Is Social Media Use Beneficial Or Harmful To Mental Health?
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Is Social Media Use Beneficial Or Harmful To Mental Health?
Social Media代写 Social media use is on the rise and this has translated high global connectivity than ever before in history.
Social media use is on the rise and this has translated high global connectivity than ever before in history.
There are almost 3 billion active social media users worldwide and they have become phenomena platforms for advertisements, entertainment, and communication (Clement, 2019). By end of 2018, more than 90 percent of the young population between the age of 18-24 years are in many of the available platforms including the famous ones like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram (Smith & Anderson, 2018). More than 80 percent of them visit the sites daily. The daily consumption of social media has been on the rise on an average of 96 minutes in 2012 to 118 minutes in 2016. In this context, the ever-growing social media popularity, internet connection and number of people joining social platforms, there is a major concern of the user’s mental health such as cognitive, behavioral, and emotional. As a result, social media use has damaging effects on mental health including addiction, self-esteem, and anxiety.
The era of technology has created the behavior of carrying computers in pockets and hands. Social Media代写
Young people want to always be connected to the internet. Data on the internet and other technology use show that over 80 percent of young people visit the social platform every day and regularly in a day (Smith & Anderson, 2018). This is an indication of overuse and hence pose a threat of addiction. The problem of social media addiction has attracted the attention of not only the researchers but also the concerns of older generations close to young people like family and friends. The addiction is caused by operant conditioning (Skinner, 1971). The theory is related to the social media’s positive feedbacks and reactions on the user posts.
The platforms allow us to connect with friends, and famous people and hence lead people to continue using the media. A Facebook Addiction Scale study by Andreassen, Torsheim, Brunborg, and Pallesen (2012) from the University of Bergen measured the addiction scale, tendency scales, and online scalability scale. The research involved 423 young students. It proves the existence of addiction among the student population. The overuse of social platforms has negative implications for the normal daily routine. It interferes with normal sleep and work.
Additionally, social media has a role in shaping the behavior and self-image perception of young people. Social Media代写
Social acceptance is essential for a healthy and happy life. People especially young people define themselves using social acceptance. Self-esteem is how one perceives themselves in comparison with others (Walker, 2016). Social media has become a medium through which people are defining who they are by posting pictures of themselves and expressing through writing comments, likes, and reactions. It is through these posts that people seek validations from followers. This is a way of soliciting acceptance through “like” and “reactions.” This explanation is in line with Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning (Skinner, 1971).
When one follows a model or a famous person or a friend, it is a way of creating a comparison with others. People tend to use filters to edit their pictures to appear beautiful or only post pictures from the best part of their life. This can only happen through comparison with others. It is detrimental to compare ourselves to what one perceives to be perfect. High self-esteem is essential for good mental health and if it lowers, forms of mental illness may develop.
In this regard, Mehdizadeh from York University conducted a study to test the self-esteem of students. Social Media代写
The research found that those with low self-esteem were more likely to self-promote in social media (Mehdizadeh, 2010). However, different research by Gonzales and Hancock provided the participants with a mirror, Facebook account and a controlled setting found that most participants related their positive self-esteem with Facebook profile. The difference in findings is a result of the timely use of social media. Undoubtedly, the continuous exposure to social media for self-evaluation, competition, and comparison is detrimental to self-esteem due to jealousy.
Moreover Social Media代写
The false impression of the physical and personal traits of the people one admires are the triggers of depression due to low self-esteem, jealousy, isolation, addiction, bullying, etc. Chou and Edge (2012) to establish the impact of social media on the perception of other people’s life. A sample of 425 students was shown, social media models. The students were for the opinion that the models are successful and hence life favors the models more than them.
They also found that people with existing depression are more likely to exhibit poor mental health after continuous exposure to social media models. However, this can be refuted by the claim that as long as one is a mindful social media user, routine use may not in itself be a problem and could indeed be a good thing to relieve. Nonetheless, overusing social media to compare one’s life with followers can be demeaning and result in depression.
One the other hand Social Media代写
Human beings are social beings and that strong social networking essential for good mental health (Bekalu, McCloud, & Viswanath, 2019). As such, it can be urged that routine social media is compensation to the missing face-to-face social interactions because of busy lives. As such, it has provided a platform that people over the barriers of distance and time.
Overall
Social media use has resulted in mental health problems such as depression, low self-esteem, addiction. People need to be aware of the time they spend on social sites to avoid these detriments. The mental issues are caused by overexposure to social media use. Being aware of the underlying mental problems will enable people to control social media use.
References Social Media代写
Andreassen, C. S., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G. S., & Pallesen, S. (2012). Development of a Facebook addiction scale. Psychological Reports, 110(2), 501-517.
Bekalu, M. A., McCloud, R. F., & Viswanath, K. (2019). Association of social media uses with social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health: Disentangling routine use from an emotional connection to use. Health Education & Behavior, 46(2_suppl), 69S-80S.
Chou, H. T. G., & Edge, N. (2012). They are happier and having better lives than I am: The impact of using Facebook on perceptions of others’ lives. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(2), 117-121.
Clement, J. (2019, September 4). Social media – Statistics & Facts. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/topics/1164/social-networks/. [accessed on 24 March 2020]
Mehdizadeh, S. (2010). Self-presentation 2.0: Narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking, 13(4), 357-364.
Smith, A., Anderson, M. (2018). Social media use in 2018. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/. [assessed on 24 March 2020]
Skinner, B. F. (1971). Operant conditioning. The encyclopedia of education, 7, 29-33.
Walker, P. (2016, December 22). Facebook makes you unhappy and makes jealous people particularly sad, study finds. Independent. Available from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/facebook-social-media-make-unhappy-jealous-people-particularly-sad-copenhagen-university-study-a7490816.html. [Accessed on 24 March 2020]
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