As more and more social media sites become available, the younger generation spends multiple hours communicating behind screens and lose the valuable resource to talk face-to-face. With the use of social media, teenagers and adults get the opportunity to network and stay in touch with long distance family and friends. Social media is a great tool to learn about upcoming events in the community or showing off pictures of an important event. However, teenagers are now using social media to compete with each other. Who can get the most likes on a status is an unfortunately relevant question in almost every adolescent mind. The feeling of getting left out and feeling like you do not belong is ruining lives of so many young children. As a young adult, I have seen many cases where social media has negatively effected the lives of other adolescence's. The over and incorrect use of social media is a major cause of adolescences developing an eating disorder, becoming depressed, and having suicidal thoughts and intentions. 

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat, and more are becoming more widely used by every demographic and age group. Between the years 2008 and 2009, the amount of hours' people spent on Facebook rose 700 percent. The amount of people in the United States who used social media in 2008 was only 30 percent and in less than a year, 72 percent of American made a Facebook account (White). Social media has a lot of positive aspects that are making the lives of users easier. Dave Parrack believes "it has never been easier to make friends than right now, Mainly thanks to social networking sites" (Parrack). Once a person has these "internet friends," there is limitless possibilities on interacting with them. Sharing personal stories on Facebook, good or bad, can allow someone to congratulate or show empathy to any given person as needed. Without Facebook, a friend could be struggling with an issue someone else might have gone through and they can offer insight and guidance for the friend. Also, using social media allows a person to have speedy communication with people all around the world. Family living in other countries can easily stay connected in each others lives in matter of seconds. Social media brings many positive things to light if it is used in moderation. The problem with today, is teens are spending countless hours abusing the power of social media to bully or compare themselves to others. If teens spent their time sharing positive stories and messages instead of bullying and leaving negative comments, the internet can be a better place for everyone involved. 

Eating disorders are a side effect to prolonged time spent using social media sites. The issue of "body shaming" is prevalent on every site and is leading to an increase in binge eating, dieting, and fasting. Body Shaming includes commenting on a person's body and weight. Many people believe body shamming only deals with people who are over weight, but it can also include making fun of a persons features.  In college-aged women, eleven to twenty percent of women suffer from an eating disorder. An online survey asked 128 college-aged women to measure their eating disorder. Questions asked included, "Facebook intensity, online physical appearance comparison, online fat talk, body mass index, depression, anxiety, perfectionism, impulsivity, and self-efficacy" (Walker). The eating disorder aspect to this survey included a self0reporting assessment on their eating behaviors over the past 28 days. The global score is calculated by using the average dietary restraint and weight concerns to indicate sever eating disorders. The intensity scale was a .92. Facebook intensity was defined as a person who uses Facebook in her daily life and would feel upset if Facebook shut down. It also factored in the amount of Facebook "friends" and the amount spent online. The score on the scale was an .87 meaning most women have great Facebook intensity. The online physical appearance scale asked questions to see if the best way for a woman to determine if they are over or under weight is to compare themselves to a picture of someone else. "Higher scores indicated greater physical appearance comparison," and the score on the scale was a .78. According to this survey, college-aged women are more likely to experience eating disorders and are intensely using Facebook to compare themselves to other women. "Blogilates" posted a YouTube video to show how mean comments can negatively effect a persons mental and physical health. The video starts with a woman, Cassey Ho, posting a picture of herself on the internet. Within seconds she is getting "body shaming" comments about her love handles. Next, Cassey is given the opportunity to "fix" them. After she agreed to use the machine to thin her stomach, Cassey began to make other dramatic changes to her arms and legs to achieve a body she thought was perfect. Cassey stated that it is "hard to be content with the shape of your body when people are constantly telling you how fat you are" (Blogilates). The purpose of this video is to battle body shaming and cyber bullying that is found on social media websites. It is hard for young women to be happy when negativity surrounds them. 

