Title:Influence and Impact of Social media on Adolescent’s physical and mental health

This essay will highlight the influence and impacts of social media on adolescents’ physical and mental health. The studies indicate that physical pastimes reduce mental activity changes that affect various other intrapersonal and interpersonal behaviors.

The topic also considers the several types of social media platforms that have been launched in the past few years. Facebook is currently the most used social media application in the United States of America (Statistica, 2021).

Image 1: Most popular social media apps in the U.S. | Statista. (2021). Retrieved 6 March 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/248074/most-popular-us-social-networking-apps-ranked-by-audience/

Contemporary social media refers to “the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks” ("Social Media Overview - Communications", 2021). This definition includes the methods by which people can interact with each other from all over the world. Content creators’ role in social media is also discussed because we see how users have become creators and the implications of responsibility for content are crucial to understanding.

There are nine types of Social media:

1- Social Networks: “A social networking site is a social media site that allows you to connect with people who have similar interests and backgrounds” ("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021). Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are three of the most popular examples of a social network website.

2- Bookmarking Sites: “Bookmarking sites allow users to save and organize links to any number of online resources and websites” ("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021). There are several examples of bookmarking sites, including Pinterest, Flipboard, and Diggs.

3- Social news platforms include any “site that allows its users to post news links and other items to external articles. Users then proceed to vote on said items, and the items with the highest number of votes are most prominently displayed.” ("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021).

4- Media Sharing websites and applications: “Media sharing allows users to view and republish different types of media, with the two main ones being image sharing and video hosting sites. Most of these sites also offer social features, like the ability to create profiles and the option of commenting on the uploaded images or videos.” ("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021). Examples such as Pinterest, Youtube, and Vimeo are popular.

5- Microblogging: “These are just what they sound like, sites that allow the users to submit their short written entries, which can include links to product and service sites, as well as links to other social media sites .”("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021) Twitter and Facebook are popular examples of people making short stories and publishing these online.

6- Blog comments and forums: “An online forum is a site that lets users engage in conversations by posting and responding to community messages. In comparison, a blog comment site is the same thing except being a little more focused. The comments are usually centered around the specific subject of the attached blog.”("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021).

7- Social Review Sites: “Review sites like TripAdvisor and FourSquare show reviews from community members for all sorts of locations and experiences .”("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021). Examples are TripAdvisor, Yelp, and FourSquare.

8- Community Blogs: “Sometimes all you want to do is share that one message, and really not everyone on the internet wants to invest in running and maintaining a blog from a self-hosted website.” ("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021). Medium and Tumblr provide this option.

9- “Sharing Economy Networks: While it might not occur to you directly, but websites like Airbnb aren't just to find holiday rentals or activities. These sharing economy networks bring people who have got something they want to share with the people who need it.” ("The 6 Types of Social Media You Should Already Know", 2021)

Image 2: Social networks used by teens in the U.S. | Statista. (2021). Retrieved 12 February 2021, fromhttps://www.statista.com/statistics/250172/social-network-usage-of-us-teens-and-young-adults/

Both of the tables above show that most teenagers in the United States of America use Snapchat a lot, and then comes Tik Tok in second place. Instagram comes in third as the most used application in the U.S.

As we all know, social media can be a useful tool for teenagers to keep them connected with their family and friends. Still, they can also be harmful tools for teenagers on their mental and physical health, and these effects might be presented in the long term.

A 2017 report conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health looked at 14-24-year-olds in the UK and how social media impacted their health and wellbeing. The report claimed that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram use all led to increased feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness.” (Ehmke, 2021). With the increased number of teenagers using social media worldwide, cyberbullying has started to rise, and many teenagers experience episodes of it. “Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate, or share content. “Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else, causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.” ("What Is Cyberbullying,” 2021).

A Mayo Clinic study showed that “social media is a significant part of many teenagers' lives. More specifically, the 2018 Pew Research Center survey of nearly 750 13 to 17-year-olds found that 45% are online almost constantly and that 97% use a social media platform, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat” (Woods & Scott, 2016). These statistics are concerning, mostly because people are supposed to be active and historically have been more involved in sports.

As we all know that teenagers spend a lot of time on social media these days, and they also start sharing their photos on all social media platforms, but they don’t know the consequences of it“ This can result in teens being bullied, harassed, or even blackmailed” (Woods & Scott, 2016). Teens have suffered victimization from bullies at school simply because of a posted picture; classmates may harass them, with the student experiencing depression, mood changes, and even suicidal thoughts. A major issue that teens suffer from while using social media is sleep disturbances, “A 2016 study of more than 450 teens found that greater social media use, nighttime social media use and emotional investment in social media — such as feeling upset when prevented from logging on — were each linked with worse sleep quality and higher levels of anxiety and depression.” (Woods & Scott, 2016).

