        Mass media over recent years has evolved into various different forms. It went from newspapers and radios. To television and social media. These source are not only used for information but also for pleasure. The form of media used the most for pleasure is social media sites. These sites include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumbler, Snapchat, and many others. Social Media is used as an outlet for younger generations to express their likes and dislikes, showcase their creativity, connect with friends, and to meet new people around the world that has the same interest as them. This thing that is meant to be fun and social is negatively affecting the mental health of the young generation from causing and prolonging problems like anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Through cyberbullying, addiction to social media, and a fear of missing out.

Social media has become a huge deal because we are living in the age of technology. People are now able to access it anywhere, anytime from devices like computers, cell phones, tablets, and etc. Having constant access to social media has a negative effect on not only  adults but also on their young adolescent offspring physically and mentally. Many teens' world wide access social media all throughout the day and right before they go to bed. According to the thesis of Amelia Strickland " 84% of people are 18-29 year olds on Facebook"(Uedorie 1)  This is a problem because some teens may develop the need to constantly be on social media, and when they are unable to access social media they tend to get anxiety. By constantly engaging online teens are less likely to interact with their family. Doing so they miss out on the genuine love and support they get from their family members, they also are consumed with the virtual reality and the sense of encouragement they get from social media. A study was done in England to analyze social media effect on teens mentally. The results concluded, "The more teens engaged with social media and the more they were emotionally invested in site participation, the greater the risk for impaired sleep, poor self-esteem, depression and/or anxiety" (Mozes 1). The over use of social media can not only lead to dependency but a variety of "side effects". Lack of sleep can affect teens both mentally and physically. June Udorie stated that "Research has shown that teenagers need 9.5 hours of sleep each night" Not getting enough sleep can cause a person to lack energy, which makes it hard to continue through their long day. A person body tends to drag when they have not gotten enough sleep, this is a symptoms of depression. These two factors sleep and depression feed off one another.

Social media is a primary breeding ground for cyberbullying. Although a cyberbully antagonizes their victims behind a computer screen "they" still has a very real effect on its victims. Internet safety has become a big issue, According to journalist Caitlin Probst organizations like "Enough is enough, conducted a survey that found 95% of teenagers who use social media have witnessed cyberbullying, and 33% have been victims themselves"(Degreed 1) A teen who is being cyber bullied can be caused to have low self-esteem therefore, having self image issues and making it increasingly difficult for the individual to love his or her self. When they start to feel this way they tend to find their lives meaningless to not only to themselves but others. Thoughts like that lead to things like depression and suicidal tendencies .Which consist of someone who has a lot of anxiety, someone who drinks or uses drugs in an excessive amount. Also watch out for things like randomly purchasing a firearm or alarming internet searches. A CNN article stated "Victims of cyberbullying are almost twice as likely to have attempted suicides compared with adolescents who were not the target of online attacks" (Wallace 1). An act of cyberbullying does not have to be done by one single person. It can occur at the hands of a group of people, which makes the act even more vicious. This may cause the teen to feel that the whole world is against him or her. Which can lead to the adolescent becoming depressed or anxious all the time.  In the world we live in once something is posted on the internet everyone is able to see the post. You are unable to take back the post even if you delete it, because it will instantaneously be seen by someone. Most families are unaware that their child is being cyberbullied because another effect of social media causes its user to be distant from those living outside of the virtual world they are being consumed by. Bullying can not only lead to these things but can effects the teen's academic life. Because of anxiety and depression caused by cyberbullying the victims attendance in school drops and also the teens grades drop. When they are unable to focus because of the problems they are having online.

Social media is used by a large portion of the world's population. Therefore it has a large influence over its users. By displaying various things like ads, games, and commercials on their sites they can increase the support and clientele for the companies and products they are promoting. Because adolescents are so easily influenced and shaped by the world around them. When the content on social media starts glamorizing mental health issues like eating disorders, depression, and self-harm teens may began following suite. Self harm is classified by anxiety.org as "cutting, bruising, or otherwise hurting yourself as a way of coping with emotional and mental issues" (anxiety.org). It becomes a major issue because teens see these glamorized version of these issues and think it is socially acceptable or cool to partake in these kind of activities. These issues are being glamorized through trending pictures and hashtags all over social media.  It is the same effect for drugs and alcohol "Scientists at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse surveyed more than 1,000 children aged between 12 and 17 via an online poll and another 1,000 by telephone. They found those who spent any time on social networks each day were five times as likely to smoke as those who didn't visit them. They were also three times more likely to drink alcohol and had double the chance of smoking cannabis" These ads that are being promoted by social media are hurting their users instead of helping them. By encouraging them to engage in activities like self harm, and eating disorder which cause not only your mental state to deteriorate but also your body  These negative effects of social media are affecting teens global wide.

FOMO or fear of missing out can also affect the mental health of social media users.  FOMO is when someone feels pressure to be involved in everything that is occurring at all times. Which can lead to an enormous amount of pressure to be present on social media at all times.  According to WebMD Glasgow university conducted a study with "467 study participants who were questioned about their social media habits ...  and how much pressure they felt to be available to respond to social media and how much anxiety they felt when they couldn't do" (WebMD) These result concluded that "The more teens engaged with social media and the more they were emotionally invested in site participation, the greater the risk for impaired sleep, poor self-esteem, depression and/or anxiety" (WebMD). A fear of missing out also cause teens to compare themselves and their lives to those of others.  Which can lead to insecurities, if someone believes that someone else's life is more interesting and purposeful than their life is. It can cause them to think less of what they have. It also causes their self-confidence to drop and they may fall into a depression. Also when teens use social media to compare their appearance to those of others they make feel unsatisfied and develop body issues and eating disorders.

