essay on the negative effects of social media

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Social media harms teens’ mental health, mounting evidence shows. what now.

Understanding what is going on in teens’ minds is necessary for targeted policy suggestions

Most teens use social media, often for hours on end. Some social scientists are confident that such use is harming their mental health. Now they want to pinpoint what explains the link.

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By Sujata Gupta

February 20, 2024 at 7:30 am

In January, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, appeared at a congressional hearing to answer questions about how social media potentially harms children. Zuckerberg opened by saying: “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health.”

But many social scientists would disagree with that statement. In recent years, studies have started to show a causal link between teen social media use and reduced well-being or mood disorders, chiefly depression and anxiety.

Ironically, one of the most cited studies into this link focused on Facebook.

Researchers delved into whether the platform’s introduction across college campuses in the mid 2000s increased symptoms associated with depression and anxiety. The answer was a clear yes , says MIT economist Alexey Makarin, a coauthor of the study, which appeared in the November 2022 American Economic Review . “There is still a lot to be explored,” Makarin says, but “[to say] there is no causal evidence that social media causes mental health issues, to that I definitely object.”

The concern, and the studies, come from statistics showing that social media use in teens ages 13 to 17 is now almost ubiquitous. Two-thirds of teens report using TikTok, and some 60 percent of teens report using Instagram or Snapchat, a 2022 survey found. (Only 30 percent said they used Facebook.) Another survey showed that girls, on average, allot roughly 3.4 hours per day to TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, compared with roughly 2.1 hours among boys. At the same time, more teens are showing signs of depression than ever, especially girls ( SN: 6/30/23 ).

As more studies show a strong link between these phenomena, some researchers are starting to shift their attention to possible mechanisms. Why does social media use seem to trigger mental health problems? Why are those effects unevenly distributed among different groups, such as girls or young adults? And can the positives of social media be teased out from the negatives to provide more targeted guidance to teens, their caregivers and policymakers?

“You can’t design good public policy if you don’t know why things are happening,” says Scott Cunningham, an economist at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Increasing rigor

Concerns over the effects of social media use in children have been circulating for years, resulting in a massive body of scientific literature. But those mostly correlational studies could not show if teen social media use was harming mental health or if teens with mental health problems were using more social media.

Moreover, the findings from such studies were often inconclusive, or the effects on mental health so small as to be inconsequential. In one study that received considerable media attention, psychologists Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski combined data from three surveys to see if they could find a link between technology use, including social media, and reduced well-being. The duo gauged the well-being of over 355,000 teenagers by focusing on questions around depression, suicidal thinking and self-esteem.

Digital technology use was associated with a slight decrease in adolescent well-being , Orben, now of the University of Cambridge, and Przybylski, of the University of Oxford, reported in 2019 in Nature Human Behaviour . But the duo downplayed that finding, noting that researchers have observed similar drops in adolescent well-being associated with drinking milk, going to the movies or eating potatoes.

Holes have begun to appear in that narrative thanks to newer, more rigorous studies.

In one longitudinal study, researchers — including Orben and Przybylski — used survey data on social media use and well-being from over 17,400 teens and young adults to look at how individuals’ responses to a question gauging life satisfaction changed between 2011 and 2018. And they dug into how the responses varied by gender, age and time spent on social media.

Social media use was associated with a drop in well-being among teens during certain developmental periods, chiefly puberty and young adulthood, the team reported in 2022 in Nature Communications . That translated to lower well-being scores around ages 11 to 13 for girls and ages 14 to 15 for boys. Both groups also reported a drop in well-being around age 19. Moreover, among the older teens, the team found evidence for the Goldilocks Hypothesis: the idea that both too much and too little time spent on social media can harm mental health.

“There’s hardly any effect if you look over everybody. But if you look at specific age groups, at particularly what [Orben] calls ‘windows of sensitivity’ … you see these clear effects,” says L.J. Shrum, a consumer psychologist at HEC Paris who was not involved with this research. His review of studies related to teen social media use and mental health is forthcoming in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.

Cause and effect

That longitudinal study hints at causation, researchers say. But one of the clearest ways to pin down cause and effect is through natural or quasi-experiments. For these in-the-wild experiments, researchers must identify situations where the rollout of a societal “treatment” is staggered across space and time. They can then compare outcomes among members of the group who received the treatment to those still in the queue — the control group.

That was the approach Makarin and his team used in their study of Facebook. The researchers homed in on the staggered rollout of Facebook across 775 college campuses from 2004 to 2006. They combined that rollout data with student responses to the National College Health Assessment, a widely used survey of college students’ mental and physical health.

The team then sought to understand if those survey questions captured diagnosable mental health problems. Specifically, they had roughly 500 undergraduate students respond to questions both in the National College Health Assessment and in validated screening tools for depression and anxiety. They found that mental health scores on the assessment predicted scores on the screenings. That suggested that a drop in well-being on the college survey was a good proxy for a corresponding increase in diagnosable mental health disorders. 

Compared with campuses that had not yet gained access to Facebook, college campuses with Facebook experienced a 2 percentage point increase in the number of students who met the diagnostic criteria for anxiety or depression, the team found.

When it comes to showing a causal link between social media use in teens and worse mental health, “that study really is the crown jewel right now,” says Cunningham, who was not involved in that research.

A need for nuance

The social media landscape today is vastly different than the landscape of 20 years ago. Facebook is now optimized for maximum addiction, Shrum says, and other newer platforms, such as Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, have since copied and built on those features. Paired with the ubiquity of social media in general, the negative effects on mental health may well be larger now.

Moreover, social media research tends to focus on young adults — an easier cohort to study than minors. That needs to change, Cunningham says. “Most of us are worried about our high school kids and younger.” 

And so, researchers must pivot accordingly. Crucially, simple comparisons of social media users and nonusers no longer make sense. As Orben and Przybylski’s 2022 work suggested, a teen not on social media might well feel worse than one who briefly logs on. 

Researchers must also dig into why, and under what circumstances, social media use can harm mental health, Cunningham says. Explanations for this link abound. For instance, social media is thought to crowd out other activities or increase people’s likelihood of comparing themselves unfavorably with others. But big data studies, with their reliance on existing surveys and statistical analyses, cannot address those deeper questions. “These kinds of papers, there’s nothing you can really ask … to find these plausible mechanisms,” Cunningham says.

One ongoing effort to understand social media use from this more nuanced vantage point is the SMART Schools project out of the University of Birmingham in England. Pedagogical expert Victoria Goodyear and her team are comparing mental and physical health outcomes among children who attend schools that have restricted cell phone use to those attending schools without such a policy. The researchers described the protocol of that study of 30 schools and over 1,000 students in the July BMJ Open.

Goodyear and colleagues are also combining that natural experiment with qualitative research. They met with 36 five-person focus groups each consisting of all students, all parents or all educators at six of those schools. The team hopes to learn how students use their phones during the day, how usage practices make students feel, and what the various parties think of restrictions on cell phone use during the school day.

Talking to teens and those in their orbit is the best way to get at the mechanisms by which social media influences well-being — for better or worse, Goodyear says. Moving beyond big data to this more personal approach, however, takes considerable time and effort. “Social media has increased in pace and momentum very, very quickly,” she says. “And research takes a long time to catch up with that process.”

Until that catch-up occurs, though, researchers cannot dole out much advice. “What guidance could we provide to young people, parents and schools to help maintain the positives of social media use?” Goodyear asks. “There’s not concrete evidence yet.”

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Feb 15, 2023

6 Example Essays on Social Media | Advantages, Effects, and Outlines

Got an essay assignment about the effects of social media we got you covered check out our examples and outlines below.

Social media has become one of our society's most prominent ways of communication and information sharing in a very short time. It has changed how we communicate and has given us a platform to express our views and opinions and connect with others. It keeps us informed about the world around us. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have brought individuals from all over the world together, breaking down geographical borders and fostering a genuinely global community.

However, social media comes with its difficulties. With the rise of misinformation, cyberbullying, and privacy problems, it's critical to utilize these platforms properly and be aware of the risks. Students in the academic world are frequently assigned essays about the impact of social media on numerous elements of our lives, such as relationships, politics, and culture. These essays necessitate a thorough comprehension of the subject matter, critical thinking, and the ability to synthesize and convey information clearly and succinctly.

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We will provide various examples of social media essays so you may get a feel for the genre.

6 Examples of Social Media Essays

Here are 6 examples of Social Media Essays:

The Impact of Social Media on Relationships and Communication

Introduction:.

The way we share information and build relationships has evolved as a direct result of the prevalence of social media in our daily lives. The influence of social media on interpersonal connections and conversation is a hot topic. Although social media has many positive effects, such as bringing people together regardless of physical proximity and making communication quicker and more accessible, it also has a dark side that can affect interpersonal connections and dialogue.

Positive Effects:

Connecting People Across Distances

One of social media's most significant benefits is its ability to connect individuals across long distances. People can use social media platforms to interact and stay in touch with friends and family far away. People can now maintain intimate relationships with those they care about, even when physically separated.

Improved Communication Speed and Efficiency

Additionally, the proliferation of social media sites has accelerated and simplified communication. Thanks to instant messaging, users can have short, timely conversations rather than lengthy ones via email. Furthermore, social media facilitates group communication, such as with classmates or employees, by providing a unified forum for such activities.

Negative Effects:

Decreased Face-to-Face Communication

The decline in in-person interaction is one of social media's most pernicious consequences on interpersonal connections and dialogue. People's reliance on digital communication over in-person contact has increased along with the popularity of social media. Face-to-face interaction has suffered as a result, which has adverse effects on interpersonal relationships and the development of social skills.

Decreased Emotional Intimacy

Another adverse effect of social media on relationships and communication is decreased emotional intimacy. Digital communication lacks the nonverbal cues and facial expressions critical in building emotional connections with others. This can make it more difficult for people to develop close and meaningful relationships, leading to increased loneliness and isolation.

Increased Conflict and Miscommunication

Finally, social media can also lead to increased conflict and miscommunication. The anonymity and distance provided by digital communication can lead to misunderstandings and hurtful comments that might not have been made face-to-face. Additionally, social media can provide a platform for cyberbullying , which can have severe consequences for the victim's mental health and well-being.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the impact of social media on relationships and communication is a complex issue with both positive and negative effects. While social media platforms offer many benefits, such as connecting people across distances and enabling faster and more accessible communication, they also have a dark side that can negatively affect relationships and communication. It is up to individuals to use social media responsibly and to prioritize in-person communication in their relationships and interactions with others.

The Role of Social Media in the Spread of Misinformation and Fake News

Social media has revolutionized the way information is shared and disseminated. However, the ease and speed at which data can be spread on social media also make it a powerful tool for spreading misinformation and fake news. Misinformation and fake news can seriously affect public opinion, influence political decisions, and even cause harm to individuals and communities.

