Ally Clarke created this website as a safe place for youth and their families to learn about the impacts that social media can have on mental health. Informed by research, this website presents valuable information in a clear manner that is accessible to all ages and walks of life.
Social Media Influencing Mental Health
https://sites.google.com/view/socialmediasinfluence27/home
Ally’s website is divided into five different pages: Home, For Adolescents, Propaganda, For Guardians, and References.
When a visitor first enters the site they are brought to the Home page. Home contains some valuable information including an introduction to the concept of social media and the effects it has on mental health.
The first thing on this page is a graph that shows the incline in social media usage from 2004 to 2018. Along with this visual information, there is some writing. It reads:
“What is social media?
Social media is a way that individuals are able to share images, videos, thoughts and emotions, and keep connected with other people. The uses are endless, which allows for unlimited possibilities to be made on the social media platforms. It has become a prominent part of our society and is almost unavoidable.
The number of users increases each year among adolescents. Presently, over 90% of teenagers ranging from 13-17 years of age have social media, and it is reported that 70% use these platforms daily. (Abi-Jaoude et al., 2020).”
Scrolling down the Home page, the next thing is a list of the positive and negative effects of social media.
It reads:
“Social media can have positive and negative effects. Listed below are some pros and cons. As you can see, the negative aspects are serious and begin to outweigh the benefits if not carefully considered and addressed.
Positives
- Communicating with friends and family
- Joining social groups
- Getting inspiration from other people
- Working collaboratively with individuals from around the world
- Building a brand and/or company
- Keeping informed about events worldwide
Negatives
- Dissatisfaction with physical appearance
- Social isolation
- Depression and anxiety
- Cyberbullying
- Displacement of activities
- Increased rates of suicide
- Reduces family closeness”
This list of pros and cons provides an easy-to-understand and visually appealing way to showcase the effects of social media on mental health.
Next, is another chunk of text positioned next to a graphic that includes iconography from various social media platforms. It reads:
“The rise of social media in the past few decades has intrigued researchers to study the effects of social media on people in their adolescent years. As the usage of social networking has increased, there have been many studies that have suggested that there is a direct link between social media and depressive symptoms found amongst the youth.
Many of us enjoy staying connected with our friends and family all over the world, however, the overuse of social media has become problematic and a solution needs to be found.
Adolescents are a vulnerable age group, and are at greater risk of developing anxiety and depression. During this period of time, they are changing physiologically and going through many hormonal and life changes, which makes this an important topic of discussion so they can receive the help that is necessary (Sperling, 2022).
Symptoms of depression and the feelings of anxiety manifest differently in each individual. Not every adolescent will experience these issues, but it is important to recognize that several do and we must support them through this evolutionary period in their lives.”
The bottom of the Home page contains a land acknowledgement.
“Land Acknowledgement: I would like to acknowledge that I am situated on the traditional ancestral and unceded territories of the Syilx people.”
The next page on Ally’s website is called For Adolescents. This page displays a variety of visual and textual information targeted at an adolescent audience. The material on this page is easy to read and features colorful imagery. These design choices make the page fun to look at and appealing to the target audience.
The information on this page is divided into a few different sections.
“Social Media Negatively Impacts Your Mental Health
Were you aware that between 2009-2014 that depression caused by social media has increased self-harm admissions to the hospital by 110% in Canadian girls? This makes suicide the second leading cause of death in adolescents (Abi-Jaoude et al., 2021).
Higher Usage = Negative Symptoms
The higher the use of social media, the more symptoms of anxiety and depression appear. That is just a fact. The United Kingdom performed a study that consisted of 101 participating schools, which included 3,501 participants. This was a two year longitudinal study that looked at the levels of anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity in teenagers. This was measured by using a test that consisted of 25 questions called “The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.” The findings concluded that the amount of time spent on social media directly related to the mental health of the individual. Due to teenagers already being at a vulnerable time in their lives, social media is seen to be a concerning factor, but not necessarily the leading determinant (Beeres et al., 2021).
Hormones and the Brain
The harmful side effects from social media can damage a person psychologically and psysiologically. There are two main hormones that are affected, being cortisol and dopamine. The constant attempt to maintain a false reality online causes extreme stress in the lives of adolescents. This is seen as a form of chronic stress, which ends up causing the hormone cortisol to be released and leaves the individual with not only depressive symptoms, but problems including damage to the gastrointestinal tract and increased likelihood of immuno-inflammatory responses (Amedie, 2015).