Social media plays a significant role in damaging a teenager’s physical health. A plethora of effects emerge when an adolescent uses social media for extended periods:

1- Eyestrain: Technologies, such as handheld tablets, smartphones, and computers, can hold a person’s attention for long periods. This may lead to eyestrain. Symptoms of digital eye strain can include blurred vision and dry eyes. Eye Strain may also lead to pains in other areas of the body, such as the head, neck, or shoulders (Johnson, 2020). This means that teenagers who spend a lot of time on their phone checking social media might damage their eyes, and their eyes start to be weakened. This activity might also lead to severe headaches.

2- Poor posture: Many technologies promote a “down and forward” user position, meaning the person is hunched forward and looking down at the screen. This can put an unnecessary amount of pressure on the neck and spine (Johnson, 2020). Holding a tablet or mobile phone for a long time places significant pressure on both the arms and neck that will cause teenagers to suffer long-term posture-related issues.

3- Sleep problems: Authors of the Johnson study found that devices’ blue light is enough to disturb the body’s natural circadian rhythm. This disturbance could make it harder to fall asleep or lead to a person feeling less alert the next day (Johnson, 2020). Sleep can be disrupted because teenagers are spending a lot of time at night on social media and not getting enough sleep and which should generally be at least eight hours daily.

4- Reduced physical activity: Most everyday digital technologies are sedentary. More extended use of these technologies promotes a more passive lifestyle, known to have negative health effects, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, and premature death (Johnson, 2020). Physical activity falls with teens sitting on social media. There are solutions for a teenager to prevent himself from having all these issues, such as reducing the amount of time spent on social media and going outdoors to do some physical activity. Having a thirty-minute walk every day will help the person lessen these mental and physical health risks. Walking is also an effective physical activity to reduce risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and increase health benefits (Wattanapisit & Wattanapisit, 2017, p.g.241).

Emotional problems: Pietrangelo looked at the social media use of more than 1,700 young adults between 19 and 32. The researchers found that those with high social media use felt more socially isolated than those who spent less time on social media (Pietrangelo, 2019). Moreover, many people wake up in the morning and immediately check their Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter. On platforms like Instagram, some users feel obligated to edit their posts to fit the terms of “attractiveness.” Users may begin to compare themselves to others and think, “am I good enough?” “am I pretty enough?”(Patel, 2018). Many users see Instagram as a tool to attract others and gain more followers. Before posting their pictures, users edit and think of pithy captions so others can start talking about their photos. Also, some people feel emotional when their image does not get the number of likes they were expected. Social news consumption on Facebook can also trigger invidious emotions such as jealousy and envy (Krasnova et al., 2013, Muise et al., 2009, Tandoc et al., 2014). Some adolescents struggle with their body image; they start to feel sensitive when they consider themselves good-looking or not. Social media is rife with aspirational projections that can exacerbate these feelings.

Excessive use of social media can affect our physical and mental health, but it can also affect our lives in other ways. “While electronic messaging makes communication faster and easier, there can be negative aspects to it, too. It can be tricky to decipher the tone people are utilizing when texting or posting on social media.” (Patel, 2018).

This means that people can be very oblivious to the world just from how they text their friends or from the posts shared on their profiles or other people. Moreover, “Social media causes addiction and affects sleep. Using electronics like cell phones or video games before bedtime can lead to a variety of sleep problems. The result is students who may fall asleep in class or be unable to focus because they are simply too tired.”(Patel, 2018). It is true that school students are very addicted to playing video games late at night and will not be focused 100% in school the next day because they did not get enough sleep their body needs. “Social media is a powerful thing. It can help people across the world connect and inspire people to achieve social change. However, we must also realize the negative implications social media has on our lives. We do not need social media every waking moment, and it is important to realize that you need to foster relations in real-time too, not just via a screen.” (Patel, 2018). People who are addicted to staying on social media for long hours each day think that this is the best time, but simultaneously they don’t believe that their lives are being affected. Such people start to feel lonely and may withdraw from social opportunities because they don’t want to speak to anyone.

In summary and conclusion, the costs associated with social media preoccupation are broad and varied. Extensive screen time and the overbearing presence of unrealistic body ideals on social media, as well as an individual’s physical or body dissatisfaction, can reduce self-esteem and increase stress levels (both of which are proposed to be antecedents to obesity (Rege, 2020). Teens who suffer from low self-esteem or body image distortions might suffer depression compounded by inactivity and the user gaining weight and becoming obese. Physical and mental health issues are commonly reported by habitual users. Common sense suggests the solution would be found in reducing screen-time; by putting the devices down, getting out to exercise, and experiencing the physical world, users of all ages will fend off the degenerative symptoms of maintaining their online social media. Although the pandemic and lockdowns, inclement weather, and fewer opportunities generally to interact with others have reduced of late, even small amounts of physical activity can reduce the risks and preoccupy users with more active pastimes.

References

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