The Pervasiveness of Misinformation and Fake News on Social Media

Misinformation and fake news are prevalent on social media platforms, where they can spread quickly and reach a large audience. This is partly due to the way social media algorithms work, which prioritizes content likely to generate engagement, such as sensational or controversial stories. As a result, false information can spread rapidly and be widely shared before it is fact-checked or debunked.

The Influence of Social Media on Public Opinion

Social media can significantly impact public opinion, as people are likelier to believe the information they see shared by their friends and followers. This can lead to a self-reinforcing cycle, where misinformation and fake news are spread and reinforced, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.

The Challenge of Correcting Misinformation and Fake News

Correcting misinformation and fake news on social media can be a challenging task. This is partly due to the speed at which false information can spread and the difficulty of reaching the same audience exposed to the wrong information in the first place. Additionally, some individuals may be resistant to accepting correction, primarily if the incorrect information supports their beliefs or biases.

In conclusion, the function of social media in disseminating misinformation and fake news is complex and urgent. While social media has revolutionized the sharing of information, it has also made it simpler for false information to propagate and be widely believed. Individuals must be accountable for the information they share and consume, and social media firms must take measures to prevent the spread of disinformation and fake news on their platforms.

The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health and Well-Being

Social media has become an integral part of modern life, with billions of people around the world using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay connected with others and access information. However, while social media has many benefits, it can also negatively affect mental health and well-being.

Comparison and Low Self-Esteem

One of the key ways that social media can affect mental health is by promoting feelings of comparison and low self-esteem. People often present a curated version of their lives on social media, highlighting their successes and hiding their struggles. This can lead others to compare themselves unfavorably, leading to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.

Cyberbullying and Online Harassment

Another way that social media can negatively impact mental health is through cyberbullying and online harassment. Social media provides a platform for anonymous individuals to harass and abuse others, leading to feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression.

Social Isolation

Despite its name, social media can also contribute to feelings of isolation. At the same time, people may have many online friends but need more meaningful in-person connections and support. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and depression.

Addiction and Overuse

Finally, social media can be addictive, leading to overuse and negatively impacting mental health and well-being. People may spend hours each day scrolling through their feeds, neglecting other important areas of their lives, such as work, family, and self-care.

In sum, social media has positive and negative consequences on one's psychological and emotional well-being. Realizing this, and taking measures like reducing one's social media use, reaching out to loved ones for help, and prioritizing one's well-being, are crucial. In addition, it's vital that social media giants take ownership of their platforms and actively encourage excellent mental health and well-being.

The Use of Social Media in Political Activism and Social Movements

Social media has recently become increasingly crucial in political action and social movements. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have given people new ways to express themselves, organize protests, and raise awareness about social and political issues.

Raising Awareness and Mobilizing Action

One of the most important uses of social media in political activity and social movements has been to raise awareness about important issues and mobilize action. Hashtags such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, for example, have brought attention to sexual harassment and racial injustice, respectively. Similarly, social media has been used to organize protests and other political actions, allowing people to band together and express themselves on a bigger scale.

Connecting with like-minded individuals

A second method in that social media has been utilized in political activity and social movements is to unite like-minded individuals. Through social media, individuals can join online groups, share knowledge and resources, and work with others to accomplish shared objectives. This has been especially significant for geographically scattered individuals or those without access to traditional means of political organizing.

Challenges and Limitations

As a vehicle for political action and social movements, social media has faced many obstacles and restrictions despite its many advantages. For instance, the propagation of misinformation and fake news on social media can impede attempts to disseminate accurate and reliable information. In addition, social media corporations have been condemned for censorship and insufficient protection of user rights.

In conclusion, social media has emerged as a potent instrument for political activism and social movements, giving voice to previously unheard communities and galvanizing support for change. Social media presents many opportunities for communication and collaboration. Still, users and institutions must be conscious of the risks and limitations of these tools to promote their responsible and productive usage.

The Potential Privacy Concerns Raised by Social Media Use and Data Collection Practices

With billions of users each day on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, social media has ingrained itself into every aspect of our lives. While these platforms offer a straightforward method to communicate with others and exchange information, they also raise significant concerns over data collecting and privacy. This article will examine the possible privacy issues posed by social media use and data-gathering techniques.

Data Collection and Sharing

The gathering and sharing of personal data are significant privacy issues brought up by social media use. Social networking sites gather user data, including details about their relationships, hobbies, and routines. This information is made available to third-party businesses for various uses, such as marketing and advertising. This can lead to serious concerns about who has access to and uses our personal information.

Lack of Control Over Personal Information

The absence of user control over personal information is a significant privacy issue brought up by social media usage. Social media makes it challenging to limit who has access to and how data is utilized once it has been posted. Sensitive information may end up being extensively disseminated and may be used maliciously as a result.

Personalized Marketing

Social media companies utilize the information they gather about users to target them with adverts relevant to their interests and usage patterns. Although this could be useful, it might also cause consumers to worry about their privacy since they might feel that their personal information is being used without their permission. Furthermore, there are issues with the integrity of the data being used to target users and the possibility of prejudice based on individual traits.

Government Surveillance

Using social media might spark worries about government surveillance. There are significant concerns regarding privacy and free expression when governments in some nations utilize social media platforms to follow and monitor residents.

In conclusion, social media use raises significant concerns regarding data collecting and privacy. While these platforms make it easy to interact with people and exchange information, they also gather a lot of personal information, which raises questions about who may access it and how it will be used. Users should be aware of these privacy issues and take precautions to safeguard their personal information, such as exercising caution when choosing what details to disclose on social media and keeping their information sharing with other firms to a minimum.

The Ethical and Privacy Concerns Surrounding Social Media Use And Data Collection

Our use of social media to communicate with loved ones, acquire information, and even conduct business has become a crucial part of our everyday lives. The extensive use of social media does, however, raise some ethical and privacy issues that must be resolved. The influence of social media use and data collecting on user rights, the accountability of social media businesses, and the need for improved regulation are all topics that will be covered in this article.

Effect on Individual Privacy:

Social networking sites gather tons of personal data from their users, including delicate information like search history, location data, and even health data. Each user's detailed profile may be created with this data and sold to advertising or used for other reasons. Concerns regarding the privacy of personal information might arise because social media businesses can use this data to target users with customized adverts.

Additionally, individuals might need to know how much their personal information is being gathered and exploited. Data breaches or the unauthorized sharing of personal information with other parties may result in instances where sensitive information is exposed. Users should be aware of the privacy rules of social media firms and take precautions to secure their data.

Responsibility of Social Media Companies:

Social media firms should ensure that they responsibly and ethically gather and use user information. This entails establishing strong security measures to safeguard sensitive information and ensuring users are informed of what information is being collected and how it is used.

Many social media businesses, nevertheless, have come under fire for not upholding these obligations. For instance, the Cambridge Analytica incident highlighted how Facebook users' personal information was exploited for political objectives without their knowledge. This demonstrates the necessity of social media corporations being held responsible for their deeds and ensuring that they are safeguarding the security and privacy of their users.

Better Regulation Is Needed

There is a need for tighter regulation in this field, given the effect, social media has on individual privacy as well as the obligations of social media firms. The creation of laws and regulations that ensure social media companies are gathering and using user information ethically and responsibly, as well as making sure users are aware of their rights and have the ability to control the information that is being collected about them, are all part of this.

Additionally, legislation should ensure that social media businesses are held responsible for their behavior, for example, by levying fines for data breaches or the unauthorized use of personal data. This will provide social media businesses with a significant incentive to prioritize their users' privacy and security and ensure they are upholding their obligations.

In conclusion, social media has fundamentally changed how we engage and communicate with one another, but this increased convenience also raises several ethical and privacy issues. Essential concerns that need to be addressed include the effect of social media on individual privacy, the accountability of social media businesses, and the requirement for greater regulation to safeguard user rights. We can make everyone's online experience safer and more secure by looking more closely at these issues.

In conclusion, social media is a complex and multifaceted topic that has recently captured the world's attention. With its ever-growing influence on our lives, it's no surprise that it has become a popular subject for students to explore in their writing. Whether you are writing an argumentative essay on the impact of social media on privacy, a persuasive essay on the role of social media in politics, or a descriptive essay on the changes social media has brought to the way we communicate, there are countless angles to approach this subject.

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• Open access
• Published: 06 July 2023

Pros & cons: impacts of social media on mental health

• Ágnes Zsila 1 , 2 &
• Marc Eric S. Reyes   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5280-1315 3  

BMC Psychology volume  11 , Article number:  201 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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The use of social media significantly impacts mental health. It can enhance connection, increase self-esteem, and improve a sense of belonging. But it can also lead to tremendous stress, pressure to compare oneself to others, and increased sadness and isolation. Mindful use is essential to social media consumption.

Social media has become integral to our daily routines: we interact with family members and friends, accept invitations to public events, and join online communities to meet people who share similar preferences using these platforms. Social media has opened a new avenue for social experiences since the early 2000s, extending the possibilities for communication. According to recent research [ 1 ], people spend 2.3 h daily on social media. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have become increasingly popular among youth in 2022, and one-third think they spend too much time on these platforms [ 2 ]. The considerable time people spend on social media worldwide has directed researchers’ attention toward the potential benefits and risks. Research shows excessive use is mainly associated with lower psychological well-being [ 3 ]. However, findings also suggest that the quality rather than the quantity of social media use can determine whether the experience will enhance or deteriorate the user’s mental health [ 4 ]. In this collection, we will explore the impact of social media use on mental health by providing comprehensive research perspectives on positive and negative effects.

Social media can provide opportunities to enhance the mental health of users by facilitating social connections and peer support [ 5 ]. Indeed, online communities can provide a space for discussions regarding health conditions, adverse life events, or everyday challenges, which may decrease the sense of stigmatization and increase belongingness and perceived emotional support. Mutual friendships, rewarding social interactions, and humor on social media also reduced stress during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 4 ].

On the other hand, several studies have pointed out the potentially detrimental effects of social media use on mental health. Concerns have been raised that social media may lead to body image dissatisfaction [ 6 ], increase the risk of addiction and cyberbullying involvement [ 5 ], contribute to phubbing behaviors [ 7 ], and negatively affects mood [ 8 ]. Excessive use has increased loneliness, fear of missing out, and decreased subjective well-being and life satisfaction [ 8 ]. Users at risk of social media addiction often report depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem [ 9 ].