Risk vs. Reward
There are many risks people will take for the reward that is at the end. The usage of social media activates the brain’s reward system by releasing the neurotransmitter known as dopamine. Social media creates the addiction and your body begins to treat it as a drug. When the outcome becomes unpredictable the brain will likely repeat that behaviour (Sperling, 2022).”
The information on this page is informed by timely research studies about the impacts of social media on mental health. These studies are broken down into ideas that are digestible for a general audience and particularly for adolescents.
“Criminal Activity
Social networking has given people the freedom of easily manipulating teenagers and causing harm. This criminal activity has created an immense amount of danger, as predators anonymously cyberbully and lure adolescents into believing their lies and scams (Amadie, 2015).
Girls are more likely to develop depressive symptoms due to being involved in a greater amount of online harassment, specifically being victims (Kelly et al., 2019).
Cyberbullying
There is a large concern of mental health related to cyberbullying. The fact that predators are able to target youth is a problem that contributes to the increasing rate of self-harm and suicidality. There is limited protection or privacy online, therefore it is important to learn how to navigate social media and take the necessary precautions (Amedie, 2015).”
Knowing that this is a lot of heavy information and could potentially be overwhelming to adolescents, Ally breaks up the sections here with a drop-down menu that reveals the number of the National Suicide Prevention Line as a valuable resource for adolescents who may be struggling with suicidal ideation.
“The National Suicide Prevention Line
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call this number: 1-800-273-8255. This is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, open 24 hours a day, and is ready to help!
BC Mental Health Crisis Hotline: 1-800-784-2433
Canada Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-456-4566 or TEXT 45645.”
After this there is another section about social interactions. It reads:
“Social Interactions
Social networking has decreased actual social interactions between adolescents. The result is the displacement of physical activities, which influences the amount of time spent in person. This is called the displacement hypothesis, which describe how people are giving up their extra curricular activities, spending more time online, and therefore weakening relationships between friends and family. The weakened relationships further perpetuates the negative cycle, as the symptoms will become worse and the individual will then gravitate even more towards social media as a coping mechanism for dealing with their anxieties.
This is a difficult cycle to stop, because social media acts as an addiction. People inherently crave social interactions and need to form genuine connections with one another maintain a healthy mental state (Coyne et al., 2019).”
Now the viewer has absorbed all this new information. Keeping this in mind, Ally has included a section at the bottom of the page encouraging visitors to start making a change in their social media habits. She provides some suggestions on simple beginner steps that are easy to take.
“One Step at a Time!
No one expects you to change your habits immediately. The main point is simply to start! Here are a couple of ways to decrease your usage of social media and take a break from the stress that it is causing in your life:
- Turn off your phone when being with family and friends
- Put away your phone when doing homework
- Put your phone somewhere further away from your bed to stop temptation while sleeping
- Silence notifications”
The next page on the website is titled Propaganda. This page delves into the presence of propaganda on social media and the toll this can take on mental wellness.
“Propaganda Influencing Mental Health
Propaganda is a major component of social media, and can have a positive or negative connotation. However, it is a large contributing factor to negatively impacting adolescents mental health.”
On this page, three prevalent forms of propaganda often found on social media are identified.
“Skin Care
The current teenage generation has lived in a world filled with propaganda from the moment of waking up in the morning until the end of the day, whether they are conscious of it or not. Society has built a false concept of what the idea beauty standard resembles. Advertisements make profit by gaining trust with the audience by telling them what they need to own and put on their skin to be beautiful. Creating early distortions of reality is causing mental health problems starting from a young age.
Looking Fit
The main way of boosting self-esteem is posting images, in hopes of receiving positive comments. People tend to over analyze the amount of likes received or who commented on a post, which allows for a lot of misinterpretation. Comparison is a normal aspect of everyday life, as humans are observant beings. However, with social media’s evolution and the use of filters and staging, individuals are increasingly hyperaware of their physical appearance (Sperling, 2022).
Unrealistic Lifestyle
There is a lot of stress that comes with attempting to portray an unrealistic lifestyle and maintain messages and alerts on mobile devices. Creators and influencers post the best images to their social media accounts to fabricate a life much better than it actually is in reality. Unfortunately, adolescents forget the manipulation of photos and the alterations that are done. Luckily, this generation is also beginning to incorporate diversity in social media to demonstrate that everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way!”
After learning about these three categories, there is a more general explanation of why these categories can be harmful.
