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DOES SOCIAL MEDIA IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH?


Nathalie Ho investigates on the effects of Youtube, Instagram and other similar platforms on young people's mental wellbeing.



Did you know that Instagram shows up in most other studies or surveys done on social media use as the platform that most leads young people to report feeling anxiety, depression and worries about body image? In 2016, two surveys were conducted on over half a million adolescents in the US in Grade 8 to Grade 12.


According to Andreassen et al., (2016), students who spend less time on media and engage in activities like sports and classes are less likely to acquire these symptoms. Social media can affect young people in many ways, but does the amount of time they spend on social media affect their mental wellbeing?


To investigate whether the amount of time spent on social media affects their thoughts and mental health, an anonymous survey was conducted on children in the age range 10-14, with a total of 33 responses received. This age range was chosen because students are more likely to be introduced to social media or start owning a device at this age range.


Results indicate that most of the respondents spent 1-2 hours on social media per day while a third didn’t use social media. For those who spend time on the internet, 51.5% of the respondents answered that they used social media for entertainment. It was also found that 81.8% of respondents chose Youtube as their most used social media platform.


Focusing on the effects social media can have on young people, one question asked respondents whether social media affected respondents’ way of thinking/feeling about their peers or of themselves. After categorizing the answers according to the amount of time students spent on social media, it was found that of the students who spend 3-5 or more hours per day on social media, 14.3% of varied answers said media affected their thoughts on others, but of students who spend 3-5 hours a day on social media 9.1% of answers said that it affected the way they thought of themselves. Most of the people who answered with this response spent time on social media. Spending too much time on social media could bring strong feelings that urge people to do negative things to their peers, such as cyberbullying, hate posting, and even threatening people to do things that could potentially put their life at risk.


Lastly, respondents were asked whether social media had influences on their confidence. 28.6% answered with no, and the other respondents were either unsure or had effects on their confidence. According to an article written by Caroline Miller of Child’s Mind Institute, another effect of prolonged usage of social media contributes to a lowered self esteem, affecting their body image, personal health, and mental wellbeing- especially how they think of themselves.


The data gathered in this form also shows that the amount of negative experiences students have had relates to the amount of time they spent on social media. This shows that at any age, anyone can encounter negative situations on social media.

Respondents said that they encountered/experienced negative content, with most of the responses being about conflict such as harassment. When asked, respondents also reported other experiences, such as cyberbullying and/or trolling, toxicity, encountering explicit content, and even cat-fishing.

So, does the amount of time students spend on social media contribute to their mental and physical wellbeing? It actually depends!

The data collected in this survey didn’t show any significant trends or specific meanings. However, the results of the survey could be limited by certain factors such as sample size, the time period in which people could fill the survey in, and the age group of respondents. To improve this study, more people could be asked to fill in the form, Additionally, an interview could be conducted in order to ask different people of their views and experiences on social media to a more in-depth extent.


Nonetheless, it was interesting to collect different answers from different people. It also helped to give a better understanding of adolescents’ views and experiences on social media, and the pros and cons social media gives us all.




​​References:

Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time (Twenge, et al. 2017)


Does Social Media Use Cause Depression? How heavy Instagram and Facebook use may be affecting kids negatively (Miller, et al. 2016)