Literature Review - Callie Riley
Literature Review - Callie Riley
Literature Review - Callie Riley
Callie Riley
Professor Freeland
English 1201-505
19 Mar. 2022
How does social media affect the mental health of young people?
Young people around the world are constantly on social media chatting with friends,
sharing their own posts, and viewing the posts of others. As great as social media is for staying in
touch with others, the negative aspects tend to outweigh the positives when it comes to mental
health. Mental health issues among young adults and adolescents are a rising problem. Therefore,
the question arises, how does social media affect the mental health of young people?
Modern social media is relatively new, considering that the internet that we know was
only invented in 1969, according to Ralph Olliges, a writer from the Journal of Philosophy and
History of Education (1). Olliges’s purpose for writing the article was to inform people of the
history of the internet and technology. No one at the time of the invention of the internet had any
idea that social media would spring from it, not to mention how it would affect people in the
long run. Now, studies from Mental Health Weekly Digest, a mental health news publication
company, have shown that social media is one of the top causes of mental health problems and
suicide in young adults. This study was done to spread awareness of the risks social media poses
on teens, specifically girls. (“10-year study shows elevated suicide risk from excess social media
Many researchers have developed the similar idea that too much time on social media
causes increased risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health illnesses. Michelle O’Reilly,
a writer and researcher for the Journal of Mental Health, states that 99% of adolescents are
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online for 21 hours per week at least (1). Constantly being on social media can cause addiction.
Being addicted to social media and spending too much time aimlessly scrolling can cause anxiety
from having to go without it, and depression. Furthermore, Vikram R. Bhargava and Manual
Velasquez, philosophical writers and professors at Cambridge, found that most people addicted
to social media are among younger users (6). Both studies were intended to find different ways
Another repeating idea among researchers is that young adolescents have access to any
information on social media. This can seriously affect mental health, as they can be exposed to
inappropriate, serious, or hurtful content that influences them in harmful ways. Tatum Hunter, a
writer for the Washington Post, interviewed a young adult whose mental health was affected by
social media. He wrote that some teens may see things that they do not want to see, such as
weight loss ads or inappropriate and vulgar images (Hunter). A study by Lindsay H. Dewa, a
doctor specializing in mental health research, showed that young adults and adolescents are
exposed to negative content on social media (44). For example, pro-anorexia forums, videos
including violence, posts of self-harm, romanticizing suicide, and instructions on how to kill
yourself were all able to be accessed and seen on social media. Dewa and Hunter’s findings were
both found in separate ways, Hunter’s being through interviews and Dewa’s through research,
but they both found the same idea and had the same purpose.
Low self-esteem is another major effect that social media poses on young people. Seeing
celebrities and influencers have perfect lives and ideal body types makes teens and adolescents
feel bad about themselves and lowers their self-confidence. Teens are constantly surrounded by
expectations of what they should look like on social media, which puts pressure on them to be
“perfect.” However, a lot of celebrities' pictures are manipulated and edited, as found by Anna
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Behrmann, a writer and researcher for the Times in the UK. These self-image problems can cause
a variety of issues in both boys and girls, including low self-esteem, eating disorders, and
depression (Hunter).
Some topics regarding social media use among young people are quite controversial. Not
all parents monitor their children the same, as some let their kids do whatever they want with
their social media while other parents are extremely strict with it. Some researchers say that
parents should constantly be checking their children’s phones, have access to their accounts, and
limit their time on social media to teach them to be healthy social media users (“10-year study
shows elevated suicide risk from excess social media time in teen girls”). On the other hand,
some researchers believe that taking kids' phones and constantly monitoring them is not the
answer. This is because children can access social media from any device, some even get their
hands on another phone. Furthermore, these researchers believe that educating these teenagers of
the risks of social media and how to have more self-confidence is the answer (Hunter).
In conclusion, social media affects the mental health of young people by lowering
self-esteem, exposing them to content that can be harmful, and developing social media
addictions. All these effects produce the same outcomes; depression, anxiety, eating disorders,
bad body image, etc. in young adults and adolescents. Other than these effects, cyberbullying and
appearance editing apps, or FOMO (fear of missing out) could be other ways social media affects
Works Cited
Behrmann, Anna. “Teenagers Blame Social Media for Anxiety over Body Image.” Times, The
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=7EH139861153&site
=eds-live.
Bhargava, Vikram R., and Manuel Velasquez. “Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of
Social Media Addiction.” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 3, July 2021, pp.
Dewa, Lindsay H., et al. “Young Adults’ Perceptions of Using Wearables, Social Media and
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222655.
Hunter, Tatum. “For Teens, Navigating the Mental Health Pitfalls of Instagram Is Part of
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.679703951
&site=eds-live.
Olliges, Ralph. “A Brief History of the Internet.” Journal of Philosophy & History of Education,
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=149427369&site=eds
-live.
O’Reilly, Michelle. “Social Media and Adolescent Mental Health: The Good, the Bad and the
Ugly.” Journal of Mental Health, vol. 29, no. 2, Apr. 2020, pp. 200–06. EBSCOhost,
https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2020.1714007.
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“10-year study shows elevated suicide risk from excess social media time for teen girls." Mental
Health Weekly Digest, 22 Feb. 2021, p. 66. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A652566215/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=a