Influence of Social Media on Teenagers speech during COVID-19
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Are teens and social media a good mix, or does social media use lower teen well-being? This has become one of the more controversial questions regarding social media’s effects on teens, with studies showing varied results, including recent research on the use of social media during the pandemic.
According to a report released in 2021 by Common Sense Media on social media’s effects on teens, about half of the 1,500 young people surveyed said social media is very important for them in order to get support and advice, feel less alone, and express themselves creatively, as well as for staying in touch friends and family while social distancing. And 43 percent said that using social media makes them feel better when they are depressed, stressed, or anxious. Among LGBTQ youth, 52 percent said social media helps them feel better when they are experiencing these difficult emotions.
Like technology in general, social media has both an upside and a downside. And when it comes to the social media effects on teens, those pros and cons are particularly significant.
On the plus side, pla be lifesavers forEffeel isolated or marginalized, particularly LGBTQ teens. In addition, social media helped teens feel more connected and not as lonely during the pandemic.
The Effect of Social Media on Teenagers During the Pandemic
Are teens and social media a good mix, or does social media use lower teen well-being? This has become one of the more controversial questions regarding social media’s effects on teens, with studies showing varied results, including recent research on the use of social media during the pandemic.
According to a report released in 2021 by Common Sense Media on social media’s effects on teens, about half of the 1,500 young people surveyed said social media is very important for them in order to get support and advice, feel less alone, and express themselves creatively, as well as for staying in touch friends and family while social distancing. And 43 percent said that using social media makes them feel better when they are depressed, stressed, or anxious. Among LGBTQ youth, 52 percent said social media helps them feel better when they are experiencing these difficult emotions.
On the other hand, the report, titled “Coping with COVID-19: How Young People Used Digital Media to Manage Their Mental Health,” also showed a strong association between social media and teen depression. Youth with moderate to severe depressive symptoms were nearly twice as likely to say they used social media almost constantly: One-third of teens with depression reported constant social media use, as compared to 18 percent of teens who did not have depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the more severe their symptoms were, the more anxious, lonely and depressed they felt after using social media. Clearly, social media does not help teens who are already feeling depressed, and seems to contribute to their negative outlook.
- Research on Social Media and Teen Depression
Is social media part of the reason that teen depression has drastically increased over the last decade? Surveys of US adolescents show that teen depressive symptoms and suicide rates showed marked increases between 2010 and 2015, especially among females. Some researchers theorize that the increase in social media and overall screen use between those years could account for these changes. The adolescents surveyed who spent more time on social media were more likely to report mental health issues. Those who spent more time on unplugged activities, such as in-person social interaction, sports, exercise, homework, and print media, were less likely to report these issues.
Over the last decade, this theory has been borne out by a large body of research linking teenagers’ use of social media with increased teen depression. These studies show that the frequency of a teen’s use of social media has a clear correlation to their mental health. For example, in a 2018 study, 14- to 17-year-olds who used social media seven hours per day were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with depression, treated by a mental health professional, or taken medication for a psychological or behavioral issue during the last year. This was compared to those who used screens only about an hour a day.
Many experts believe that the constant overstimulation of social networking shifts the nervous system into fight-or-flight mode. As a result, this makes disorders such as ADHD, teen depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and teen anxiety worse. However, some research on social media and teen depression shows that the causality goes the other way—i.e., when teens are depressed, they look at social media more often. In one study of 600 teens, researchers found that social media use did not predict depressive symptoms, but greater depressive symptoms predicted more social media use over time.
“Some experts argue that young people’s use of social media is adding to their depression; others that their depression leaves them so uninterested in other activities that they turn to social media by default. research suggests a third possibility: that many young people who are experiencing depression— whatever the cause—are purposely and proactively using social media and other digital tools to protect and promote their own well-being.”
- —2021 Common Media report
The Impact of Social Media on Youth Social Comparison
One way in which social media undermines teen mental health is through negative social comparison—what media psychologist Don Grant, PhD, Newport Director of Outpatient Services, calls “compare and despair.” Teenagers on social media spend much of their time observing the lives and images of their peers. This leads to constant comparisons, which can damage self-esteem and body image, exacerbating and anxiety among adolescents.
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