“Seeking Acceptance
Adolescents use social media to seek acceptance and reassurance about themselves, which can trigger anxiety and depression if left unfulfilled. Dr. Mark Becker indicates that there has been an increase of 70% in individuals that have self-reported symptoms of depression (Amedie, 2015).
Loneliness can also arise from social media usage. People are positing pictures of themselves with friends, which affects those individuals who are at home alone scrolling through images feel left out of social events (Hunt et al., 2019). This is increasing the rates of social isolation as people question their own lives and why they do not have the same experiences as others they see on social media.
There are many factors that influence the mental health of female adolescents. The majority that have experienced online harassment are Fund to have lower self-esteem an are dissatisfied with their overall appearance (Kelly et al., 2019). The beauty standards that are portrayed on social media distort people’s perspectives of reality.”
After this informational text, Ally provides a link to an enticing video made by Dove to expose falsehoods found in advertising.
Along with the embedded video she writes:
“This is a commercial produced by the company, Dove for their Dove Self-Esteem Project. The video was published to reveal techniques that are used in advertising that portray false imagery.
Dove conducted an international survey that showed 75% of women wanted to see an accurate portrayal of beauty in online advertising.
The commercial featured Stephanie Betts in her natural state, then with the addition of make-up, lighting, and editing. They wished to show that the final product portrayed as beauty is a myth, which is harming younger generations’ mental health.
A motivation for this can be found within the research of the Mental Health Foundation (2019) survey that determined that 54% of girls and 26% of boys are insecure of their bodies, arising from comparing themselves to images found on social media.
Their mission is to share the hidden truths behind the images and help ensure this younger generation has a positive relationship with their body and build confidence within, and be the best version of themselves!
Check out their website to read more about their message and resources for parents in supporting their adolescents.”
Under this, there is a link to Dove’s webpage with further details regarding this subject. Please visit this page of Ally’s website: https://sites.google.com/view/socialmediasinfluence27/propaganda?authuser=0 to explore these resources.
The next page is aimed at a different audience. Entitled Guardians, this page is aimed at parents and caretakers of adolescents.
“Parental Involvement
Researchers have determined that adolescents are the most vulnerable individuals for developing depressive symptoms. Parents must be involved in their child’s lives to maintain strong and healthy relationships. Evidence has found that parents who are avid social media users can negatively affect their relationship with their adolescents. This is unfortunate as it is crucial to have trust between the teenager and parent, as they need to feel comfortable if they are having issues such as mental health struggles (Abi-Jaouse et al., 2020).”
This page gives viewers valuable information and resources based around how to identify and handle warning signs that their children’s mental health may be impacted by social media.
“Identifying Warning Signs
It is important to recognize warning signs as early as possible. Mental health has become a major concern for society and there still continues to be a negative stigma surrounding the topic. Therefore, several cases of depression remain undiagnosed. Early identification and treatment can lead to positive outcomes and prevent harmful damage that social media has created. When studying the profiles of adolescents, findings revealed that those who are self-critical about their own bodies, post images using dark themes and filters to alter their physical appearance, are found to have the most depressive symptoms (Yazdavar & Mahdavinjad, 2020). It is valuable to understand and identify patterns and visual cues in social media usage to prevent any potential harm in the future.
Covid-19, Online Learning, and Social Media
Online schooling has become a common form of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there can be positive aspects from an online environment, research discusses that frequent mind wandering and use of personal social media has impacted academic performance. The easy access to mobile devices while completing online work has become a large distraction and has contributed to the majority of off-task thinking. The increase in usage has also decreased attention spans, which affects working memory. These components have led to poorer academic skills and overall increased mental health issues (Hollis et al., 2016).”
This is followed by more information about the clinical setting and links to several valuable resources for both adolescents and guardians alike.
“How are Clinicians Helping?
Clinicians are beginning to work alongside families to limit harm and take the approach of reducing social media, while ensuring the parents are actively involved by setting boundaries and creating solutions that are best suited to their family dynamic (Abi-Jaoude et al., 2020). A great resource is the American Academy of Pediatrics, which offers helpful preventing tools for families and adolescents.
It is proven that the reduction of social media usage each day has a positive impact on one’s mental health. Limiting screen time to 30 minutes usage each day per platform demonstrated a significant decrease in loneliness and overall depressive and anxious symptoms (Hunt et al., 2018).”
To visit some of the mental resources linked on the website: https://sites.google.com/view/socialmediasinfluence27/for-guardians?authuser=0
The final page of the website is called References. This page gives credit to all of the external sources that Ally used in the creation of her website.