Social media can be a major problem because it can become addictive to its users. "Studies show that 63% of Americans log on to Facebook daily, and 40% log on multiple times each day".(Probst 1) By constantly focusing all your attention on being virtual present online can be a problem in the real world. Instead of the social media user focusing on their school work or other responsibilities all their attention is on how soon they can get back online. Some teens even try to multitask and do their school work while participating on social media. Studies have been conducted about multitasking research shows that "our brains do not have the capacity to fully focus our attention on two things at once, and instead multitasking causes our brain to quickly switch from one task to another. This hinders information processing and productivity" (Probst 1). Therefore the grades and job performances of teens are negatively affected. Social media addictive qualities can also cause loneliness. Since young adolescents' lives and attention is consumed by being present on social media. They are not concerned about connecting with others outside of the virtual world or even their families. This causes the adolescent to keep their family and friends at a distance. When the young adult is not able to access social media they may experience loneliness, ultimately affecting the state of their mental health when they feel that they do not have anyone to talk to.

Depression is a serious mental illness cause by change in the balance of brain chemicals.  The tell sign of someone who is depressed are: Moodiness, loss of interest in friends, family, and favorite activities including sex, sadness, hopelessness and angry outburst. (Depression tool kit.org). Depression can not only affect you mentally but also physically from gaining and losing weight to lacking energy, and change in sleep pattern. Sadly this serious issue is affecting many "According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in 2012, an estimated 2.2 million adolescents, or 9.1% of the U.S. teen population (ages 12 to 17), had at least one major depressive episode in the past year."(National Institute of Mental Health)

 Depression and other mental health issues are not only plaguing teens in the U.S. but teens all over the world. Depression can lead to other mental health issue like eating disorders because depression changes your appetite from normal to irregular. Depression can also lead to another major issue suicide. Since depression causes its victims to be distant from their loved ones and sad. It makes it easier for someone to not want to continue living. Someone who is depressed do not have anyone to express their transgressions to because they have pushed everyone away. So when they start to have suicidal thoughts they try to act upon them, because they no longer have anyone to tell them how much they are loved and cared about. Also how much it would hurt others if they were to depart from this world. According to CNN.com "Some 5% to 8% of U.S. teens attempt suicide yearly, with an additional 16% seriously considering suicide within the past 12 months ...  Suicide is the third leading cause of death of 15- to 24- year-olds, according to a 2012 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report."(Wallace 1) These statistics are very alarming because most likely everyone knows someone who has been suicidal whether or not they were successful in their attempt. When I was in high school this guy who was well known by everyone sadly decided to take his life only at twenty years old. No one would have ever thought that he would do such a thing but he was struggling with a serious mental health issue. Social media is not all negative it can not only cause depression but be a factor in helping it. Through social media young adolescents can find support groups made up of other teens who are going through the same emotional roller coaster as them. By doing this they will no longer feel like they are alone in the world. These support groups allow teens undergoing mental issues to connect and create a supportive community. By talking with one another it may give someone the will to live and go on another day.

Social media can have many more positive effects than just support groups. Instead of using its advertising power for harm, it can be used to make aware of important causes that are unknown to the public. Social media nowadays is also being used as a huge media outlet. Teens and adults are constantly on social media so it is a way to getting breaking news out immediately. Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram can be used to boost the confidence of their user by receiving positive reassuring comments from their fellow users. Social media can also be used as a helpful tool to help someone express empathy. Empathy online can be expressed by liking others post like their statuses and pictures. A study conducted by Larry Rosen, a professor of psychology, found that "being better at dispensing virtual empathy was the best predictor of being able to express real-world empathy" (Anxiety.org). This is a very important because real world empathy is even more important than virtual empathy for someone to feel supported. Social media also helps people stay connected with their friends and family who live far away. It is also used to connect with different groups like sports teams, churches, and etc. Social media can also be used as a creative outlet for teens. It is a way to display their creativity like drawings, paintings, poetry, and photography.  Social media is a way for people to connect with others who have the same interest as them. "It provides a place for adolescents to share their interests in art, music, games and blogs with others" (Barnes and Laird 1). By connecting with others who have the same interest as them can help someone who is shy come out of their shell. This is possible because by connecting through social media it is less threatening than being face to face interacting with someone.

Social media is part of the main cause of the negative effect on the mental health of teens but they are trying to also become a positive influence. Different social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler, and twitter are integrated pop up links to self-help websites and phone numbers to self-help hotlines. Battling mental health is not possible by oneself. "These networks often also partner with and promote services such as 7 Cups of Tea, a free online therapy service to provide listeners and assistance for struggling user's" (Anxiety.org).These pop ups become active if the user's search anything related to self-harm and other mental issues.

Anything that is supposed to be used as a means of pleasure or for any other reason can become a bad thing if it is overused. Like social media can become addictive, lead to cyber bullying, eating disorders, and depression. Even though all these things are true, social media should not be deemed wholly bad. It is very resourceful for helping teens express themselves in a positive way. Also to connect with others and to get information out quickly.  The world is forever changing and so is our technology. We have to develop new ways to make sure that our evolving technology is not destroying our minds and limiting us a race.