Overall, findings regarding the impact of social media on mental health pointed out some essential resources for psychological well-being through rewarding online social interactions. However, there is a need to raise awareness about the possible risks associated with excessive use, which can negatively affect mental health and everyday functioning [ 9 ]. There is neither a negative nor positive consensus regarding the effects of social media on people. However, by teaching people social media literacy, we can maximize their chances of having balanced, safe, and meaningful experiences on these platforms [ 10 ].

We encourage researchers to submit their research articles and contribute to a more differentiated overview of the impact of social media on mental health. BMC Psychology welcomes submissions to its new collection, which promises to present the latest findings in the emerging field of social media research. We seek research papers using qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on social media users’ positive and negative aspects. We believe this collection will provide a more comprehensive picture of social media’s positive and negative effects on users’ mental health.

Data Availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

Ágnes Zsila was supported by the ÚNKP-22-4 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

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Institute of Psychology, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary

Ágnes Zsila

Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

Department of Psychology, College of Science, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, 1008, Philippines

Marc Eric S. Reyes

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AZ conceived and drafted the Editorial. MESR wrote the abstract and revised the Editorial. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Marc Eric S. Reyes .

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How Does Social Media Affect Your Mental Health?

Facebook has delayed the development of an Instagram app for children amid questions about its harmful effects on young people’s mental health. Does social media have an impact on your well-being?

By Nicole Daniels

What is your relationship with social media like? Which platforms do you spend the most time on? Which do you stay away from? How often do you log on?

What do you notice about your mental health and well-being when spending time on social networks?

In “ Facebook Delays Instagram App for Users 13 and Younger ,” Adam Satariano and Ryan Mac write about the findings of an internal study conducted by Facebook and what they mean for the Instagram Kids app that the company was developing:

Facebook said on Monday that it had paused development of an Instagram Kids service that would be tailored for children 13 years old or younger, as the social network increasingly faces questions about the app’s effect on young people’s mental health. The pullback preceded a congressional hearing this week about internal research conducted by Facebook , and reported in The Wall Street Journal , that showed the company knew of the harmful mental health effects that Instagram was having on teenage girls. The revelations have set off a public relations crisis for the Silicon Valley company and led to a fresh round of calls for new regulation. Facebook said it still wanted to build an Instagram product intended for children that would have a more “age appropriate experience,” but was postponing the plans in the face of criticism.

The article continues:

With Instagram Kids, Facebook had argued that young people were using the photo-sharing app anyway, despite age-requirement rules, so it would be better to develop a version more suitable for them. Facebook said the “kids” app was intended for ages 10 to 12 and would require parental permission to join, forgo ads and carry more age-appropriate content and features. Parents would be able to control what accounts their child followed. YouTube, which Google owns, has released a children’s version of its app. But since BuzzFeed broke the news this year that Facebook was working on the app, the company has faced scrutiny. Policymakers, regulators, child safety groups and consumer rights groups have argued that it hooks children on the app at a younger age rather than protecting them from problems with the service, including child predatory grooming, bullying and body shaming.

The article goes on to quote Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram:

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Is social media use bad for young people’s mental health? It’s complicated.

July 17, 2023 – On May 23, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning about the potential dangers of social media for the mental health of children and teens . Laura Marciano , postdoctoral research fellow at the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness and in the  Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says that social media use might be detrimental for young people’s well-being but can also have positive effects.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Surgeon General’s advisory?

A: The advisory highlighted compelling evidence published during the last decade on the potential harmful impact of social media on children and adolescents. Some of what young people experience online—including cyberbullying, online harassment and abuse, predatory behaviors, and exposure to violent, sexual, and hate-based content—can undoubtedly be negative. But social media experiences are not limited to these types of content.

Much of the scientific literature on the effects of social media use has focused on negative outcomes. But the link between social media use and young people’s mental health is complicated. Literature reviews show that study results are mixed: Associations between social media use and well-being can be positive, negative, and even largely null when advanced data analyses are carried out, and the size of the effects is small. And positive and negative effects can co-exist in the same individual. We are still discovering how to compare the effect size of social media use with the effects of other behavioral habits—such as physical activity, sleep, food consumption, life events, and time spent in offline social connections—and psychological processes happening offline. We are also still studying how social media use may be linked positively with well-being.

It’s important to note that many of the existing studies relied on data from people living in so-called WEIRD countries (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic), thus leaving out the majority of the worldwide population living in the Global South. In addition, we know that populations like minorities, people experiencing health disparities and chronic health conditions , and international students can find social media extremely helpful for creating and maintaining social communities to which they feel they belong.

A number of large cohort studies have measured social media use according to time spent on various platforms. But it’s important to consider not just time spent, but whether that time is displacing time for other activities promoting well-being, like physical activity and sleep. Finally, the effects of social media use are idiosyncratic, meaning that each child and adolescent might be affected differently, which makes it difficult to generalize about the effects.

Literature reviews on interventions limiting social media use present a more balanced picture. For example, one comprehensive review on the effects of digital detox—refraining from using devices such as smartphones—wasn’t able to draw any clear conclusions about whether such detox could be effective at promoting a healthy way of life in the digital era, because the findings were mixed and contradictory.

Q: What has your research found regarding the potential risks and benefits of social media use among young people?

A: In my work with Prof. Vish Viswanath , we have summarized all the papers on how social media use is related to positive well-being measures, to balance the ongoing bias of the literature on negative outcomes such as depression and anxiety. We found both positive and negative correlations between different social media activities and well-being. The most consistent results show a link between social media activities and hedonic well-being (positive emotions) and social well-being. We also found that social comparison—such as comparing how many likes you have with how many someone else has, or comparing yourself to digitally enhanced images online—drives the negative correlation with well-being.

Meanwhile, I am working on the “ HappyB ” project, a longitudinal project based in Switzerland, through which I have collected data from more than 1,500 adolescents on their smartphone and social media use and well-being. In a recent study using that cohort, we looked at how social media use affects flourishing , a construct that encompasses happiness, meaning and purpose, physical and mental health, character, close social relationships, and financial stability. We found that certain positive social media experiences are associated with flourishing. In particular, having someone to talk to online when feeling lonely was the item most related to well-being. That is not surprising, considering that happiness is related to the quality of social connections.

Our data suggest that homing in on the psychological processes triggered during social media use is key to determining links with well-being. For example, we should consider if a young person feels appreciated and part of a group in a particular online conversation. Such information can help us shed light on the dynamics that shape young people’s well-being through digital activities.

In our research, we work to account for the fact that social media time is a sedentary behavior. We need to consider that any behavior that risks diminishing the time spent on physical activity and sleep—crucial components of brain development and well-being—might be detrimental. Interestingly, some studies suggest that spending a short amount of time using social media, around 1-2 hours, is beneficial, but—as with any extreme behavior—it can cause harm if the time spent online dominates a child’s or adolescent’s day.

It’s also important to consider how long the effects of social media last. Social media use may have small ephemeral effects that can accumulate over time. A step for future research is to disentangle short- versus long-term effects and how long each last. In addition, we should better understand how digital media usage affects the adolescent brain. Colleagues and I have summarized existing neuroscientific studies on the topic, but more multidisciplinary research is needed.

Q: What are some steps you’d recommend to make social media use safer for kids?

A: I’ll use a metaphor to answer this question. Is a car safe for someone that is not able to drive? To drive safely, we need to learn how to accelerate, recognize road signs, make safe decisions according to certain rules, and wear safety belts. Similarly, to use social media safely, I think we as a society—including schools, educators, and health providers—should provide children and families with clear, science-based information on both its positive and negative potential impacts.

We can also ask social media companies to pay more attention to how some features—such as the number of “likes”—can modulate adolescent brain activity, and to think about ways to limit negative effects. We might even ask adolescents to advise designers on how to create social media platforms specifically for them. It would be extremely valuable to ask them which features would be best for them and which ones they would like to avoid. I think that co-designing apps and conducting research with the young people who use the platforms is a crucial step.

For parents, my suggestion is to communicate with your children and promote a climate of safety and empathy when it comes to social media use. Try to use these platforms along with them, for example by explaining how a platform works and commenting on the content. Also, I would encourage schools and parents to collaborate on sharing information with young people about social media and well-being.

Also, to offset children’s sedentary time spent on social media, parents could offer them alternative extracurricular activities to provide some balance. But it’s important to remember that social well-being depends on the quality of social connections, and that social media can help to promote this kind of well-being. So I’d recommend trying to keep what is good—according to my research that would include instant messaging, the chance to talk to people when someone is feeling lonely, and funny or inspirational content—and minimizing what’s negative, such as too much sedentary time or too much time spent on social comparison.

– Karen Feldscher

Positive & Negative Effects of Social Media on Teens Essay

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Introduction

Positive effects of social media, negative effects of social media.

In the twenty-first century, many teenagers spend their free time on social networks, which are an integral part of human life today. Scientists are still arguing about the harm and benefits of social media on teenagers. The environment of modern man, in which socialization takes place, has changed significantly. Nowadays, the younger generation spends more time on social networks.

For teenagers, the social network has become a tool for self-expression. Communication is no longer limited to a certain circle of people with whom the teenager contacts physically. Therefore, the topic raises a serious problem: the socialization of a teenager under the influence of the Internet environment. This paper reveals the positive and negative aspects of the influence of social networks on the younger generation.

Self-Development

Social networks have everything a teenager needs for self-development. Many groups are directly related to studying. In order not to miss new publications, it is enough to enable notifications. The variety of groups in social networks is so great that every teenager will be able to find something for themselves, ranging from culinary recipes to international politics.

There is also a large database of videos and music files on social networks, among which one can find rare or necessary book copies. On the web, teenagers can get information that is significant for education. For example, Facebook is the largest repository of audio, video, and photo materials on many academic subjects that can be listened to, viewed, and downloaded (Nisar et al., 2019). In addition, a social network is a quick transfer or dissemination of information about the school, class, events, and student news.

The network provides an excellent opportunity to promote oneself as a person. Teenagers can try to start their own business or engage in blogging. They can also write books or stories on social networks, try to earn money, or realize their strengths in SMM (Pouwels et al., 2021). Social networks attract with their ability to express themselves, to acquaint everyone with their talents, hobbies, and achievements. Some post the results of their creativity – poems, songs, music, and videos.

Finding Friends

Communication has been simplified to the maximum level; nowadays, the huge distance between people is no longer a hindrance to their communication. It is enough to have a computer or laptop connected to the Internet, and special software that makes it possible to communicate, hear and see each other. Therefore, due to social networks, teenagers can stay in touch with friends who live at a great distance. There is a video call function that only requires the Internet. Teenagers can chat with friends without spending money on the balance.

