This article is the second of four in a series discussing student mental health.
We’ve all heard it a thousand times, “social media is bad for your mental health.” We accept this as the truth but rarely have we explored the reasons why this may or may not be true. Is social media really as detrimental to our mental health as people say, or are we just ignoring the positives?
Social media can improve mental health
Beyond the typical pros of social media, like online friends, quick communication, and entertainment, there are less apparent upsides. In a way, the things that happen on social media become parts of our identity as a society and as students.
For many people, TikTok trends influence what they wear, what they buy, how they act, the songs they listen to, and more. Without social media, we wouldn’t have the same sense of collectivity and there would be fewer forces connecting us. Teenage culture is created largely on social media.
Contrary to what some may think, social media creates a learning environment for many different areas of interest. Whether you want to learn about space, politics, literature, fashion, video games, or anything, you can find a community of people on social media who share their ideas daily. These subsections of social media allow people to explore their hobbies and interests and meet new friends.
For the most part, social media can be an outlet for positive energy and uplifting comments. You can connect with your friends and family and spread positivity through comments on social media posts, and this can boost confidence and strengthen relationships. For example, receiving a nice comment from someone you know who you aren’t necessarily close with brings you together and this online solidarity can lead to new real-life friendships.
However, social media has its negatives
Beyond the less common, more severe situation of cyberbullying, there are negative effects of social media that most people can observe in their day-to-day life.
For example, the downside of social media bringing people together is that people who don’t have a certain social media might feel left out.
“It can be exclusive for people who don’t have it. I felt that especially with Snapchat because everyone else has Snapchat and I don’t,” said freshman Emmett Moxon.
If you’re not updated on the latest trends or drama, it’s easy to feel excluded from conversations and this can lead to depression and social anxiety, being afraid to speak up because you’re not as ‘updated’ on recent events as others are.
Also, social media is capable of negatively affecting people’s body images. Instagram specifically has this issue, with many models using it to post photos of themselves. People viewing these posts may wonder why they don’t look the same as these models and feel like they aren’t good enough, which is detrimental to their self-image. Even though the use of photoshop is widely recognized nowadays, the knowledge of photo manipulation fails to make people feel better about their own bodies and this leads to low self-confidence.
Social media also tends to be a time-suck. No matter how many screen time limits you put on your apps, social media will always take time away from your real-life priorities. It reduces the amount of time you have to spend on things like homework and clubs which can lead to excessive stress and sleep loss. This significantly affects your well-being.
An effect that social media has on mental health that is not commonly publicized is the stress that information overload entails. Every day, social media introduces us to endless information about current events, random people’s lives, what clothes we should wear, what food we should eat, the list is infinite. This constant stream of information stresses the brain, making it hard to focus and learn, and can even cause burnout much quicker in the long term.
Student opinions
Some students share their thoughts on what social media does for mental health.
“It can be negative for girls who struggle with their bodies, but it can be positive because you can make new friends,” said freshman Molly Burnham.
“I think it’s 50/50 because sometimes you spend too much time on it but there are some good platforms you can use, ones that make you feel better about yourself,” said freshman Emma Bird.
“It’s time-consuming and it creates a lot of divide,” said senior Zach Long.
So do we need to get off of social media to improve our mental health?
This boils down to whether or not you’re using social media platforms responsibly. The best bet to improve your mental health is to limit the time you spend on social media and to recognize when you’re consuming toxic media so you can reject it. Social media is a valuable and powerful tool in our world, and using it properly is vital to our mental health.