Note to Reader
Did you know that suicide is now the second leading cause of death among adolescents? Between the years 2009-2014, the rate of admission to the hospital for attempted suicide has risen by 110% (Abi-Jaoude et al., 2020). This question then asked is, what is the main factor causing mental health problems to such an extent that young people wish to take their own lives? One contributing factor would be the rise of social media and its effect on the younger population. In today’s generation, over 90% of adolescents ranging from the ages of 13 to 17 have social media accounts, access them regularly throughout the day, and compare their lives to those of others, often to their own detriment (Abi-Jaoude et al., 2020).
Social networking has been a great form of communication with people around the world, has given opportunities to collaboratively work with individuals internationally, and has kept people informed about the news. Although the evolution of technology has its benefits, the usage of social media has substantially grown to where there are now negative side effects. A study was performed that monitored the use patterns of adolescents and did conclude that there was a link between increased usage and depressive symptoms (Beeres et al., 2021). These sharing platforms will not be disappearing any time soon, therefore there needs to be discussion and further awareness surrounding increasing mental health concerns, as adolescents are in a crucial time period of their lives and need guidance and support.
The audience for my project includes adolescents and adults. It is important that the specific audience is parents with children in their adolescent years, as this is the most vulnerable group regarding the rise of mental health concerns. In my project, I made sure to include a page specifically directed toward the adults and explained many aspects of how to look for warning signs and what support systems there are for families who are struggling or want to seek guidance. Adolescents themselves should be the main target audience, as social media has created a direct link to their age group, and this will give them insight into the present issues that continue to grow with the usage of social media.
Technology, particularly social media, is still a relatively new phenomenon and researchers are just starting to understand the harmful effects that can occur to adolescents with increased use. This is an important topic to discuss, as the ages affected by anxiety and depression are continuously becoming younger and there appears to be a distinct link between social media and the increasing mental health concerns of the youth. The harmful effects of online interactions have created dangerous results, such as the number of suicides, which is not a topic that should not be taken lightly (Abi-Jaoude, 2020). As social media is such a prominent aspect of most adolescents’ lives, there needs to be additional studies and information provided so that there can be steps put in place to help develop solutions and prevent devastating outcomes.
I chose this topic to research, as I grew up in a family where mental health was not discussed, therefore I struggled to figure out strategies of how to cope with my own emotions. This unfortunately led me down a dark path and I immediately had to seek out professional help from experts. Struggling can be silent, as no one knew how I was feeling at the time, as I have a bubbly and happy personality. This ended up being a pivotal time period and I learned a lot about myself in the process. This research will not only help others to become more educated on the topic of mental health but also gives me the opportunity to gain more knowledge to incorporate into my life.
The project commences by presenting how prevalent adolescents are in utilizing social media, which is stated to be over 90% of that population range (Abi-Jaoude et al., 2020). This helps to demonstrate the importance of online networking and its effects on mental health, as the majority of teenagers are users of these platforms. This article also provided evidence of suicide rates increasing, which has now become the second leading cause of death for the youth. I was able to use this research to educate both adolescents and their guardians on how to seek help for arising problems. This inspired me to find resources and attach the links for easy access for anyone viewing the website. I have a page that is targeted toward adolescents to learn about different ways social media influences mental health. There was a two-year-long study performed in the United Kingdom which examined the correlation between social media and mental health. This has shown that the higher the usage of social media platforms, the worsening of symptoms the individual developed. I incorporated this study as it had a large sample size and would give adolescents an insight into the negative impacts that they may be experiencing. This then inspired my research to further investigate what was going on psychologically and physiologically in the human body.
What I have learned is that social media is disrupting the chemicals in the brain, such as the release of cortisol when it is not necessary (Amedie, 2015). There is also an emphasis on the risk versus reward concept of how social media is becoming a form of a drug and releasing bursts of dopamine (Sperling, 2022). Coupled together, this is allowing for the brain to repeat the behavior of checking cellular devices on a far too frequent basis, causing a negative cycle that is difficult to stop (Coyne et al., 2019). The usage of social networking has also impacted young girls more negatively due to online harassment (Kelly et al., 2019). This has become dangerous, as social media has given people the freedom to easily lure teenagers into harmful situations (Amedie, 2015). This problem needs to be addressed; therefore I added a section to further discuss how this impacts their mental health by lowering self-esteem (Kelly et at., 2019).