In social networks, one can easily find people: when registering on a social network, the user provides their first and last name, as well as other data – age, educational institutions, contact phone numbers. This allows teenagers to find any person in a matter of seconds, provided that they have provided reliable information about themselves. However, social networks help not only to be aware of the lives of friends, acquaintances, and classmates.

Teenagers can also look for like-minded people online (Nisar et al., 2019). There are many important groups where people can share their accumulated experience or their views on life. The network makes it possible to find friends, familiar classmates, and insecure teenagers to feel in demand (Pouwels et al., 2021). It makes new acquaintances without fear that there may be nothing to talk about with this person in the future. By joining interest groups, a teenager is not afraid that they might be rejected.

The ability to find friends is also associated with psychological comfort. Teenagers can say much more online than in real life, and not feel uncomfortable at the same time: they have time to formulate thoughts more clearly and express them most accurately (Pouwels et al., 2021). The Internet has the opportunity to follow the life of idols, to know what they are doing and what new things have happened to them. Friends can also watch the user, so one does not need to tell everyone about an important event, it is enough to share it on social networks. Thus, teenagers have the opportunity to realize themselves in the eyes of friends and acquaintances.

Physical & Mental Health

The properties of social networks have a negative impact when a teenager uses them non-stop. The flow of news, the change of emotions, impressions, and the solution of multi-level tasks lead to fatigue and harm to health. The radiation of the monitor has a detrimental effect on the retina of the eyes (Byrne et al., 2018). Many teenagers do not understand that most of the visitors of social networks embellish their reality. Perceiving the virtual image as reality, an inferiority complex is created. This perception affects self-esteem and harms the psyche. As a result, the body gets stressed, and the teenager is at risk of depression.

A constant presence in social networks develops the habit of receiving information in portions of the brain. Several processes are going on at the same time: listening to music, viewing photos, writing comments, and reading news. As a result, there is a decrease in the concentration of attention, and the teenager’s body is harmed (Charoensukmongkol, 2018). The term hyperactivity, well-known in psychology, accurately defines the state of a teenager. They cannot concentrate on one task, useful material is not assimilated, and the effectiveness of education decreases.

Social networks have a significant impact on the psyche of a teenager. A person needs constant recognition as a person for harmonious development. Before the advent of social networks, people had to constantly work on themselves to prove their worth. With the appearance of social media, everything has become simpler: it is enough to post a photo or video and one can collect likes. Having received approval on social networks, the user experiences a kind of euphoria (Byrne et al., 2018). Gradually, the teenager develops an addiction: the first thing their morning starts with is viewing their account. If there is free time during the day, they also constantly visit their page, spending too much time online.

Communication

Teenagers want to use easy ways to have fun, interaction in social networks is reduced to affixing likes, and correspondence is saturated with emoticons and abbreviations. For example, a story about one’s mood shortens to sending a smiley face. This way of communication becomes a habit, becomes the norm, and is used in everyday life. It is difficult for active visitors of social networks to rebuild their relationships into generally accepted forms (Szabla & Blommaert, 2020). This becomes an obstacle to a full-fledged dialogue, since people who are far from computer slang hardly understand such a narrative.

The presentation of information on the Internet occurs in such a way that, having the intention to view the weather forecast, the user is forced to close pop-up windows with advertisements, news blocks, or links to various sites. Many teenagers cannot cope with this task: all this attracts their attention and distracts them from the search (Charoensukmongkol, 2018). A teenager receives a stream of unnecessary information. If they do not control this process and do not block the excess, the brain is overloaded, fatigue accumulates, irritation and the body is harmed.

By texting, people lose the skills of real communication; in social networks, words and feelings that are transmitted through personal contact lose their meaning. It becomes easy to hide experiences or fake emotions (Szabla & Blommaert, 2020). A teenager addicted to social networks misjudges people and does not feel responsible. They become capable of insulting an opponent and causing harm without experiencing any remorse or empathy.

With the development of Internet technologies, the world has changed a lot, and it also changed the way of thinking of young people. Undoubtedly, it is possible to highlight numerous advantages of social networks. These are freely available groups where teenagers can find like-minded people, keep up to date with the latest developments, find a new hobby, develop their skills in some endeavor or relax by browsing interesting communities. However, social networks not only have a positive impact on a teenager but can also cause harm. It is associated with the distortion of reality in social networks, information overload, and a change like live communication. It is impossible to eliminate the negative impact of the use of social networks, however, by maintaining a balance, they can be minimized.

Byrne, E., Vessey, J. A., & Pfeifer, L. (2018). Cyberbullying and social media: Information and interventions for school nurses working with victims, students, and families. The Journal of School Nursing, 34 (1), 28-39.

Charoensukmongkol, P. (2018). The impact of social media on social comparison and envy in teenagers: The moderating role of the parent comparing children and in-group competition among friends. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27 (3), 69-79.

Nisar, T. M., Prabhakar, G., & Strakova, L. (2019). Social media information benefits, knowledge management and smart organizations. Journal of Business Research, 94 (7), 264-272.

Pouwels, J. L., Valkenburg, P. M., Beyens, I., Driel, I. I., & Keijsers, L. (2021). Some socially poor but also some socially rich adolescents feel closer to their friends after using social media. Scientific Reports, 11 (1), 9-13.

Szabla, M., & Blommaert, J. (2020). Does context really collapse in social media interaction? Applied Linguistics Review, 11 (2), 251-279.

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Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory [Internet]. Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services; 2023.

Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory [Internet].

Social media has both positive and negative impacts on children and adolescents.

The influence of social media on youth mental health is shaped by many complex factors, including, but not limited to, the amount of time children and adolescents spend on platforms, the type of content they consume or are otherwise exposed to, the activities and interactions social media affords, and the degree to which it disrupts activities that are essential for health like sleep and physical activity. 6 Importantly, different children and adolescents are affected by social media in different ways, based on their individual strengths and vulnerabilities, and based on cultural, historical, and socio-economic factors. 7 , 8 There is broad agreement among the scientific community that social media has the potential to both benefit and harm children and adolescents. 6 , 9

Brain development is a critical factor to consider when assessing the risk for harm. Adolescents, ages 10 to 19, are undergoing a highly sensitive period of brain development. 10 , 11 This is a period when risk-taking behaviors reach their peak, when well-being experiences the greatest fluctuations, and when mental health challenges such as depression typically emerge. 12 , 13 , 14 Furthermore, in early adolescence, when identities and sense of self-worth are forming, brain development is especially susceptible to social pressures, peer opinions, and peer comparison. 11 , 13 Frequent social media use may be associated with distinct changes in the developing brain in the amygdala (important for emotional learning and behavior) and the prefrontal cortex (important for impulse control, emotional regulation, and moderating social behavior), and could increase sensitivity to social rewards and punishments. 15 , 16 As such, adolescents may experience heightened emotional sensitivity to the communicative and interactive nature of social media. 16 Adolescent social media use is predictive of a subsequent decrease in life satisfaction for certain developmental stages including for girls 11–13 years old and boys 14–15 years old. 17 Because adolescence is a vulnerable period of brain development, social media exposure during this period warrants additional scrutiny.

• The Potential Benefits of Social Media Use Among Children and Adolescents

Social media can provide benefits for some youth by providing positive community and connection with others who share identities, abilities, and interests. It can provide access to important information and create a space for self-expression. 9 The ability to form and maintain friendships online and develop social connections are among the positive effects of social media use for youth. 18 , 19 These relationships can afford opportunities to have positive interactions with more diverse peer groups than are available to them offline and can provide important social support to youth. 18 The buffering effects against stress that online social support from peers may provide can be especially important for youth who are often marginalized, including racial, ethnic, and sexual and gender minorities. 20 , 21 , 22 For example, studies have shown that social media may support the mental health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other youths by enabling peer connection, identity development and management, and social support. 23 Seven out of ten adolescent girls of color report encountering positive or identity-affirming content related to race across social media platforms. 24 A majority of adolescents report that social media helps them feel more accepted (58%), like they have people who can support them through tough times (67%), like they have a place to show their creative side (71%), and more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives (80%). 25 In addition, research suggests that social media-based and other digitally-based mental health interventions may also be helpful for some children and adolescents by promoting help-seeking behaviors and serving as a gateway to initiating mental health care. 8 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29

• The Potential Harms of Social Media Use Among Children and Adolescents

Over the last decade, evidence has emerged identifying reasons for concern about the potential negative impact of social media on children and adolescents.

A longitudinal cohort study of U.S. adolescents aged 12–15 (n=6,595) that adjusted for baseline mental health status found that adolescents who spent more than 3 hours per day on social media faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes including symptoms of depression and anxiety. 30

As of 2021, 8th and 10th graders now spend an average of 3.5 hours per day on social media. 31 In a unique natural experiment that leveraged the staggered introduction of a social media platform across U.S. colleges, the roll-out of the platform was associated with an increase in depression (9% over baseline) and anxiety (12% over baseline) among college-aged youth (n = 359,827 observations). 32 The study’s co-author also noted that when applied across the entirety of the U.S. college population, the introduction of the social media platform may have contributed to more than 300,000 new cases of depression. 32 , 33 If such sizable effects occurred in college-aged youth, these findings raise serious concerns about the risk of harm from social media exposure for children and adolescents who are at a more vulnerable stage of brain development.

Limits on the use of social media have resulted in mental health benefits for young adults and adults. A small, randomized controlled trial in college-aged youth found that limiting social media use to 30 minutes daily over three weeks led to significant improvements in depression severity. 34 This effect was particularly large for those with high baseline levels of depression who saw an improvement in depression scores by more than 35%. 35 Another randomized controlled trial among young adults and adults found that deactivation of a social media platform for four weeks improved subjective well-being (i.e., self-reported happiness, life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety) by about 25–40% of the effect of psychological interventions like self-help therapy, group training, and individual therapy. 36

In addition to these recent studies, correlational research on associations between social media use and mental health has indicated reason for concern and further investigation. These studies point to a higher relative concern of harm in adolescent girls and those already experiencing poor mental health, 37 , 38 , 39 as well as for particular health outcomes like cyberbullying-related depression, 40 body image and disordered eating behaviors, 41 and poor sleep quality linked to social media use. 42 For example, a study conducted among 14-year-olds (n = 10,904) found that greater social media use predicted poor sleep, online harassment, poor body image, low self-esteem, and higher depressive symptom scores with a larger association for girls than boys. 43 A majority of parents of adolescents say they are somewhat, very, or extremely worried that their child’s use of social media could lead to problems with anxiety or depression (53%), lower self-esteem (54%), being harassed or bullied by others (54%), feeling pressured to act a certain way (59%), and exposure to explicit content (71%). 44

Unless otherwise noted in the text, all material appearing in this work is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Citation of the source is appreciated.

