Social media is an ample part of the lives of many teens now. Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2018 and discovered there are lots of negative effects of social media on teens who stay online continuously. Researchers said that the increased utilization of digital spaces and general screen usage recently could be the cause of the significant increase in teen depressive symptoms and suicides occurring during the same time period.
Want to know more about the effects of social media on teens and how to ensure online safety? Keep reading to find out!
Detriments of Social Media
Despite its advantages, social media use can have a negative effect on teens. It usually distracts them, disrupts their rest, and also exposes them to bullies and rumors. Also, this will teach children to follow the fake lifestyles of others and give in to peer pressure.
These risks relate to the extent to which teens utilize social media. Studies discovered that teens spending more than three hours daily online are at increased risk of mental health issues. Also, scientific research showed that too much daily use of social media causes bad adolescent health and well-being.
Increased rates of online usage and anxiety symptoms have been linked together. Over 400 teens were studied, and it was discovered that higher social media usage, night-time usage, and getting annoyed if stopped from coming online links with bad sleeping quality and double the risk of depression.
The way teens utilize social media really contributes to determining its effect. According to the Surgeon General’s Advisory, studies associated comparisons and feedback searching by teenagers making use of social media and phones with depressive symptoms.
Then, studies discovered that bigger teens using social media with passion, like watching other people’s pictures, have a reduction in life satisfaction. However, teens using social media to interact with others and post their personal content did not get those declines. Also, it was discovered that a large number of teens hid their online behavior from their parents.
The Reason Social Media is Harmful to Youth Mental Health
You might also be wondering if social media is among the reasons why depression in young people has gotten worse in the past ten years. A survey of US adolescents showed that teen depressive symptoms with suicide levels increased significantly from 2010 to 2015 in females.
According to Common Sense Media, research also suggests that a lot of young people going through depression, no matter its cause, use social media in a purposeful and proactive way for the protection and promotion of their personal well-being.
Advantages of Social Media Platforms
Healthy social media use aids teens in creating online identities, communicating with other people, and building networks. Online networks can offer teens great support. This is important for aiding people experiencing disabilities and critical illnesses.
Additionally, teens utilize social media to learn critical social skills, entertain, and express themselves. Apart from that, these social media accounts will expose teens to present happenings and let them discuss across far geographical places. Then, teenagers are taught about various subjects, even responsible social media behavior.
A social media platform offering valuable connections to colleagues and large social networks can aid teens in avoiding depression and maintaining healthy self-esteem. You can become a self-development influencer on a social media platform like Instagram and build healthy relationships. Therefore, if you aim to gain popularity on Instagram and become one of the influencers on the platform, you can buy followers for your account.
This will help you to reach more people and increase engagement for your content. It’s affordable, and you will stay busy to avoid depression.
Effect of Social Media on Youth Mental and Physical Health
There are mental health concerns about the continuous usage of social media. You might be wondering if teens and social media platforms mix well or if the usage of networks reduces the well-being of teens. Excessive social media use leads to poor mental health outcomes in teens.
Common Sense Media recently brought out a report about the effect of digital spaces on teens. They surveyed around 1,500 young people, and almost all of them confirmed that social media is essential to getting support and advice and not feeling lonely.
Psychological Effects
Studies confirmed that three major factors drive social media effects on youths:
- Insufficient Sleep: Teens remain awake and sleep very late to keep perusing their feeds.
- Cyberbullying: They receive online harassment and have wrong and personal content about them shown online.
- Non-Physical Activity: Going through social media with their cellphones and other devices signifies that they sit for long periods and dedicate little time to exercise. Therefore, these teens miss out on the benefits and impacts of exercise on mental health.
On Youths Social Comparison
A way through which online media affects youth mental health is through negative social comparison. Teens on social media dedicate a lot of time to watching the lifestyles and images of colleagues. It results in continuous comparisons that can damage self-esteem and body image.
It exacerbates depression and anxiety in young people. Just like other forms of comparison, teenagers get low self-esteem and peer pressure to appear in specific ways whenever they look at people on social media platforms.
Pew Research Center study on the negative effects of social media on teens discovered that some teens admit to the fact that these platforms make them feel bad about their lives.
On Teens’ Body Image
Poor body image issues are among the major areas by which teens’ social comparison results in negative emotions, not just in teen girls but every gender.
Whenever teens start comparing themselves to edited and styled photos of celebrities and colleagues, they end up feeling lesser at most times. This may result in lower self-esteem and poor image. Additionally, Facebook usage was associated with greater risks of an eating disorder.
Health Hazards
Though healthy social media use provides a means of seeking help and support, it additionally provides forums where teens are free to start encouraging one another in unsafe and dangerous behaviors.
So, teens with eating disorders and young people who self-harm can start connecting with others to discuss their destructive lifestyles and share harmful content. Therefore, young people can learn ways to hide or intensify these behaviors, putting them at bigger risk.
On Teenagers’ Identity
Social media’s effects on teens extend to one of the crucial parts of adolescent development: forming your unique identity.
Therefore, social media offers forums for teenagers to start practicing skills connected to identity development and building healthy relationships. Among these are self-presentations self-disclosures to share opinions, beliefs, preferences, etc.
Friendship, Teens with Social Media
Friendships and social skills are extra parts where social media impacts on youths can be good or bad. According to the Pew Research Center, many teens in their survey affirmed that social media use made them better connect with what is ongoing in the lives of their peers.
Also, as teens dedicate more time to social media platforms, cyberbullying keeps on increasing. Studies discovered that there were higher upticks in hate speech among children and teenagers in online discussion channels and forums.
Extra time using social media increases access to its good and bad aspects. This further drives its negative effects on teens.
Solutions to Teens Social Media Addiction
As shown by studies, overusing social media by teens is most times linked with bad consequences, like depression, stress, illness, and low self-esteem. However, treatments available to people include going ahead to address the root causes, developing age-appropriate health habits, and determining to unplug from social media and cell phones.
Social support and treatments for mental health will aid teens in gaining skills and knowledge for healing from the hidden impacts with negative consequences linked with overusing online spaces. Additionally, in a case where you or your loved ones are battling teen depression, anxiety, mental health, or substance abuse, consider trying out healing centers for young people having these kinds of issues.
Technology companies and parents must create tech-free zones and a family media plan. This family media plan is great for establishing healthy boundaries. They should support increased funding for future research on the advantages and disadvantages of social media.
Also, tech companies should start facilitating transparent and independent assessments of social media effects. Plus, technology companies, researchers, experts, general surgeons, etc., should start creating effective and timely systems.
Conclusion
Excessive social media use can be very harmful to youth mental health and also expose teens to online harassment and cyberbullying. Additionally, this leads to body image problems, technology addiction, and reduced time on health-wise, real-life activities.
You’re free to utilize healing centers for teenagers, families, etc, battling mental health problems, eating disorders, substance abuse, etc. Some organizations create programs for teens and young adults aged 12 to 18. These organizations, technology companies, and programs prioritize user health and will aid you in finding solutions for your loved ones and friends.
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