As a kid born in 1998, I have grown up in the time of social media.  Social media has been consistently growing over the last ten to fifteen years.  Social media is a topic close to my heart because I’ve always had to deal with it.  Going through adolescence is hard enough, but going through it with the endless amount of social media is even harder.  I feel like my generation spent less time outside and more time on our cell phones.  I could tell you the exact number of Instagram followers I have, and my most liked picture, but I couldn’t tell you my best friend’s favorite color.  I remember one time I cried to my mom because I found out I hadn’t been invited to a friend’s birthday party.  It was posted all over Facebook, and I was devastated.  At the time, I was much younger, but I can still remember thinking that I wish I hadn’t even found out about the party.  The only reason I knew about the party was because of social media.  At the time I didn’t know how to process it, I felt as though it was a cruel deliberate action.  I was jealous, insecure, and had self-esteem issues.  As I matured, I learned how to better filter through social media, but even today it can still affect me.  Social media is a great way to connect with people, but it is also a platform to doubt yourself and compare yourself to others.  It can become an obsession.  As a girl, I can especially relate to the constant comparisons that social media can cause.  “Why don’t I look like her?”  “Why aren’t I as skinny as her?”  “Why don’t I have as many friends?”  These are all examples of questions that social media can bring up.  Social media can set unrealistic beauty standards and change the way people perceive themselves.  Social media can contribute to depression, eating disorders, and even suicide.

For years, people have discussed the ways images we see in media impact the way we perceive ourselves, but now with the rise of social media in the last ten years, it has become even more apparent.  Social media and media in general can be altered and unrealistic.  These images that people see, are what they think they should look like and what they think they should be doing.  Editing apps, such as Facetune, claim to smooth skin, remove blemishes, and even make one appear skinnier (Crain, 2).  This app can be used to achieve that “perfect” Instagram picture.  This can become a problem when these filtered Instagram feeds turn into a reality for people.  People believe what they see, and if they are seeing perfect bodies and perfect faces on Instagram, they are going to believe that is normal, and that they are the exception.  Social media is everywhere; it is at our fingertips.  There is no way to avoid the media, so it is important to learn how to filter through it.  The general public has access to as much data as they want. Cell phones have become a replacement for traditional forms of media such as newspapers and magazines (Crain, 2).  This constant influx of media can cause body image issues to form.  

Women especially are more likely to become insecure and have lower self-esteem due to social media.  For instance, a Dove study showed that “women are fifty percent more likely to say something negative (rather than positive) about themselves on social media” (Lo, 1).  The other statistic stated in the Dove study was that women wrote more than five million negative tweets in 2014 (Lo, 1).  Both statistics show how social media can cause a harmful effect on one’s self-esteem.  Women are writing in negatively about both themselves and others.  This negative community can cause a ripple effect into mental illnesses such as depression and or eating disorders (Lindholm).  Negativity is contagious.  If somebody leaves a negative comment, it is going to spread, and that can increase the insecurities and self-doubt caused by social media.  

The ripple effect caused by social media can be detrimental.  A recent study by Naomi Marmorstein found that depression starting in early adolescence can predict obesity several years later in girls (Tran, 1).  The depression can be linked to social media usage.  The more time one spends on social media cites, the more likely they are to become depressed at some point in their lives (Tran, 3).  The chain effect does not stop there, but it continues since girls with obesity have been scientifically linked with having lower grades than girls who are not depressed or obese (Tran, 3).  Not only are you likely to become depressed, but obesity comes with its own set of health risks.  These issues can have lasting consequences. Young girls and boys are impressionable.  What they see on media, is what they believe to be true.  These unrealistic expectations can not only cause depression, but even more problems down the road.

The age at which children are becoming involved in social media is getting younger and younger.  Madison Crain, in her article, “How Social Media Affects Body Image”, talks about how, “more and more children are becoming sucked into the glitz and glamour of social media, and the ages that children are beginning to experience discomfort with their bodies is lowering” (Crain, 2).  For instance, “88 percent of American teens ages thirteen to seventeen had access to a mobile phone, and 73 percent had smartphones” (Sales, 14).  This is a huge number of teens, who are now constantly connected to media.  The clinic, Park Nicollet Melrose Center, specializes in treating dysfunctional body image and eating disorders, and said that, “there may be a direct correlation to the amount of time spent using social media” (Crain, 2).  Crain also discusses a study called “Body Image Issues among Girls and Women”.  The study founded that twenty percent of nine year olds and forty percent of fourteen year olds admitted to wanting to lose weight (Crain, 2).  The same study found that half of the sampled girls ages six to eight also wanted to be slimmer (Crain, 2).  Most of the girls in this study were at a healthy normal weight for their age (Crain, 2).  Children are using more social media at a younger age, and they do not know how to filter through it.  They see people wanting to lose weight, or talking about being skinny, so that is what they want to do.  This creates an early obsession with body image, which can result in unhealthy mental habits as well as future eating disorders.  Kids are no longer being kids, but obsessing over things they should not be.

Social media is becoming an addiction, and teenagers are the ones who reap the most negative side effects. In 2015, the most popular apps for girls included: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest (Sales, 16).  All these applications are visually orientated and the ones girls liked best.  Sales in her book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers wrote about how, “Girls talk[ed] about the dopamine jolt they would get when they got likes on their posts and photos” (16).  The girl’s interviews also spoke about the “feeling of letdown they get when their posts are ignored…or ridiculed” (Sales, 16).  This rollercoaster ride of emotions creates a sense of addiction for the teenagers, and they are always striving to get more likes, more followers, and more recognition.  The girls will talk about how “social media is ruining their life”, yet they still refuse to get off of it (Sales, 55).  These feelings of excitement cause an addiction for these young girls. 