• Cite this Page Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory [Internet]. Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services; 2023. Social Media Has Both Positive and Negative Impacts on Children and Adolescents.
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Just How Harmful Is Social Media? Our Experts Weigh-In.

A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook was aware of mental health risks linked to the use of its Instagram app but kept those findings secret. Internal research by the social media giant found that Instagram worsened body image issues for one in three teenage girls, and all teenage users of the app linked it to experiences of anxiety and depression. It isn’t the first evidence of social media’s harms. Watchdog groups have identified Facebook and Instagram as avenues for cyberbullying , and reports have linked TikTok to dangerous and antisocial behavior, including a recent spate of school vandalism .

As social media has proliferated worldwide—Facebook has 2.85 billion users—so too have concerns over how the platforms are affecting individual and collective wellbeing. Social media is criticized for being addictive by design and for its role in the spread of misinformation on critical issues from vaccine safety to election integrity, as well as the rise of right-wing extremism. Social media companies, and many users, defend the platforms as avenues for promoting creativity and community-building. And some research has pushed back against the idea that social media raises the risk for depression in teens . So just how healthy or unhealthy is social media?

Two experts from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia Psychiatry share their insights into one crucial aspect of social media’s influence—its effect on the mental health of young people and adults. Deborah Glasofer , associate professor of psychology in psychiatry, conducts psychotherapy development research for adults with eating disorders and teaches about cognitive behavioral therapy. She is the co-author of the book Eating Disorders: What Everyone Needs to Know. Claude Mellins , Professor of medical psychology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Sociomedical Sciences, studies wellbeing among college and graduate students, among other topics, and serves as program director of CopeColumbia, a peer support program for Columbia faculty and staff whose mental health has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. She co-led the SHIFT research study to reduce sexual violence among undergraduates. Both use social media.

What do we know about the mental health risks of social media use?

Mellins : Facebook and Instagram and other social media platforms are important sources of socialization and relationship-building for many young people. Although there are important benefits, social media can also provide platforms for bullying and exclusion, unrealistic expectations about body image and sources of popularity, normalization of risk-taking behaviors, and can be detrimental to mental health. Girls and young people who identify as sexual and gender minorities can be especially vulnerable as targets. Young people’s brains are still developing, and as individuals, young people are developing their own identities. What they see on social media can define what is expected in ways that is not accurate and that can be destructive to identity development and self-image. Adolescence is a time of risk-taking, which is both a strength and a vulnerability. Social media can exacerbate risks, as we have seen played out in the news. 

Although there are important benefits, social media can also provide platforms for bullying and exclusion, unrealistic expectations about body image and sources of popularity, normalization of risk-taking behaviors, and can be detrimental to mental health. – Claude Mellins

Glasofer : For those vulnerable to developing an eating disorder, social media may be especially unhelpful because it allows people to easily compare their appearance to their friends, to celebrities, even older images of themselves. Research tells us that how much someone engages with photo-related activities like posting and sharing photos on Facebook or Instagram is associated with less body acceptance and more obsessing about appearance. For adolescent girls in particular, the more time they spend on social media directly relates to how much they absorb the idea that being thin is ideal, are driven to try to become thin, and/or overly scrutinize their own bodies. Also, if someone is vulnerable to an eating disorder, they may be especially attracted to seeking out unhelpful information—which is all too easy to find on social media.

Are there any upsides to social media?

Mellins : For young people, social media provides a platform to help them figure out who they are. For very shy or introverted young people, it can be a way to meet others with similar interests. During the pandemic, social media made it possible for people to connect in ways when in-person socialization was not possible.  Social support and socializing are critical influences on coping and resilience. Friends we couldn’t see in person were available online and allowed us important points of connection. On the other hand, fewer opportunities for in-person interactions with friends and family meant less of a real-world check on some of the negative influences of social media.

Whether it’s social media or in person, a good peer group makes the difference. A group of friends that connects over shared interests like art or music, and is balanced in their outlook on eating and appearance, is a positive. – Deborah Glasofer

Glasofer : Whether it’s social media or in person, a good peer group makes the difference. A group of friends that connects over shared interests like art or music, and is balanced in their outlook on eating and appearance, is a positive. In fact, a good peer group online may be protective against negative in-person influences. For those with a history of eating disorders, there are body-positive and recovery groups on social media. Some people find these groups to be supportive; for others, it’s more beneficial to move on and pursue other interests.

Is there a healthy way to be on social media?

Mellins : If you feel social media is a negative experience, you might need a break. Disengaging with social media permanently is more difficult­—especially for young people. These platforms are powerful tools for connecting and staying up-to-date with friends and family. Social events, too. If you’re not on social media then you’re reliant on your friends to reach out to you personally, which doesn’t always happen. It’s complicated.

Glasofer : When you find yourself feeling badly about yourself in relation to what other people are posting about themselves, then social media is not doing you any favors. If there is anything on social media that is negatively affecting your actions or your choices­—for example, if you’re starting to eat restrictively or exercise excessively—then it’s time to reassess. Parents should check-in with their kids about their lives on social media. In general, I recommend limiting social media— creating boundaries that are reasonable and work for you—so you can be present with people in your life. I also recommend social media vacations. It’s good to take the time to notice the difference between the virtual world and the real world.

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The Impact of Social Media on Teens' Mental Health

Social media has some good intentions: connecting you with people all around the world, showing you content you are interested in, and providing endless entertainment. But there are also negative consequences to endless scrolling. Research has shown that young adults who use social media are three times as likely to suffer from depression , putting a large portion of the population at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. 

In the U.S., suicide rates have declined slightly since 2019, but it continues to be a serious concern among our younger generation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of suicides in females aged 15-24 increased 87 percent over the past 20 years. And among males aged 15-24, the number of suicides rose by 30 percent over that same time period. 

Almost every teen now has an account on at least one social media platform. They use social media to reach out to friends, share experiences, and tell the world about themselves. However, without realizing it, they are managing an addiction. 

Jessica Holzbauer , a licensed clinical social worker at Huntsman Mental Health Institute , explains how our smartphones are, by design, addictive. “We get a dopamine release in our brain when we pick up our phone or log into social media,” she says. Using social apps is essentially priming your brain into thinking you are rewarding yourself every time you pick up your device. 

Negative Impacts of Social Media

Is it true that using social apps could negatively affect your mental health? 

“In short, yes, social media can have negative consequences for our mental health,” Holzbauer says. “The younger generation grew up with social media and the ability to see anything, anytime, anywhere. Our ability to tolerate the distress of waiting has been eroded because we can Google the answer to almost any question. We no longer have to wait to know who was the actor that played Ron Burgundy in Anchorman or where to find the nearest library.” 

In many ways, social media has removed the barriers between the user and the audience—with far-reaching implications. “We can act on impulse and post something to social media that may reflect a feeling or thought in the moment but may not be true to us a day later,” Holzbauer says. “When our more level-headed self is back in charge, we can feel embarrassment, shame, or regret for posting something impulsively.” 

We also know that content can be filtered, edited, and manipulated before it’s posted, which can lead to unattainable standards being broadcast to the entire world for anyone to see. Users are obsessed with instant gratification and in some instances base their worth or image off the images they see and the amount of likes they receive on their post. 

“The information teens are putting out is one factor—another is the information they are taking in,” Holzbauer says. “Social media is giving them access to images, people, and ideas they otherwise would not be able to access. This can be a very positive thing, but we know it can also have negative consequences.” 

A recent study from Facebook found Instagram to have harmful effects among a portion of its millions of young users, particularly teenage girls. Findings indicated that Instagram makes body image issues worse for one in three teenage girls. And among teenagers who reported suicidal thoughts, 6 percent in the U.S. traced them back to Instagram. 

Warning Signs Your Teen Is Struggling

This is not to say that keeping teens from social media will keep teens from having suicidal thoughts. Instead, it is a call for parents to be aware of what their kids are doing online—and to look for any changes in their child’s behavior. 

“If your child is starting to focus too much of their attention on social media at the expense of real-life interactions, parents should be concerned,” Holzbauer says. “At the very least, this should spark a conversation about the behaviors to ensure there aren’t more serious issues going on like bullying, anxiety , or other issues.”  

Parents should also look for behaviors not necessarily related to social media that may signal a problem. If a teen is acting differently, seems disinterested in life, or is talking about not wanting to live, actions should be taken. It can be a hard conversation to have —but it might save their life. 

Parents aren’t the only ones who should be on alert. Friends should also be aware when it appears someone is in trouble. They may even have more insight into the situation because they are sharing social media experiences and seeing similar content. One thing all teens should know is that if a friend appears to be considering suicide, they should not write it off as someone being “dramatic” or seeking attention. Be sure to tell someone if you see concerning behavior online and know the resources available. 

Tips for Healthy Social Media Use

We all know how the algorithm works—the more you look at your phone, the more it will send compelling content to keep your eyes from looking away. It’s hard to break habits of checking TikTok or Instagram and constantly refreshing to see more, but it’s important to take time away for our mental and physical health. Parents can set a good example through their own virtual behavior. Here are some tips for parents and their teens .

988 , the national suicide and crisis lifeline, is available anytime, anywhere. Simply call, chat, or text 9-8-8 for an immediate response from a licensed mental health professional. In Utah, students also have access to the  SafeUT app  where they can chat confidentially or submit a tip about themselves or a friend. 

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64% of Americans say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the U.S. today

About two-thirds of Americans (64%) say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted July 13-19, 2020. Just one-in-ten Americans say social media sites have a mostly positive effect on the way things are going, and one-quarter say these platforms have a neither positive nor negative effect.

Those who have a negative view of the impact of social media mention, in particular, misinformation and the hate and harassment they see on social media. They also have concerns about users believing everything they see or read – or not being sure about what to believe. Additionally, they bemoan social media’s role in fomenting partisanship and polarization, the creation of echo chambers, and the perception that these platforms oppose President Donald Trump and conservatives.

This is part of a series of posts on Americans’ experiences with and attitudes about the role of social media in politics today. Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how Americans think about the impact of social media on the way things are currently going in the country. To explore this, we surveyed 10,211 U.S. adults from July 13 to 19, 2020. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

The public’s views on the positive and negative effect of social media vary widely by political affiliation and ideology. Across parties, larger shares describe social media’s impact as mostly negative rather than mostly positive, but this belief is particularly widespread among Republicans.

Roughly half of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party (53%) say social media have a largely negative effect on the way things are going in the country today, compared with 78% of Republicans and leaners who say the same. Democrats are about three times as likely as Republicans to say these sites have a mostly positive impact (14% vs. 5%) and twice as likely to say social media have neither a positive nor negative effect (32% vs. 16%).

