heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness

Question

Youngsters report problems with anxiety, depression, sleep and “FoMO”

Comments

It's worth looking into the connection between social media use and mental illness, since you've raised an important point. The Economist article you cited raises important points about sadness, anxiety, and FOMO (fear of missing out), but I believe it's important to look more closely at the data supporting these assertions.

For example, research such as that conducted by Twenge et al. (2017) indicates a link between teenage mental health problems and more screen usage, although this link does not imply causality. Is it possible that social networking is a more common coping strategy among those who are already dealing with mental health issues?

The connection may also be affected by the kind of social media use. The impacts of passive scrolling may differ from those of active participation (such as posting and engaging). Studies by Orben and Przybylski (2019) highlight the importance of taking these subtleties into account.

To support your claim, have you thought about looking at research that uses meta-analyses or longitudinal data? These might give a more accurate picture of whether mental health issues are caused by excessive social media usage or by other things.

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After fact-checking, this article is an accurate source, and this claim makes sense. Many teens are unfortunately gaining mental health issues due to heavy social media use.

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This is an interesting one, but I think we need to be careful about jumping to conclusions. While there's definitely research showing a connection between lots of social media use and feeling down, it's kind of like the chicken and egg situation - which comes first? Someone might spend more time on social media because they're already feeling anxious or depressed, or the social media use might be contributing to those feelings. Also, what exactly counts as "heavy use"? The impact probably varies a lot depending on how you use social media (like mindlessly scrolling vs. actually connecting with friends) and how much time you spend on it. It would be helpful to be more specific about what the research actually shows.

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I enjoyed reading the source you used to propose the idea that heavy social media use is linked to mental illness. I also provided a link at the bottom to another source in which it talks about how the use of social media especially from the ages 10-19 can have a negative impact on one's mental health.

Link: https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/social-media-teen-mental-health-a-parents-guide#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20research%20study,including%20depression%20and%20anxiety%20symptoms.

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I'm curious about your thoughts are on why certain social media's have more sad users than other social media sites. What specifically about an app or site makes it more depressing for someone to use?

Answer 1

I can agree that social media does make an impact on a person's mental health. The provided link gave us information and data that supported the claim of heavy use of social media and its negative effects. Any individual can spend hours scrolling through an app and not realized the damage that is being done. Social media can be a distraction from our work, causing issues to our sleep schedule, or comparing yourself to others you see on the internet. The majority of what's posted on social media, especially from influencers, creates a false narrative of their lifestyle. Showing off everything they have and presenting beauty standards that affect young individuals as they want the life they have. Overall, social media impacts a person in a variety of ways which is important to bring awareness to the people specifically the younger audience on not trying to compare each other. The link below is an article that not only talks about the same issues; but dives a bit deeper into the effects of social media, how to protect our mental health, and how we can use social media more effectively. 

Navigating the Digital Maze: The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health