The Impact of Social Media on Adolescents' Mental Health

Social media is a platform, often an internet-based form of communication, where people can communicate, connect, share information, and create content for others. It's a place to build friendships, meet new people, and stay up-to-date on the latest global trends and happenings from around the world.

Social media is one of the major advances of technology, where it helps business owners to manage their brands, products, campaigns, host meetings, etc., thereby fostering discussions and engagement around diverse topics. Examples are Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook,... the list is endless.

Who is an adolescent?

According to the World Health Organisation (W.H.O), an adolescent is someone between the ages of 10 to 19. The adolescence stage is a very unique stage of human development, and it is a vital part of setting a good foundation for an adolescent who is now transitioning from being a child to an adult.

It's always the critical stage where they need to be monitored and guided in making wise decisions for their lives. At this point, their emotional, social, and mental state are more active, and they are curious to know what is going on around them. They ask questions like;

• Am I good enough compared to what is posted online?
• How do I start to follow people online?
• Who do I need to follow?
• Do I need to believe everything I see online?
• Are people online real or just a computer, speaking and typing on its own?

How is social media a major part of adolescent lives?

In this part, we will talk about why and how adolescents engage with social media.

Why?

• The adolescents want to mingle - to connect with friends. They want to build social networks like connecting with people of their age and identifying those with similar interests, hobbies, or experiences.
• Social media is a platform to freely express oneself, and so they want to be able to creatively identify who they are (their identity), and most importantly, to receive feedback on how they are performing and getting along.
• Adolescents want to be a part of what social media provides, such as entertainment and information. They want to learn about current events, explore diverse topics that interest them and would want to engage in them.

How?

They do this simply by signing up on different platforms as mentioned above (the examples of social media platforms).

Positive and Negative Sides of Social Media

The positive sides:

• Social media helps adolescents connect with friends and family.
• It helps them not to feel lonely as they can stay active online, chatting and getting engaged with activities presented to them.
• Social media presents various groups where they can join, sharing their interests and building a sense of belonging among themselves.
• During challenging times, social media can help provide them with support and encouragement.
• They can easily find their voices and quickly learn skills to navigate life's situations.

How does this affect their mental health?

Mental health has to do with how one thinks, feels, and acts. It's a state that includes the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of an individual.

The influence of mental health on adolescents concerning the positive aspects is:

• Boosting confidence in adolescents.
• Recognising their identities, which gives them a feeling of joy within them.
• It increases their intelligence quotient.
• They feel safe knowing some people are there to provide support and bring peace to them, etc.

This can greatly affect their mental health while living a happy life and doing what they love.

The negative side of social media and its impacts on their mental health.

An excessive use of social media can be harmful to their health in various ways, such as;

Increased anxiety and depression: Most adolescents spend a lot of time on social media, especially scrolling through different pages, and when they see their peers doing better than them, they start to compare themselves, making them feel inadequate and unattractive.

The fear of missing out jumps on them, mostly for the ones who are still figuring out and exploring their identity and the path to take. They see others going out to parties, having fun and hanging out without them; they feel isolated and sad because of that. These thoughts are what lead them to be depressed and anxious, which takes a heavy toll on their mental health.

Cyberbullying: This is an aspect of getting bullied online by other people who derive pleasure in inflicting pain on others through hateful speech and comments. There are some adolescents who go through such challenges online with harsh words spoken to them, criticism on how they look, making them feel they aren't measuring up, and how their lifestyles don't fit others' calibre.

They take these negative comments so true, which then damages their fragile heart, reducing their confidence and self-esteem. This then leads to having thoughts of committing suicide.

Addiction: When adolescents are addicted through constant notifications, likes, and endless scrolling, it steals their time away and makes them lose focus on the things they need to do, like studying, exercising, and even sleeping. When they don't make a balance, it causes mental exhaustion, stress, sleep disruption, and sadness.

Will they be more exposed and informed?

Yes, they will, because social media exposes them to the current happenings, thereby bringing in information to keep them abreast. But at the same time, caution is needed. Not all information is true. Adolescents need to be careful in filtering out the good and bad information and not believe everything. They can easily be deceived by misinformation and harmful content.

Will social media be a major dependence on them, not without putting in their efforts, too?

At this point, it depends on their parents and guardians to monitor and guide them in this journey. Social media can be a great tool for growth, and likewise, become a distraction that stops them from doing the right thing at the right time, not being motivated and disciplined enough, and most importantly, stopping them from embracing offline skills.

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