Among Democrats, there are no differences in these views along ideological lines. Republicans, however, are slightly more divided by ideology. Conservative Republicans are more likely than moderate to liberal Republicans to say social media have a mostly negative effect (83% vs. 70%). Conversely, moderate to liberal Republicans are more likely than their conservative counterparts to say social media have a mostly positive (8% vs. 4%) or neutral impact (21% vs. 13%).

Younger adults are more likely to say social media have a positive impact on the way things are going in the country and are less likely to believe social media sites have a negative impact compared with older Americans. For instance, 15% of those ages 18 to 29 say social media have a mostly positive effect on the way things are going in the country today, while just 8% of those over age 30 say the same. Americans 18 to 29 are also less likely than those 30 and older to say social media have a mostly negative impact (54% vs. 67%).

However, views among younger adults vary widely by partisanship. For example, 43% of Democrats ages 18 to 29 say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going, compared with about three-quarters (76%) of Republicans in the same age group. In addition, these youngest Democrats are more likely than their Republican counterparts to say social media platforms have a mostly positive (20% vs. 6%) or neither a positive nor negative effect (35% vs. 18%) on the way things are going in the country today. This partisan division persists among those 30 and older, but most of the gaps are smaller than those seen within the younger cohort.

Views on the negative impact of social media vary only slightly between social media users (63%) and non-users (69%), with non-users being slightly more likely to say these sites have a negative impact. However, among social media users, those who say some or a lot of what they see on social media is related to politics are more likely than those who say a little or none of what they see on these sites is related to politics to think social media platforms have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today (65% vs. 50%).

Past Pew Research Center studies have drawn attention to the complicated relationships Americans have with social media. In 2019, a Center survey found that 72% of U.S. adults reported using at least one social media site. And while these platforms have been used for political and social activism and engagement , they also raise concerns among portions of the population. Some think political ads on these sites are unacceptable, and many object to the way social media platforms have been weaponized to spread made-up news and engender online harassment . At the same time, a share of users credit something they saw on social media with changing their views about a political or social issue. And growing shares of Americans who use these sites also report feeling worn out by political posts and discussions on social media.

Those who say social media have negative impact cite concerns about misinformation, hate, censorship; those who see positive impact cite being informed

When asked to elaborate on the main reason why they think social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in this country today, roughly three-in-ten (28%) respondents who hold that view mention the spreading of misinformation and made-up news. Smaller shares reference examples of hate, harassment, conflict and extremism (16%) as a main reason, and 11% mention a perceived lack of critical thinking skills among many users – voicing concern about people who use these sites believing everything they see or read or being unsure about what to believe.

In written responses that mention misinformation or made-up news, a portion of adults often include references to the spread, speed and amount of false information available on these platforms. (Responses are lightly edited for spelling, style and readability.) For example:

“They allow for the rampant spread of misinformation.” –Man, 36

“False information is spread at lightning speed – and false information never seems to go away.” –Woman, 71

“Social media is rampant with misinformation both about the coronavirus and political and social issues, and the social media organizations do not do enough to combat this.” –Woman, 26

“Too much misinformation and lies are promoted from unsubstantiated sources that lead people to disregard vetted and expert information.” –Woman, 64

People’s responses that centered around hate, harassment, conflict or extremism in some way often mention concerns that social media contributes to incivility online tied to anonymity, the spreading of hate-filled ideas or conspiracies, or the incitement of violence.

“People say incendiary, stupid and thoughtless things online with the perception of anonymity that they would never say to someone else in person.” –Man, 53

“Promotes hate and extreme views and in some cases violence.” –Man, 69

“People don’t respect others’ opinions. They take it personally and try to fight with the other group. You can’t share your own thoughts on controversial topics without fearing someone will try to hurt you or your family.” –Woman, 65

“Social media is where people go to say some of the most hateful things they can imagine.” –Man, 46

About one-in-ten responses talk about how people on social media can be easily confused and believe everything they see or read or are not sure about what to believe.

“People believe everything they see and don’t verify its accuracy.” –Man, 75

“Many people can’t distinguish between real and fake news and information and share it without doing proper research …” –Man, 32

“You don’t know what’s fake or real.” –Man, 49

“It is hard to discern truth.” –Woman, 80

“People cannot distinguish fact from opinion, nor can they critically evaluate sources. They tend to believe everything they read, and when they see contradictory information (particularly propaganda), they shut down and don’t appear to trust any information.” –Man, 42

Smaller shares complain that the platforms censor content or allow material that is biased (9%), too negative (7%) or too steeped in partisanship and division (6%).

“Social media is censoring views that are different than theirs. There is no longer freedom of speech.” –Woman, 42

“It creates more divide between people with different viewpoints.” –Man, 37

“Focus is on negativity and encouraging angry behavior rather than doing something to help people and make the world better.” –Woman, 66

Far fewer Americans – 10% – say they believe social media has a mostly positive effect on the way things are going in the country today. When those who hold these positive views were asked about the main reason why they thought this, one-quarter say these sites help people stay informed and aware (25%) and about one-in-ten say they allow for communication, connection and community-building (12%).

“We are now aware of what’s happening around the world due to the social media outlet.” –Woman, 28

“It brings awareness to important issues that affect all Americans.” –Man, 60

“It brings people together; folks can see that there are others who share the same/similar experience, which is really important, especially when so many of us are isolated.” –Woman, 36

“Helps people stay connected and share experiences. I also get advice and recommendations via social media.” –Man, 32

“It keeps people connected who might feel lonely and alone if there did not have social media …” – Man, 65

Smaller shares tout social media as a place where marginalized people and groups have a voice (8%) and as a venue for activism and social movements (7%).

“Spreading activism and info and inspiring participation in Black Lives Matter.” –Woman, 31

“It gives average people an opportunity to voice and share their opinions.” –Man, 67

“Visibility – it has democratized access and provided platforms for voices who have been and continue to be oppressed.” –Woman, 27

Note: This is part of a series of blog posts leading up to the 2020 presidential election that explores the role of social media in politics today. Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

Other posts in this series:

• 23% of users in U.S. say social media led them to change views on an issue; some cite Black Lives Matter
• 54% of Americans say social media companies shouldn’t allow any political ads
• 55% of U.S. social media users say they are ‘worn out’ by political posts and discussions
• Americans think social media can help build movements, but can also be a distraction
• Misinformation
• Misinformation Online
• National Conditions
• Political Discourse
• Politics Online
• Social Media

Brooke Auxier is a former research associate focusing on internet and technology at Pew Research Center .

Majorities in most countries surveyed say social media is good for democracy

­most americans favor restrictions on false information, violent content online, as ai spreads, experts predict the best and worst changes in digital life by 2035, social media seen as mostly good for democracy across many nations, but u.s. is a major outlier, the role of alternative social media in the news and information environment, most popular.

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Essay on Negative Impact Of Social Media On Students

Students are often asked to write an essay on Negative Impact Of Social Media On Students in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Negative Impact Of Social Media On Students

Time wasting.

Social media can be a big distraction for students. Instead of doing homework or studying, they might spend hours scrolling through apps like Instagram or TikTok. This means they have less time for school work, which can lead to bad grades.

Less Face-to-Face Interaction

Students often chat with friends online instead of talking in person. This can make it hard for them to learn how to read people’s emotions and communicate well face-to-face, which is very important in life.

Unrealistic Expectations

Social media shows a perfect life that is not real. Students might feel bad about their own lives because they think everyone else is happier or more successful. This can hurt their self-esteem and make them unhappy.

Cyberbullying

Bullying on social media is a big problem. Mean comments or embarrassing photos can be shared quickly and hurt a student’s feelings. Being bullied online can make students scared to go to school and affect their mental health.

Privacy Issues

250 words essay on negative impact of social media on students, time wasted on social media.

Many students spend hours on social media instead of doing homework or studying. This can lead to poor grades because they have less time to learn and understand their school work. Social media apps are designed to keep users scrolling, making it easy for students to lose track of time.

Social media can take away from time spent with friends and family in person. When students focus on their phones or computers, they miss out on real-life conversations. This can make it hard for them to learn how to talk to others and understand body language, which are important life skills.

Online Bullying

Bullying on social media, also called cyberbullying, is a big problem. Mean comments and rumors can spread quickly online. This can hurt students’ feelings and make them scared to go to school. Sometimes, the hurt from cyberbullying can last a long time and make students feel alone and sad.

Social media often shows a perfect version of life that isn’t real. Students might see pictures of others with perfect bodies or perfect lives and feel bad about themselves. They might think they’re not good enough or that their life isn’t as exciting. This can make them unhappy and less confident.

Privacy Risks

Students might not know how to protect their private information online. They could share too much without realizing who can see it. This can be dangerous because strangers might learn things about them that should be kept private.

500 Words Essay on Negative Impact Of Social Media On Students

Social media can be a huge time sink for students. Many young people spend hours scrolling through apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. This is time that could be spent studying, playing sports, or even sleeping. When students give so much time to social media, they have less time for homework and learning. This can lead to poor grades and less knowledge.

Before social media, students would meet and talk in person. Now, they often chat online instead. This change can hurt their social skills. Talking face-to-face helps students learn how to read emotions and react to people in real life. Without this practice, some students might find it hard to make friends or work with others in a team.

Impact on Mental Health

Distraction from studies.

Social media can be a big distraction. When students should be focusing on their schoolwork, they might check their phones instead. Even during class, some students sneak peeks at their social media feeds. This means they are not paying attention to their teachers and could miss important information.

Privacy and Safety Concerns

Students might not always understand how to stay safe on social media. They may share private information like their address or phone number. This can be dangerous because strangers could find this information. Also, students might post pictures or say things that could embarrass them later. Once something is on the internet, it can be hard to remove it completely.

In conclusion, social media can have many negative effects on students. It can take away time from learning, hurt face-to-face talking skills, make students feel bad about themselves, distract them from schoolwork, put their privacy at risk, and create false ideas of what life should be like. It is important for students to remember that social media is just one part of life and not to let it control them. Parents and teachers can help by teaching students how to use social media wisely and reminding them of the importance of real-world experiences and relationships.

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Potential risks of content, features, and functions: The science of how social media affects youth

Almost a year after APA issued its health advisory on social media use in adolescence , society continues to wrestle with ways to maximize the benefits of these platforms while protecting youth from the potential harms associated with them. 1

By early 2024, few meaningful changes to social media platforms had been enacted by industry, and no federal policies had been adopted. There remains a need for social media companies to make fundamental changes to their platforms.

Psychological science continues to reveal benefits from social media use , as well as risks and opportunities that certain content, features, and functions present to young social media users. The science discussed below highlights the need to enact new, responsible safety standards to mitigate harm. 2

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• APA report calls on social media companies to take responsibility to protect youth
• How much is too much social media use?