The next area of research that inspired my project was propaganda. This is a major component of social media that has been seen to worsen adolescents’ mental health and increase feelings of loneliness (Hunt et al., 2019). Comparison is normal for human beings, but with the use of filters and staging, adolescents have become hyper-aware of their physical appearance (Sperling, 2022). The Mental Health Foundation (2019) states that 54% of girls and 26% of boys are self-conscious due to comparing themselves to people online. This research greatly informed my project, as this is a prominent reason for social media causing depressive symptoms. I presented different factors such as the portrayal of unrealistic lifestyles to showcase the misinformation that is being continuously shown to be true or realistic. This led me to find sources that are trying to make a difference and uncover the truths that lay behind social media. I chose to present a commercial released by the company, Dove, that demonstrated all of the behind-the-scenes work and editing of the advertisements and photoshoots. Dove (2016) states that they want to ensure that the next generation has a positive relationship with their bodies.
Finally, I chose to have a section that is directed toward the guardians of adolescents, as it is equally important that they are informed of the negative impacts that can affect their family dynamic. The parent’s involvement in all aspects of their children’s lives is critical in forming genuine connections with their children. Researchers have found that parents who are avid social media users affect their relationship with their children by spending less quality one-on-one time in favour of their own screen time. (Abi-Jaoude, 2020). This gave me the inspiration to create a section that identifies warning signs to help parents spot cues of depressive or anxious symptoms in the family. Some include dissatisfaction with appearance, the language used, and images posted (Yazdavar & Mahdavinjad, 2020).
The pandemic has also impacted the use of social media and how it has been a distraction to online learning, which has resulted in poor academic skills. (Hollis et al., 2016). All these factors influencing the mental health of adolescents can be overwhelming, which is why I added ways to minimize the use of social media, such as limiting each platform to thirty minutes per day and turning off notifications (Hunt et al., 2018). There are many researchers and resources that are willing to give guidance and counseling to help one’s mental health and well-being. The American Academy of Pediatrics is just one example of an organization that is providing helpful tools to families and adolescents. Although social media is not the only factor in deteriorating mental health, it is more controllable and is a good place to start in helping adolescents maintain a healthy mental state (Schooning et al., 2020).
The current generation of youth is the first group of adolescents who have grown up with technology from a very young age. Researchers are now discovering evidence to prove that mental health issues are rising and suggesting it is related to the prevalence of social media. Adolescents are the most vulnerable age category, putting them at a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms. The more awareness we can create around the topic of mental health, the better the opportunities there are to locate resources and develop strategies for future generations to not experience the same hardships.
References
Abi-Jaoude, E., Naylor, K. T., & Pignatiello, A. (2020). Smartphones, social media use and Youth Mental Health. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 192(6), 136–141. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.190434
Amedie, J. (2015). The Impact of Social Media on Society. Pop Culture Intersections, 2(3), 2–19. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/engl_176/2
Beeres, D., Anderson, F., Vossen, H., & Rosaria, M. (2021). Social Media and Mental Health Among Early Adolescents in Sweden: A Longitudinal Study With 2-Year Follow-Up (KUPOL Study). Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(5), 953–960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.042
Brands Vietnam. (2013, March 8). Dove – Evolution Commercial [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN2yunRynks
Coyne, S. M., Rogers, A. A., Zurcher, J. D., Stockdale, L., & Booth, M. C. (2020). Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in Human Behavior, 104(3), 2–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.106160
Dove. (2016, January 11). Respecting & Looking after yourself. Dove UK. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://www.dove.com/ca/en/dove-self-esteem-project/help-for-parents/respecting-and-looking-after-yourself.html
Hollis, R. B., & Was, C. A. (2016). Mind wandering, control failures, and social media distractions in online learning. Learning and Instruction, 42(3), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.01.007
Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more Fomo: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751–768. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751
Kelly, Y., Zilanawala, A., Booker, C., & Sacker, A. (2018). Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health: Findings from the UK millennium cohort study. EClinicalMedicine, 6(3), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2018.12.005
Schønning, V., Hjetland, G. J., Aarø, L. E., & Skogen, J. C. (2020). Social media use and mental health and well-being among adolescents – a scoping review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(3), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01949
Sperling, J. (2022, January 21). The social dilemma: Social media and your mental health. Here’s How Social Media Affects Your Mental Health | McLean Hospital. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health
Yazdavar, A. H., Mahdavinejad, M. S., Bajaj, G., Romine, W., Sheth, A., Monadjemi, A. H., Thirunarayan, K., Meddar, J. M., Myers, A., Pathak, J., & Hitzler, P. (2020). Multimodal Mental Health Analysis in Social Media. PLOS ONE, 15(4), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226248