ayThroughout the generations technology has rapidly evolved, changing the way we live and think everyday. In recent years social media has become a platform of expressing oneself therefore creating a need/desire for attention or pride towards our social media profiles (Seabrook, Kern, & Rickard, (2016). Social media is multiple platforms to connect and interact with other users. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter are the main platforms most individuals use. Social media has been used many ways to promote, advertise, support and insult individuals, products, religions and many other things. Exposure to positive and negative influence of social media one must think the effect it has on your mental health. According to research on average 19 to 32 year olds use social media 61 minutes a day (Hurst, G. (2013). The research said there was a significant association between depression and social media use, with participants who spent a long time on social media having 1.7 times the increased risk of a mental health problems (Seabrook, Kern, & Rickard (2016). More and more cases of individuals, religious faculties or other events have been broadcasted on social media producing a greater risk on the individual’s mental health. Cyber bullying is another culprit of increasing risk of individual’s mental health (O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). With social media being so accessible to everyone it’s a lot easier to communicate negative feelings or hate speech towards others. Social media can affect individuals sleeping patterns and can cause an increase of risk in mental health problems. Another aspect of how social media can increase risk of mental health problems is that humans need social interactions to help regulate emotions (Sidani, Shensa, Radovic, Miller, Colditz, Hoffman, & Primack 2016). However recent research suggests conflicting results as social media does have a correlation that increases and decreases risk of mental health problems (Sidani, Shensa, Radovic, et al., 2016). Future research needs to be conducted with a solid direction of its research otherwise will leave the readers confused (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014). However there is no doubt an outcome of how social media can increase risk of mental health problems.
Texting and social media are the most commonly used sites for cyber bullying victimization (Whittaker, & Kowalski (2015). Like traditional bullying, cyber bullying is an act of aggression intended to cause distress or harm (O'Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson (2011). Cyber Bullying has two sides of the spectrum either the victim or the perpetrator. One study found that many students reported that their first experience with cyber bullying occurred throughout college, high school, and middle school (Whittaker, & Kowalski (2015). Social Media is just a doorway towards cyber bullying causing an increased risk of individuals mental health problems. Cyber bullying can occur with any demographic, and with an increase use of social media apps it can cause risk to mental health problems (Whittaker, & Kowalski (2015). Social media is an easily accessible multidimensional platform in which has no limits or regulations of what content is on the website (O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011).
Technology and social media has a big impact on everyday lives. Day to day internet use in general are relevant considering social media for young people spend 54% of their time on social media (Woods, & Scott (2016). Social media involves alerts depending on the option of their device. Incoming alerts during the night have a potential to disturb sleep. 86% of adolescents sleep with their phone in their bedrooms (Woods, & Scott (2016). These Constant incoming alerts can cause pressure to be available 24/7 and contribute of fear of missing out (Woods, & Scott (2016). Due to night-time sessions on social media digital screen exposure can disrupt ones circadian rhythm (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014). Circadian rhythm is important to us and can influence sleep-wake cycles, eating habits, digestion, and other important bodily functions. It can cause symptoms that range from feeling exhausted throughout the day or in severe cases depression (Woods, & Scott (2016). Sleep is a vital part of everyone’s life, without sleep or sufficient amount of sleep it can drastically change ones mood/ behavior. Over a long period of time this can cause a big increase of all sorts of problems. Sleep related problems involve all areas of life, including cognitive performance, emotional well being, physical well being and mental well being (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014). Without sleep everything within everyday life will drastically change for the individual.
Throughout time humans have always communicated each other face to face no matter what language barriers are there. Communication is more than just words, having face to face interaction helps you perceive feelings, tone, reactions and body language which can often be misunderstood through digital means (Grieve, Indian, Witteveen, Tolan, & Marrington (2013). The long-term consequences of limited face-to-face social interactions can increase a risk of mental health problems (Grieve, Indian, Witteveen, Tolan, & Marrington (2013). With social media slowly replacing face-to-face interactions one can see over time that the individual whom interacts more on social media can gradually become anxious or depressed (Grieve, Indian, Witteveen, Tolan, & Marrington (2013).
These findings provide a step forward on social media and its effect on mental health. However the research supports both claims of it having a positive impact as well as a negative impact. The evidence suggests that social media use correlates with an increased risk for mental health problems; however, whether this effect is rather than causation not yet solid (Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch, & Bartels, (2016). Research suggests that social media does have a negative but also a positive effect on mental health (Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch, & Bartels, (2016). A mixed finding suggests future research within these studies additionally focusing on its limitations. The most common limitation throughout the research was the methodology with the participants’ gender and age as well as not accommodating non English speaking participants (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014). According to recent analysis females tend to use social media sites more; experience poorer sleep, lower self-esteem and experience increased levels of depression and anxiety (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014). Similarly, older participants have the same findings, thus further research should investigate any gender or age difference in how social media use relates to mental health (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014).
This critical evaluation interpreted its research findings displaying the increased risk of social media on mental health. These influences are only some factors to a grand scheme of social media and technology. Evidence suggests that social media and mental health are premised upon specific factors of online activity rather than variables such as number of friends online or amount of time (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014). An abundance of research of this topic is vast however contradictory. These correlational findings, future research needs to establish a specific direction of such evidence (Best, Paul, Manktelow, &Taylor (2014). This is vital to progress our knowledge of how social media can impact on the overall wellbeing, in order to create beneficial social media practices.
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