How Social Media Affects Teens and Young Adults

by Katelyn S. & Elise L.
Published April 26, 2024

Social Media has become a vast part of people’s everyday lives. On average Americans spend 143 minutes ( about 2.40 hours) on their phones every day, taking a toll on their mental health. Social platforms have rapidly been evolving causing overexposure leading to reduced self confidence, increased depression, mental illnesses and sleep deprivation. 

Social media may be interesting, but it can greatly affect your mental health. Mental health is how a person is in regard to their emotional well being. According to Statista around 71% of social media users have felt offended by negative comments, causing mental health issues. We recently talked to a ten-year old social media user , who stated,  “negative comments can destroy someone's confidence, really affecting someone.” Not only is this toxic for your mind to experience, but it can ruin your self esteem. Self esteem is how we treat and see ourselves. In Social Media Victims Law Center it states, “Social media can affect the self esteem of teens and young adults. It often leads to social comparison, seeking validation through likes and comments, and exposure to cyber bullying.” Poor mental health can be very easily caused by extensive exposure to negativity.  “Once you see someone who is prettier than you… your mind immediately goes to oh I wish I could be like them,” another recent social media user says. Not only does this bring you down on yourself, but also your mind wants to believe the negative messages you receive from social media. This not only shows that social media affects your self esteem, but it also shows self-esteem plays a big role in your mental health.

Depression is a very common side effect of having too much exposure to social media. It can lead to loss of energy and increased anger or irritability, because of the constant stress and negative thoughts in your mind. HelpGuide states, “multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, self harm.” Not only are you more angry, but also self harm often occurs if somebody forms unhealthy habits with social media. 66 percent  of teenagers who have more exposure to social media are more likely going to have a higher rate of depression.

Social media can not only affect your mind, but it too can affect your sleep quality. Sleep deprivation can happen to anyone, but it is very common to receive poor sleep due to the screen time of social media near sleep hours. Sleep Foundation states that “Unfortunately, social media and sleep don’t mix well. Excessive use of social media close to bedtime can reduce sleep quality and increase the risk of a multitude of sleep issues.” Commonly, young adults can easily get sucked into social media near sleep hours without realizing the harm of possible sleep deprivation or disturbance.

Being interested in social media at a young age can strongly affect your future. Putting more time into social media causes the mind and gut to turn depression into headaches, nausea, and other health illnesses. Lacking sleep and having poor mental health is one of the easiest ways to ruin your day. Though social media may be deceiving, it's important to limit yourself, caring about what matters most. Prioritizing your mind’s and body’s health is crucial to have a happy mindset and growing body. Controlling your mental health is the way to enjoy your time on social media.