Elaboration of science on social media content, features, and functions

Platforms built for adults are not inherently suitable for youth. i Youth require special protection due to areas of competence or vulnerability as they progress through the childhood, teenage, and late adolescent years. ii This is especially true for youth experiencing psychological, physical, intellectual, mental health, or other developmental challenges; chronological age is not directly associated with social media readiness . iii

Hypersensitivity to social feedback

Brain development starting at ages 10–13 (i.e., the outset of puberty) until approximately the mid-twenties is linked with hypersensitivity to social feedback/stimuli. iv In other words, youth become especially invested in behaviors that will help them get personalized feedback, praise, or attention from peers.

• AI-recommended content has the potential to be especially influential and hard to resist within this age range. v It is critical that AI-recommended content be designed to prioritize youth safety and welfare over engagement. This suggests potentially restricting the use of personalized recommendations using youth data, design features that may prioritize content evoking extreme emotions, or content that may depict illegal or harmful behavior.
• Likes and follower counts activate neural regions that trigger repetitive behavior, and thus may exert greater influence on youths’ attitudes and behavior than among adults. vi Youth are especially sensitive to both positive social feedback and rejection from others. Using these metrics to maintain platform engagement capitalizes on youths’ vulnerabilities and likely leads to problematic use.
• The use of youth data for tailored ad content similarly is influential for youth who are biologically predisposed toward peer influence at this stage and sensitive to personalized content. vii

Need for relationship skill building

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of more complex relationship skills, characterized by the ability to form emotionally intimate relationships. viii The adolescent years should provide opportunities to practice these skills through one-on-one or small group interactions.

• The focus on metrics of followers, likes, and views focuses adolescents’ attention on unilateral, depersonalized interactions and may discourage them from building healthier and psychologically beneficial relationship skills. ix

Susceptibility to harmful content

Adolescence is a period of heightened susceptibility to peer influence, impressionability, and sensitivity to social rejection. x Harmful content, including cyberhate, the depiction of illegal behavior, and encouragement to engage in self-harm (e.g., cutting or eating-disordered behavior) is associated with increased mental health difficulties among both the targets and witnesses of such content. xi

• The absence of clear and transparent processes for addressing reports of harmful content makes it harder for youth to feel protected or able to get help in the face of harmful content.

Underdeveloped impulse control

Youths’ developing cortical system (particularly in the brain’s inhibitory control network) makes them less capable of resisting impulses or stopping themselves from behavior that may lead to temporary benefit despite negative longer-term consequences. xii This can lead to adolescents making decisions based on short-term gain, lower appreciation of long-term risks, and interference with focus on tasks that require concentration.

• Infinite scroll is particularly risky for youth since their ability to monitor and stop engagement on social media is more limited than among adults. xiii This contributes to youths’ difficulty disengaging from social media and may contribute to high rates of youth reporting symptoms of clinical dependency on social media. xiv
• The lack of time limits on social media use similarly is challenging for youth, particularly during the school day or at times when they should be doing homework. xv
• Push notifications capitalize on youths’ sensitivity to distraction. Task-shifting is a higher order cognitive ability not fully developed until early adulthood and may interfere with youths’ focus during class time and when they should be doing homework. xvi
• The use and retention of youths’ data without appropriate parental consent, and/or child assent in developmentally appropriate language, capitalizes on youths’ relatively poor appreciation for long-term consequences of their actions, permanence of online content, or their ability to weigh the risks of their engagement on social media. xvii

Reliance on sleep for healthy brain development

Other than the first year of life, puberty is the most important period of brain growth and reorganization in our lifetimes. xviii Sleep is essential for healthy brain development and mental health in adolescence. xix Sleep delay or disruptions have significant negative effects on youths’ attention, behavior, mood, safety, and academic performance.

• A lack of limits on the time of day when youth can use social media has been cited as the predominant reason why adolescents are getting less than the recommended amount of sleep, with significant implications for brain and mental health. xx

Vulnerability to malicious actors

Youth are easily deceived by predators and other malicious actors who may attempt to interact with them on social media channels. xxi

• Connection and direct messaging with adult strangers places youth at risk of identity theft and potentially dangerous interactions, including sexploitation.

Need for parental/caregiver partnership

Research indicates that youth benefit from parental support to guide them toward safe decisions and to help them understand and appropriately respond to complex social interactions. xxii Granting parents oversight of youths’ accounts should be offered in balance with adolescents’ needs for autonomy, privacy, and independence. However, it should be easier for parents to partner with youth online in a manner that fits their family’s needs.

• The absence of transparent and easy-to-use parental/caregiver tools increases parents’ or guardians’ difficulty in supporting youths’ experience on social media. xxiii

Health advisory on social media use in adolescence

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• Social media and the internet
• Mental health

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A path forward based on science

Change is needed soon. Solutions should reflect a greater understanding of the science in at least three ways.

First, youth vary considerably in how they use social media. Some uses may promote healthy development and others may create harm. As noted in the APA health advisory , using social media is not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people. The effects of social media depend not only on what teens can do and see online, but teens’ pre-existing strengths or vulnerabilities, and the contexts in which they grow up.

Second, science has highlighted biological and psychological abilities/vulnerabilities that interact with the content, functions, and features built into social media platforms, and it is these aspects of youths’ social media experience that must be addressed to attenuate risks. xxiv Social media use, functionality, and permissions/consenting should be tailored to youths’ developmental capabilities. Design features created for adults may not be appropriate for children.

Third, youth are adept at working around age restrictions. Substantial data reveal a remarkable number of children aged 12 years and younger routinely using social media, indicating that current policies and practices to restrict use to older youth are not working. xxv

Policies will not protect youth unless technology companies are required to reduce the risks embedded within the platforms themselves.

As policymakers at every level assess their approach to this complex issue, it is important to note the limitations of frequently proposed policies, which are often misreported and fall far short of comprehensive safety solutions that will achieve meaningful change.

Restricting downloads

Restricting application downloads at the device level does not fully restrict youths’ access and will not meaningfully improve the safety of social media platforms. Allowing platforms to delegate responsibility to app stores does not address the vulnerabilities and harms built into the platforms.

Requiring age restrictions

Focusing only on age restrictions does not improve the platforms or address the biological and psychological vulnerabilities that persist past age 18. While age restriction proposals could offer some benefits if effectively and equitably implemented, they do not represent comprehensive improvements to social media platforms, for at least four reasons:

• Creating a bright line age limit ignores individual differences in adolescents’ maturity and competency
• These proposals fail to mitigate the harms for those above the age limit and can lead to a perception that social media is safe for adolescents above the threshold age, though neurological changes continue until age 25
• Completely limiting access to social media may disadvantage those who are experiencing psychological benefits from social media platforms, such as community support and access to science-based resources, which particularly impact those in marginalized populations
• The process of age-verification requires more thoughtful consideration to ensure that the storage of official identification documents does not systematically exclude subsets of youth, create risks for leaks, or circumvent the ability of young people to maintain anonymity on social platforms.

Use of parental controls

Granting parents and caregivers greater access to their children’s social media accounts will not address risks embedded within platforms themselves. More robust and easy-to-use parental controls would help some younger age groups, but as a sole strategy, this approach ignores the complexities of adolescent development, the importance of childhood autonomy and privacy, and disparities in time or resources available for monitoring across communities. xxvi

[Related: Keeping teens safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids ]

Some parents might be technologically ill-equipped, lack the time or documentation to complete requirements, or simply be unavailable to complete these requirements. Disenfranchising some young people from these platforms creates inequities. xxvii

Speaking of Psychology

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1 These recommendations enact policies and resolutions approved by the APA Council of Representatives including the APA Resolution on Child and Adolescent Mental and Behavioral Health and the APA Resolution on Dismantling Systemic Racism in contexts including social media. These are not professional practice guidelines but are intended to provide information based on psychological science.

2 This report seeks to elaborate on extant psychological science findings, which may be particularly relevant in the creation of policy solutions that protect young people, and to inform the development of social media safety standards.

Recommendations from APA’s health advisory on social media use in adolescence

• Youth using social media should be encouraged to use functions that create opportunities for social support, online companionship, and emotional intimacy that can promote healthy socialization.
• Social media use, functionality, and permissions/consenting should be tailored to youths’ developmental capabilities; designs created for adults may not be appropriate for children.
• In early adolescence (i.e., typically 10–14 years), adult monitoring (i.e., ongoing review, discussion, and coaching around social media content) is advised for most youths’ social media use; autonomy may increase gradually as kids age and if they gain digital literacy skills. However, monitoring should be balanced with youths’ appropriate needs for privacy.
• To reduce the risks of psychological harm, adolescents’ exposure to content on social media that depicts illegal or psychologically maladaptive behavior, including content that instructs or encourages youth to engage in health-risk behaviors, such as self-harm (e.g., cutting, suicide), harm to others, or those that encourage eating-disordered behavior (e.g., restrictive eating, purging, excessive exercise) should be minimized, reported, and removed; moreover, technology should not drive users to this content.
• To minimize psychological harm, adolescents’ exposure to “cyberhate” including online discrimination, prejudice, hate, or cyberbullying especially directed toward a marginalized group (e.g., racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, religious, ability status), or toward an individual because of their identity or allyship with a marginalized group should be minimized.
• Adolescents should be routinely screened for signs of “problematic social media use” that can impair their ability to engage in daily roles and routines, and may present risk for more serious psychological harms over time.
• The use of social media should be limited so as to not interfere with adolescents’ sleep and physical activity.
• Adolescents should limit use of social media for social comparison, particularly around beauty- or appearance-related content.
• Adolescents’ social media use should be preceded by training in social media literacy to ensure that users have developed psychologically-informed competencies and skills that will maximize the chances for balanced, safe, and meaningful social media use.
• Substantial resources should be provided for continued scientific examination of the positive and negative effects of social media on adolescent development.

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the outstanding contributions to this report made by the following individuals:

Expert advisory panel

Mary Ann McCabe, PhD, ABPP, member-at-large, Board of Directors, American Psychological Association; associate clinical professor of pediatrics, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Mitchell J. Prinstein, PhD, ABPP, chief science officer, American Psychological Association; John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mary K. Alvord, PhD, founder, Alvord, Baker & Associates; board president, Resilience Across Borders; adjunct associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Dawn T. Bounds, PhD, PMHNP-BC, FAAN, assistant professor, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, University of California, Irvine

Linda Charmaraman, PhD, senior research scientist, Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College

Sophia Choukas-Bradley, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh

Dorothy L. Espelage, PhD, William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Joshua A. Goodman, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, Southern Oregon University

Jessica L. Hamilton, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, Rutgers University

Brendesha M. Tynes, PhD, Dean’s Professor of Educational Equity, University of Southern California

L. Monique Ward, PhD, professor, Department of Psychology (Developmental), University of Michigan

Lucía Magis-Weinberg, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, University of Washington

We also wish to acknowledge the contributions to this report made by Katherine B. McGuire, chief advocacy officer, and Corbin Evans, JD, senior director of congressional and federal relations, American Psychological Association.

