of Americans use social media. Our society has started to depend on social media to stay connected, and that has caused the downsides of social media to become more apparent.
So what is a significant downside to social media?
Well, the answer is our mental health. How can a tool help us connect with others and boost our mental health turn into something that has harmed our mental health?
To answer this, we must look at what factors cause social media to harm our mental health.
Body Image Issues
According to King University, there is a negative linkage between social media and body image. It is particularly harmful to young teenage girls because young girls often compare themselves to others. Not only that, influencers will often use photoshop to manipulate their photos to look better on social media. However, this is creating unrealistic standards for young girls that are impossible to reach for young girls.
Inadequacy about life
On social media, people mostly post about highlights of their lives and not about the low points. People only show what they want you to see, and a viewer who is struggling with their lives may feel inadequate and insecure about their own life. When they scroll through social media, they are surrounded by everyone’s accomplishments, and while feeling happy for them, they may feel dissatisfied with their own lives.
FOMO
Fear of missing out has been around longer than social media. However, social media has amplified this feeling of missing out. With social media, we have become more aware of the things that we are missing out on. As humans, we desire to be involved, and when we miss out in our circles, it is hard not to check on social media what we are missing continuously. Social media allows us access to constant communication, and people will often check intensely on what they are missing out on. According to the Centre for Mental Health, intensive social media use is associated with lower mood and life satisfaction.
Loneliness/Isolation
One thing that FOMO can cause is a feeling of isolation. When we constantly look at our devices to see what others are doing, we often feel alone. Social media was supposed to help connect with others around us, and while it does do that, it can also cause the opposite effect to happen.
With all of these negative factors surrounding social media, people are more prone to depression and anxiety. According to McLean, people who use social media from an earlier age are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression because of these factors listed above.
So how can we protect our mental health?
One way we can protect our mental health is not to spend as much time on social media. Using social media is not inherently bad, and there are many benefits to using social media, but overuse can cause a lot of the issues above. Taking time to meet others and connecting face to face is the first step in combating social media dependency.
I find it really fascinating how social media has created new vocabulary that is used daily. I feel like FOMO for example, wasn’t a term that people were familiar with until image posting platforms became more common. I totally agree with the harmful factors you listed above. It seems that now more than ever, there is need for internet regulation. I see how Tik Tok influences the people around me and get almost scared when I see how much power it has. Furthermore, knowing that studies have been done that prove social media has effects on our mood is unsettling. We hold so much power in our hands and I’m worried about the future role social media will play.
I find it really interesting that new words are being coined by social media. For instance, FOMO wasn’t something I was aware of until I got on multiple photo-sharing platforms. It is disheartening to see events taking place, and knowing you weren’t invited. I feel like the sensation of FOMO is scary and causes lots of unnecessary conflict. Furthermore, I find that individuals are using social media as a way to make and main friendships. While this seems fine, it becomes an issue when individuals fail to develop person skills. I find that when I’m out with my friends, everybody is to engaged in their phone and I sit there watching them watch their scree. I wonder if we will ever be able to live in the moment again.
I appreciate your in-depth look at social media’s negative pieces. I don’t think enough people talk about how social media is hurting their mental health- especially younger teens and kids. I do think it is important to also touch on how social media negatively affects young boys as well. Just last week, my younger brother (age 14) asked me what an eating disorder was because he said one of his friends was posting about it. He said he saw a TikTok that said 1200 calories is the right amount to eat and began rummaging through the fridge to check the calorie content of certain foods– I think that social media is harming boys just as much as it is girls. It is concerning to think that little boys and girls are growing up seeing social media as accurate or realistic (when that is so far from the truth, as you pointed out). I agree that less time on social media can help, but I think another solution would be for schools to teach kids about the harms of social media. It should definitely be a part of the health curriculum in my opinion. Social media isn’t going away so we might as well educate kids about its effects.
I really enjoyed reading your post and I found it super relatable. I liked that you talked about FOMO because sometimes I have FOMO when I don’t go out with my friends and I see them post on social media afterwards. Then I go out and I don’t have as much fun as I thought I would and I see all of my friends post and from an outside persepctive it seems like we had the best night ever. So I think people are really good at making their lives seem amazing and interesting on social media but it’s nothing like how they are in person. I could see how that affects ones mental health. I think as the years go on, social media will affect individuals mental health worse.
I appreciate your deeper thoughts on social media. I do agree with your point that in moderation social media, not necessarily a bad thing. I agree with your point that overuse will lead to negative impacts on yourself and others around you. Before reading your post, I never really examined how FOMO is been amplified through the use of social media. Now looking back at personal experiences I can see that if social media was taken out of the equation my FOMO wouldn’t have been that extreme. I really appreciate all your thoughts and deeper perspective. Thanks for sharing.
A lot of people underestimate the downsides of social media and the toll it can take on our mental health. I am so glad to see you writing about this because I don’t think it is talked about enough. I realize social media can benefit people in many ways but I think it is just as important to highlight how it can affect you negatively. Well done.
I really love your post! Over spring break I watched a Netflix Documentary called, “The Social Dilemma” and it covered exactly what your talking about. It was really interesting to see some of the people behind the scenes of some social media giants express their concern and regret. Especially about how much it affects our mental health and children’s mental health. Like with what you said from McLean about people who use social media from a younger age being diagnosed with anxiety or depression has a correlation to suicide. More and more middle schoolers and teenagers are dying because they feel so lonely and disconnected. In the documentary on guy was talking about how social media was made to bring people together, but now it’s tearing us apart.
I loved this post and I think this is an excellent topic that needs to be talked about more. Social media has turned into something that can be extremely toxic. I think you did a great job explaining everything that contribute to harming our mental health and what people can do to stop this. This can only get worse because kids are starting to get on social media at such a young age, so it is only right to start informing people of the effects.
Jess,
I’m really glad that you choose to highlight the impact social media usage has on our mental health. One of the subcategories that you included ‘Inadequacy About Life’ is one that I often think about too. It’s so easy to scroll through social media and think “Wow, these people have such wild, fun and eventful social lives! Why am I such a loser?” when in reality I’m sure that your own followers are probably thinking the same thoughts about the content that you post. Social media is deceptive as you mentioned because it is just a snapshot of the entire story of our lives. One trend that I have noticed in the last year or so (especially on Instagram) is for people to upload a “photo dump” of their average everyday life. It’s bridging the gap between the selective social media world and our normalcy and I hope it continues!