Social media sites all show the highlights in people lives, but many people do not process that.  This can cause envy, which in turn can lead to depression.  For example, social media use can be particularly damaging when it occurs in the form of passive browsing (Schacter, 6).  Passive browsing is when users spend time on sites like Facebook and Instagram exclusively looking at other people’s photos and profile content (Schacter, 6).  This kind of activity can cause feelings of jealousy, inadequacy, and loneliness.  This can also hurt friendships because one may feel excluded.  For example, you see a picture of all your friends at a party.  This is going to cause you to ask, “Why wasn’t I invited?”.  This in turn can increase social anxiety, which can lead to even more serious problems such as depression (Schacter, 6).  This type of anxiety has picked up the slogan “FOMO” which stands for fear of missing out.  Research has found that individuals who experience increased levels of “FOMO” spend more time on Facebook and experience more negative moods (Valkenburg, 23).  

Social media sites also increase comparisons, which can result in more social anxiety (Schacter, 7).  For example, viewing profile pictures of attractive people causes more negative emotions than viewing photos of less attractive people (O’Keeffe, Clarke-Pearson, 20).  Most profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook often only portray positive viewings of the users, so teens who engage in social comparisons online may feel like everyone is happier than them, when in reality that may not be the case.  This feeling may be especially pronounced for teens already feeling less popular among their peers. This would make them more likely to experience signs of depression.  

Social media is considered a great way to communicate and connect with people, but it is also distorting the way people communicate in real life.  People are getting more and more comfortable online, but they are unable to speak in person.  There is also a breakdown of language that can be contributed to social media.  People tend to be far bolder with what they say online, then what they would say in person.  Even though it promotes social connections, it actually leads to more isolation and loneliness (O’Keeffe, Clarke-Pearson, 29).  Facebook can contribute to the growing sense of isolation because when one logs into the site you are immediately, “confronted with the abundance of people’s lives humming along without you, complete with photos of trips, friends and gatherings you’re not going on” (Ascharya, 1).  By going through the feed, one can feel their own inadequacies in their social life, which can cause a feeling of more loneliness.  

Some may argue that access to social media can be a key part of recovery from depression and anxiety (Ring 1).  Depression rates in teenagers are growing and approximately five to eight percent of teens attempt suicide yearly, with even more thinking about it (Ring 1).  Social media can be used as an outlet for teenagers, and certain sites such as Instagram and Tumblr support positivity and allow for teenagers to interact with each other (Ring, 2).  For example, if you look up depression on Tumblr, it will bring up a page that asks if you are okay and gives numbers and resources for help.  It is a place where people with depression, can come together and voice their feelings.  Social networks can also help businesses, since traditional forms of marketing can cost thousands of dollars.  However, using social media, businesses can connect with their target clients for free.  The other positive of social media is that it is a place where people can come together, such as bloggers, writers, and creators.  The creators are able to promote their work, because their readers can share their work on their own individual social media sites.  This will cause more people to share and see their work, increasing their publicity.  Yes, these are all positive uses of social media, but do they outweigh the negatives?  Social media does serve a purpose, if used properly and with caution.  The problem with social media today is over usage.  The overuse of social media can lead to a variety of problems previously discussed.  Social media is not evil, but it is important to know the risks and negatives associated with it.  Social media can lead to addiction.  People can become obsessed with the amounts of likes and followers they have.

It is important to know the risks associated with social media because it is not going anywhere.  Each year, social media is getting bigger and more sites are being created.  Kids are starting to use social media at a younger age, and they are reaping the most negative side effects.  They have no way to sort through social media, and they are extremely impressionable.  Kids believe what they see, which means they believe everything on social media.  The youth is the most at risk, and it is important for them to know how to use social media and how to filter through it.  Depression rates are growing, and the linkage to social media can be drawn.  Overuse of social media can increase depression, create body image issues, and lower self-esteem.  These are serious problems that can have a lasting effect.  Social media may seem like a fun pastime, but it can have serious consequences.  It is important to be informed about social media, and to know what you are getting into.  

The solution to these issues is to be aware of social media, and to educate people about it.  We need to teach children to not focus on what they are seeing, and to know that social media can be altered.  Everything is about how we perceive it, so if we choose to see the media as what it truly is, then there would be less insecurities among social media.  People need to understand that social media is meant to only highlight the positives of one’s life, and that their profiles showcase that.  We need to educate people on social media, and how to use it properly.  People need to learn to take social media with a grain of salt.  Not everything in life is perfect, but social media is only what people want others to see.  Nobody wants to post about a terrible day they are having, so it is crucial to acknowledge this idea and use it to filter through social media.  If people knew the problems associated with social media, they would be less likely to experience them.  Finally, people need to promote positivity on social media.  Spreading positivity would cause a ripple effect, leading more and more people to be positive online.  Everyone deals with the same things on the internet, so it is important to do your part to help.

I wish I had known how to filter through social media growing up, it would have saved me a lot of pain.  Social media is still changing, but it is important to know who you are, and how you want people to perceive yourself.  What you put on social media, can affect someone else.  You may not think of it, but it can.  It is important to see all angles of social media.  The idea of perfection is unrealistic, so promote being real! Be true to yourself on social media, and continue to promote positivity.  