Other negative effects of social media include depression. According to World Health Organization, it is estimated that 300 million people are suffering from depression (Choudhury). A term being more widely used is "Facebook depression" (Gordon). Gordon is a news editor and journalist who has worked with HealthDay for almost 15 years. Although she does not have a medical degree, she writes on depression issues and uses doctors as references and often quotes them directly. She believes that technology is ruining the lives of teenagers. Gordon sees the positive side of social media because kids "do not have a safe place to hangout like their parents did," however, adolescence are not using social media correctly. Signs of depression include change in sleeping and eating habits, mood swings, and isolation. These symptoms are more likely seen when a teen spends multiple hours on Facebook. This is now known as "Facebook depression" (Gordon). In 2012, a survey collected data of 516 families who had two adolescents between 10 and 15 years old. This survey examined adolescents to look at the correlation between engaging in online activities and receiving negative peer feedback. Receiving negative comments from peers, can emotionally damage a younger person. The study suggested that adolescents are more likely to receive backlash from peers if they post and have risky behavior online. Risky behavior is defined as a person who post "pictures of oneself with a strong focus on sexuality and physical attractiveness" (Kourtamanis). Age and sex also have an effect on the amount of adolescents that received backlash. Girls were more likely to have negative comments, however, they normally posted riskier pictures than boys. "Early and middle adolescents (12 -- 15 years old) may be more likely to receive negative online feedback than pre- (10 -- 11 years old) and late adolescents (16 -- 18 years old)," because there is an increase in risky behavior in the younger generation (Kourtamanis). According to the results, eight percent of adolescents reported receiving negative feedback. Although this may seem like a low number, "the small group was characterized as by more risky online behavior" (Kourtamanis). This source could be biases because they used research and data to back up an idea they had in the first place. If adolescents were monitored online, they may not post such risky images which would lower the chances of negative feedback. Another study was performed looking at a persons use of social media who is already diagnosed with a depression disorder in order to identify signs of depression which could dramatically benefit the population. 476 users who has been diagnosed with depression from September 2011 to June 2012 agreed to have their twitters monitored. The amount of replies, retweets, and time of day they performed these activities were recorded. It also looked for depression related terms. The findings of the study "showed that individuals with depression lower social activity, greater negative emotion," and appeared to use social networking more frequently (Choudhury). 

If a person suffers with depression for a long period of time, the chances of suicide rise dramatically. Suicide is currently rising higher than ever. The number ten leading cause of deaths in America is suicide and it is costing about $44 billion per year in the US. On average there is about 117 suicides per day, and for every 25 attempted suicide, there is one actual suicide. "Females attempted suicide three times more often than men," however men account for 7 out of 10 suicides (Suicide). Youth are more likely to attempt suicide than adults. Some attempted suicides go unreported, however "surveys suggest that at least one million people in the US each year engage in intention inflicting self-harm." In the year 2014, South Carolina ranked number 23 out of all the states in suicide numbers. The average age of suicide was 15.13. This website also offers facts about every state in the US with a breakdown of deaths per age group and amount of money it cost the state. There is also a graph from the year 2005 to 2014 and every year the rate of suicides has increased (Suicide). Severe depression can lead to suicide according to David D. Luxton, PhD, who wrote "Social Media and Suicide: A Public Health Perspective. Luxton states that many schools and colleges are starting to raise social media awareness and talk about privacy and other issues that may circle this topic. With proper education, this could save lives. Luxton has written many articles relating to suicide and suicide prevention. The biases that Luxton may have stem from that fact that his career is mainly centered around the US Military. Soldiers are faced with PSD and depression all the time so his research in children online is not his main focus. Another study was performed in 2015 to prove that Internet use is damaging the health of many adolescents. The study used data collected from the parents of depressed teens. The amount of hours an adolescent spent online and the relationship between the parent and the child were taking into account. The conclusion from the study shows many parents "felt that prolonged exposure to [social media] exposed their already vulnerable child to additional stressors and risk" (Luxton).  If a child is already suffering with major mental health problems, spending time comparing themselves and opening themselves up to receive negative comments can take a minor depression and turn it into suicidal thoughts and intentions. 

Depression, suicide, and eating disorders can effect a person numerous of ways and can be caused by a wide source of things. David D. Luxton, PhD, wrote about "Social Media and Suicide: A Public Health Perspective." Luxton states that there is an undeniable increase in the amount of activity on social media. However, there is also an increase in suicide rates. Doctor Luxton agrees that it is very difficult to test social media to see if it is a factor in recent spike in rates, however the connection seems to be very strong. There could be other risk factors that may not be accounted for which is why it is difficult to conclude that social media is a direct cause of suicide. However, just because it is difficult to prove does not mean there is not an undeniable connection between the two increasing rates. The amount of people suffering with depression, suicide, and eating disorders will continue to rise if our social media habits do not change. Logging into social media when bored or frequently throughout the day will only lead to the worsening of these disorders. Social media should be used in moderation to stay connected with distant friends and family.

There is an undeniable increase in the amount of depression and suicide rates, as well as an increase in the amount of social media users. Adolescent's who are growing up using social media are not getting adequate training on how to deal with bullies and not abuse the power of these websites. Prolong misuse of theses tools can lead a young adult to depression, and if symptoms are not noticed, suicidal thoughts and intentions can be more relevant. It is important for adolescents to understand the benefits and risks before logging onto a website. Parents should also monitor children for bullying other, or posting status that sound gloomy and depressed. With proper training and monitoring, the amount of suicidal attempts can be significantly lowered and the internet can once again be a happy place to share good memories with loved ones. 