Selected references

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v Shin, D. (2020). How do users interact with algorithm recommender systems? The interaction of users, algorithms, and performance. Computers in Human Behavior , 109 , 106344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106344

vi Sherman, L. E., Payton, A. A., Hernandez, L. M., Greenfield, P. M., & Dapretto, M. (2016). The power of the Like in adolescence: Effects of peer influence on neural and behavioral responses to social media. Psychological Science , 27 (7), 1027–1035. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616645673

vii Albert, D., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2013). The teenage brain: Peer influences on adolescent decision making. Current Directions in Psychological Science , 22 (2), 114–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412471347

viii Armstrong-Carter, E., & Telzer, E. H. (2021). Advancing measurement and research on youths’ prosocial behavior in the digital age. Child Development Perspectives , 15 (1), 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12396 ; Newcomb, A. F., & Bagwell, C. L. (1995). Children’s friendship relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin , 117 (2), 306.

ix Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2019). In search of likes: Longitudinal associations between adolescents’ digital status seeking and health-risk behaviors. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology , 48 (5), 740–748. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1437733 ; Rotondi, V., Stanca, L., & Tomasuolo, M. (2017). Connecting alone: Smartphone use, quality of social interactions and well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology , 63 , 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2017.09.001

x Sherman, L. E., Payton, A. A., Hernandez, L. M., Greenfield, P. M., & Dapretto, M. (2016). The power of the Like in adolescence: Effects of peer influence on neural and behavioral responses to social media. Psychological Science , 27 (7), 1027–1035. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616645673

xi Susi, K., Glover-Ford, F., Stewart, A., Knowles Bevis, R., & Hawton, K. (2023). Research review: Viewing self-harm images on the internet and social media platforms: Systematic review of the impact and associated psychological mechanisms. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 64 (8), 1115–1139.

xii Hartley, C. A., & Somerville, L. H. (2015). The neuroscience of adolescent decision-making. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences , 5 , 108–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.09.004

xiii Atherton, O. E., Lawson, K. M., & Robins, R. W. (2020). The development of effortful control from late childhood to young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 119 (2), 417–456. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000283

xiv Boer, M., Stevens, G. W., Finkenauer, C., & Van den Eijnden, R. J. (2022). The course of problematic social media use in young adolescents: A latent class growth analysis. Child Development , 93 (2), e168–e187.

xv Hall, A. C. G., Lineweaver, T. T., Hogan, E. E., & O’Brien, S. W. (2020). On or off task: The negative influence of laptops on neighboring students’ learning depends on how they are used. Computers & Education , 153 , 103901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103901 ; Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N. J. (2013). Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education , 62 , 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.003

xvi von Bastian, C. C., & Druey, M. D. (2017). Shifting between mental sets: An individual differences approach to commonalities and differences of task switching components. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 146 (9), 1266–1285. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000333

xvii Andrews, J. C., Walker, K. L., & Kees, J. (2020). Children and online privacy protection: Empowerment from cognitive defense strategies. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing , 39 (2), 205–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743915619883638 ; Romer D. (2010). Adolescent risk taking, impulsivity, and brain development: Implications for prevention. Developmental Psychobiology , 52 (3), 263–276. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20442

xviii Orben, A., Przybylski, A. K., Blakemore, S.-J., Kievit, R. A. (2022). Windows of developmental sensitivity to social media. Nature Communications , 13 (1649). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29296-3

xix Paruthi, S., Brooks, L. J., D’Ambrosio, C., Hall, W. A., Kotagal, S., Lloyd, R. M., Malow, B. A., Maski, K., Nichols, C., Quan, S. F., Rosen, C. L., Troester, M. M., & Wise, M. S. (2016). Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: A consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine , 12 (6), 785–786. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5866

xx Perrault, A. A., Bayer, L., Peuvrier, M., Afyouni, A., Ghisletta, P., Brockmann, C., Spiridon, M., Hulo Vesely, S., Haller, D. M., Pichon, S., Perrig, S., Schwartz, S., & Sterpenich, V. (2019). Reducing the use of screen electronic devices in the evening is associated with improved sleep and daytime vigilance in adolescents. Sleep , 42 (9), zsz125. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsz125 ; Telzer, E. H., Goldenberg, D., Fuligni, A. J., Lieberman, M. D., & Gálvan, A. (2015). Sleep variability in adolescence is associated with altered brain development. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience , 14, 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2015.05.007

xxi Livingstone, S., & Smith, P. K. (2014). Annual research review: Harms experienced by child users of online and mobile technologies: The nature, prevalence and management of sexual and aggressive risks in the digital age. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 55 (6), 635–654. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12197 ; Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K. J., & Ybarra, M. L. (2008). Online “predators” and their victims: Myths, realities, and implications for prevention and treatment. American Psychologist , 63 (2), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.63.2.111

xxii Wachs, S., Costello, M., Wright, M. F., Flora, K., Daskalou, V., Maziridou, E., Kwon, Y., Na, E.-Y., Sittichai, R., Biswal, R., Singh, R., Almendros, C., Gámez-Guadix, M., Görzig, A., & Hong, J. S. (2021). “DNT LET ’EM H8 U!”: Applying the routine activity framework to understand cyberhate victimization among adolescents across eight countries. Computers & Education , 160 , Article 104026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.104026 ; Padilla-Walker, L. M., Stockdale, L. A., & McLean, R. D. (2020). Associations between parental media monitoring, media use, and internalizing symptoms during adolescence. Psychology of Popular Media , 9 (4), 481. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000256

xxiii Dietvorst, E., Hiemstra, M., Hillegers, M. H. J., & Keijsers, L. (2018). Adolescent perceptions of parental privacy invasion and adolescent secrecy: An illustration of Simpson’s paradox. Child Development , 89 (6), 2081–2090. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13002 ; Auxier, B. (2020, July 28). Parenting Children in the Age of Screens. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech; Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/28/parenting-children-in-the-age-of-screens/

xxiv National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2024). Social media and adolescent health . The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27396

xxv Charmaraman, L., Lynch, A. D., Richer, A. M., & Zhai, E. (2022). Examining early adolescent positive and negative social technology behaviors and well-being during the Covid -19 pandemic. Technology, Mind, and Behavior , 3 (1), Feb 17 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000062

xxvi Dietvorst, E., Hiemstra, M., Hillegers, M.H.J., & Keijsers, L. (2018). Adolescent perceptions of parental privacy invasion and adolescent secrecy: An illustration of Simpson’s paradox. Child Development , 89 (6), 2081–2090. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13002

xxvii Charmaraman, L., Lynch, A. D., Richer, A. M., & Zhai, E. (2022). Examining early adolescent positive and negative social technology behaviors and well-being during the Covid -19 pandemic. Technology, Mind, and Behavior , 3 (1), Feb 17 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000062

The Impact of Social Media on Student Life

Wake up, Scroll, Sleep and Repeat. Are you stuck in an unhealthy relationship with social media that’s getting in the way of your studies? Charlie writer Shantel gives you tips to get back on track to academic success!

Written by Shantel Hussain

Social media is a big part of our lives, and as a student, I’m here to share the pros and cons by highlighting my experience on TikTok and how it influences my student life!

Like many of you, I use TikTok not to just scroll or participate in the new trendy dances, but to share my journey with other people around the world who would relate to my content.

I started creating short TikTok videos sharing information that I learned through my studies (I’m a Bachelor of Islamic Studies student) and posting them for other people to gain some knowledge on the same topic.

As I posted overtime, to my surprise, I gained over 50K followers, although for me, it wasn’t about the followers; it was about sharing knowledge.

This experience for me was incredibly rewarding for many reasons, for example, I managed to target other Islamic students on TikTok who were from all over the world such as Medina, Turkey and Pakistan.

The girls I made friends with would share with each other what we had learned and how we hoped to see each other one day and study together.

Through my videos, I connected with other religious communities who wanted to learn about Islam and have also learned quite a lot from them about their religion. 

The downside of my story is that social media isn’t all sunshine and rainbows!

While studying, I sometimes get notifications every minute, either from a comment, like, or follow.

When I check my phone, I think, ‘I’m just going to have a quick break’ but in reality, I get sucked into endless scrolling!

How do I find my balance?

It might be the question we’re all thinking about; first, it’s simple.

• Going private as exams draw near and when assignments need to be done helps me focus on studies without pressure to create content or the temptation to check notifications.
• Allocating a time for social media at the end of the night, knowing I’ve got everything done, or on a weekend, knowing I’ve caught up on all my studies!
• Being mindful of my usage patterns, if you’re an iPhone girl like me, the screen time setting breaks down the times of my social media usage!

I hope I inspire some of you to start journaling your student life on your favourite social channel as well.

Keep in mind to balance your social media life and academic life!

Charlie blog is a SSAF funded initiative

Want to hear another student voice?

How I limit my screen time to help with my studies

Further reading

Representing Charles Sturt at Uni Nationals

Your Passion, Your Pride; Celebrating ‘Wear it Purple Day’!

Budget Friendly Meals

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome as a University Student

Charles Sturt University: Iconic Spots at our Orange Campus

My Canadian Session Break

Stay Connected

• Title & authors

Dey, Chandana, et al. "An Analysis of the Negative Impact of Social MEDIA Use on Academic Performance of Adolescents." International journal of health sciences , vol. 6, no. S6, 2022, pp. 4155-4168, doi: 10.53730/ijhs.v6nS6.10580 .

Download citation file:

Social media has touched the different aspects our life and has become an integral part. It is widely used these days be it for entertainment purpose or social purpose. In post pandemic scenario, academic system was forced to go online due to lock down. Now, online education cannot be ignored, as its advantages are experienced by the entire world during Covid period. Social media, which was considered as an entertainment platform, is also playing a positive role in academics whether it is for Fast communication or information or knowledge. Now, a student can follow various teachers; join various groups of academicians on social media where questions related to the desired subjects can be asked via such groups to seek the required answers. The present research focused on studying the negative aspects of social media and how it affects the adolescent's academic life. For fulfilling the purpose of study, primary data from 500 adolescents was taken by sending them questionnaires. The data was analyzed with the help of crosstabulation and regression analysis using SPSS software version 25. The results revealed that negative aspects of social media affects the academic life of students in a negative way.

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