In today’s world, social media is a huge part of most teens’ lives. While it may seem harmless at first, the reality is that social media has a serious negative impact on the mental health of teenagers. Social media is seen as a positive addition to people’s lives by many. An Education Week article claims that social media is a way to connect with others and learn about yourself, as well as a lifeline for those experiencing a difficult time in person. While it is true that social media brings positivity, it is outweighed by the negative opposite effects. Spending too much time on these platforms can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
One of the main issues with social media is cyberbullying. Unlike traditional, in-person bullying, cyberbullying can happen anywhere with the easily accessible internet. About one in five teenagers experience some form of online bullying, according to the Cyberbullying Research Center. The anonymity of people on the internet and the ability to disguise distasteful comments as jokes allow people to say hurtful things without bearing consequences. Dhanyaal Omar, a student at Pennridge High School, stated ”I think cyberbullying is much more prevalent than in-person bullying. It has become some kind of norm and people cover it as a joke or a troll, and I have seen that it has become sort of a trend in itself.” Through the normalization of bullying on the internet, the effects it has are underlooked. These effects include decreased self-esteem leading, to feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression, or even worse, self-harming thoughts. “I feel like it all leads to the rise in insecurities and lack of self-confidence. When people are experiencing hate, especially for things they can’t control, it impacts them negatively, causing depression, major insecurities, or worse. There’s this girl who I saw on Tiktok, who committed suicide last year from getting bullied on social media and in person, and it made me stop and think about the impact that words have,” said Dhanyaal Omar.
Social media can also be addictive, which is especially harmful to teens who are still developing emotionally and mentally. Research from the University of Penn shows that too much time on social media can make people feel less happy and more anxious. Teenagers who spend more time online usually miss out on sleep, in-person socialization, and schoolwork on the extreme end. Along with the negative mental health effects of social media, behavioral effects also take place. “I think that everyone who routinely engages with social media has behavioral changes, whether it’s extremely noticeable or not. We are all influenced by the way other people act on the internet, from social media slang to trends that we see people doing,” said Pennridge student Kayla Pruss. It is natural for people to emulate the actions of others, which is why people need to act as if they are setting an example for everyone to follow.
When people on social media act the way they do, people who find social media addictive can easily follow those examples. For example, social media slang and cyberbullying spread, becoming a trend to some people, as previously mentioned. Ultimately, the time spent on social media platforms should be shortened and the awareness of its harmful effects needs to increase.