Negative effects of social media on

mental health.

Ibinabo kalio amoni (200520949)

Acad 100-003: Academic Discourse

Professor Jeffrey walter

Aprail 4, 2024.
Abstract

This paper examines the negative effects of social media on the mental health of people.

Social media and online databases were we communicate, interact and share opinions . Social

media comprises different people with different objectives, values and ways of

livingn, which means when interacting with each other there is bound to be difficulty . This paper

looks at how this new digital means of communication affects various kinds of people.

Keyword – social media, cognitive , neurodivergent , mental health, effects

Introduction

Social media can be defined as a digital and electronic database that is used for communication

with one another . Social media can be seen in various forms such as sites , apps eg Instagram

,tiktok , search engines . As at 2020 there were 4.5 billion Internet users worldwide

(sadegheyani , Hassan & ebrahimpor, 2020) this shows that a large number of people are using
social media constantly , these people are talking in information both visual and auditory

information and these are bound to affect people in one way or the other .

People who social media affects include ; Adolescents , children , people under the

spectrum. Adolescents include children from the ages of 12-16 , this category of people are

highly at risk for This negative effects as they are the generation that use and consume social

media content the most .

Mentally ill patients or people under the spectrum : these are individuals that have an

impediment in their thinking , feeling , behavior and reasoning . These people I find it hard to

interact with normal people because of their defect .

Social media can be seen as a virtual reality where people with various ideologies,

beliefs and interests are brought together to interact. This interaction of various people is bound

to have negative effects while having positive . There are about 36 million internet users and

33.1 million social media users in Canada alone (Bush, 2024), this goes to show that

individuals in present are not only using social media but they use it actively.

Social media can be seen in various forms and groups such as blogs, web searches,

apps, phones, internet forums and social networks (sadagheyani et al., 2021).social media in

relation to mental health can be correlated with one another in the sense that social media has

now become our second brain as individuals according to the face magazine individuals spend

more than 4 and a half hours per day on apps and devices to organize, plan and manage one's

day .This goes to show that social media works hand in hand with people thus being dependent

on elections and the interest

the adolescent age as the older generation also suffer the same psychological impact social

media has to offer. some examples of these are; distorted reality, cognitive drawbacks, the

increase of social vises, self-comparison and self-loath, struggle for individuality, the constant

fear of missing out, procrastination due to screen time, miss interpretation of information,

suicide, identity crises, depression, insomnia, isolation .

According to the Oxford Advanced learning dictionary identity crises is a period of

uncertainty and confusion where an individual's sense of reality becomes dependent on their

looks making them insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society .

In the present day where individuals are exposed to loads of unsupervised content , and

information of people portraying their achievements , and lavished lives one can feel as if they

are not doing enough compared to what they see. Groups of people that mostly experience

identity crises are adolescents, as they try to compare, shape, and model their behaviors to fit

their fears (Rageliene, 2016) .

Due to the excessive use of social media people have been programmed to act

according to the trends , as they believe that what is in the virtual reality is exactly as it will be in

social media. Distorted reality can also be seen as where young teenagers use body and face

changing applications to appear thinner or to look entirely different than they are online(ameen

& faye ,2024). Although this might seem harmless at first , children and teenagers begin to

spend time worrying about their physical flaws .

cognitive drawbacks can be seen as a where individuals cannot retain information,

understand, make decisions , and pay attention. According to (caolia,2022) the attention span of

children who read books back then had a higher attention span from kids now as it has gone
from 35 percent to 17 percent . 17 percent bring the attention span of the current generation

(facemag) . The over consumption of social media has made the present generation inattentive

to information as individuals forget the information relayed to them.

self-comparison and self-loath as a negative impact on social media, there are

various trends some on which include ; the introduction of new beauty standards by bloggers

others are content on the expectation of various gender roles . Due to us being open and

exposed to such content individuals we are likely to compare themselves to people who fit into

this beauty standard or gender expectation. Because it is a fabricated reality an average

individual cannot easily achieve this said standard . The inability to fit into these trends creat

a sense of self loath because of our inability to fit into these fabricated standards.

Depression is a type of mental illness that affects how you feel negatively. Social media

is a supporting cause of depression as children and adults spend their time consuming

information that will make them feel worse about themselves causing unhappiness. According to

(pantic, 2014) certain depressive behavioral characteristics of a social network user has a

potentially high prediction value for future diagnosis of depression.

ToIsolation caused by depression is where the internet becomes so electronically addicted

that they refuse to step outside or leave the electronic device for a second. "With the

development of social networks, the time children and adolescents spend in front of the

computer screens has significantly increased. This has led to the further reduction of intensity of

interpersonal communication both in the family and in the wider social environment. Although

social networks enable an individual to interact with a large number of people, these interactions

are shallow and cannot adequates ly replace everyday face-to-face communication" (pantic
,2014), this shows that social media causes children and adults to not engage in effective ,deep

and meaningful communication.

The inability to sleep based on poor sleep habits is known as insomnia. Social media is a

contribution to the causes of insomnia , as using your phone in bed is appor sleep habits and

majority of Internet users use there devices in bed .

The increase of social vices caused by social media .social media and the internet is all

about trends, activities, and communication. Some bloggers and content creators on these

social media platforms are creating social media trends that are illegal and dangerous, and also

the normalization of these crimes.

Trends are meant to be replicated by people so when these illegal activities become trends they

are bound to be replicated by other individuals.

The duplication of various trends causes generalization and over saturation in the internet

as everyone is doing similar things we cannot help but try to stand out i.e. individuality. Humans

are social creatures that thrive in community and acceptance. This is why people don't do well

when turned into outcast. When people have been accepted communitties they now try to make

themselves stand out examples of such are by skills, learning abilities and knowledge. In

relation to the present day , people are trying to seek individuality either by how they dress,

wealth, status just something to distinguish them from the crowd. The struggle of individuality is

when people are struggling to find that niech thing

How to control and reduce the negative effects of social media.

There are various ways by which we can reduce the negative effects of social media on

mental health. We as a society can collectively agree that social media has done more harm
than good. Some measures that can be put to reduce this are reduction of screen time. Content

policy or restrictions, information bringing into light these activities.

Content policy should be put on the app to sensor images and information that are

false and harmful to individuals. Some of these content policies include; children below sixteen

shouldn't be allowed into adult spaces of the internet, individuals that are planning on opening

social media accounts should provide identification confirming their names and ages. Individuals

should try to not engage in rage bait content whose intended purpose is to share Mental health

help content on these social media networks should be shared and interacted with more so

those struggling with these mental health challenges caused by social media can find help and

seek refuge.

There should also be free consultation for these individuals as mental.

Individuals should make the internet space more conducive for neuro divergent people and

younger generations by reducing content on nudity, explicit images. The internet users should

try to make sure whatever information being passed down to their viewers are correct and

verified information . The internet users should promote neurodiversity. Neuro diversity refers to

the diversity of all people, but it is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD),

as well as other neurological or developmental conditions such as ADHD or learning disabilities.

(baumer &fruech, 2021)differentiates them from the crowd. Parents should have control and

observe the activities of their children on social media by using child restriction apps .
Conclusion

The internet due to its unsupervised and weakly controlled system is an invitation for

various people to discourse on various things and topics, share various content and information,

and is prone to various mishaps that affect various categories of people. Some ways people

have been affected mentally are identity crises, depression, distorted reality, developing body

dysmorphic disorder, cognitive difficulties, isolation, self-loath. All of us as a society should come

together in order to reduce the negative impact of social media entirely by posting restricted

content and sharing resources that help individuals who have been affected by this virtual reality

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