Picture this- you have your phone in one hand scrolling through Instagram and a textbook in your lap. You are procrastinating writing a major essay, and social media is the most convenient way to distract yourself from tedious schoolwork. Sound familiar? As a student, I personally know I can relate to this. Social media is extremely popular in today’s society, and is a tempting break from reality. As social media becomes more popular, the numbers of issues that arise because of it continue to grow. According to an info graphic done by Neoteric UK, 51 percent of users say social media changed their life in a negative way, and 45 percent said they feel “worried or uncomfortable” when email and Facebook are inaccessible (Desreumaux 1). Each year, these percentages rise exponentially. It seems like everyone is an active social media user, and young people are starting to hop on the bandwagon. For this essay, I decided to research how social media mentally affects young adults. Because teenagers are still developing mentally and are more susceptible to mental health issues, the overuse of social media in this age group is dangerous. The use of social media in teenagers and young adults negatively effects mental health and can lead to depression, addiction, and unproductivity.

Many studies have been done to show that there is a positive relationship between social media use and depression. Social media allows users to post only the specific pieces of their lives that they want followers to see. This leads to social media users only posting statuses and pictures when it makes their life look better. People do this to boost confidence, but the consequences only causes more damage to others. Users think that what they see on someone’s online profile is all that is going on in the other person’s lives. Social media hides problems, and only focuses on the happy and fluffy components of life. People who tend to become depressed because of social media are those who can not see that social media provides a place for people to build a fantasy world, only showcasing small parts of their actual lives. Another factor that contributes to building this fantasy world is the amount of edits and filters available. Nothing seen on social media is raw, which gives unrealistic image. Everyone wants to be a part of this trend, and because of this, teenagers are wasting time on sites that cause more harm than good. Comparison is the thief of joy, and it is difficult to get online and not compare your life to other profiles. “Our brains fill in the blanks from snippets of someone’s life, based on their highlight reel. At the same time, we’re so caught up in our mundaneness and what’s lacking in our lives, it’s hard not to feel bad about ourselves- more so when we’re feeling vulnerable from depression”(Perpetua 1). This leads to a vicious cycle of unhappiness and increased depression rates among young adults. Teenagers have so many followers and friends on social media sites which increases vulnerability because of how much online activity they see each day.

Although it may sound surprising, social media can actually be just as addicting as a drugs or alcohol. According to a 2012 study posted on the National Institutes of Health website, "Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) ruins lives by causing neurological complications, psychological disturbances, and social problems." The first issue, neurological complications, is described by Dr. Newport, who claims that social media was designed to addictive. “The actual design desired use case of these tools is that you fragment your attention as much as possible throughout your waking hours. That’s how these tools are designed to use” (Newport).  By fragmenting our attention, we give ourselves small breaks from longer and more undesirable tasks. This causes the mind to keep thinking about the “reward” of glancing at social media for a few minutes. There have been brain-imaging studies done on this topic, and the studies found that severe Internet addicts show structural and functional brain abnormalities, similar to those of with other types of addiction. The psychological disturbances caused by social media are more personal, and are different for everyone. One common reason social media can be so addicting is because of something called “FOMO”, which stands for fear of missing out. “Everyone is on Facebook, They’re posting things, sharing news and content and talking to each other 24/7”(Elgan 3) Everyone wants to be informed in in the loop, so we check our phones as often as possible. Teenagers are the most at risk when it comes to social media addiction. They have more online friends than any other age group, which means they have much more to see online. When teenagers are away from the Internet for long periods of time, they often feel anxious and uneasy, which is all part of the underlying fear of missing out. The fear of missing out online causes teenagers to miss out on what is going on around them. Teenagers are missing out on great opportunities and are forgetting to live in the moment. It is ironic that what they believe is keeping them informed is what is preventing them from feeling real life experiences. 

Unproductivity is one of the more obvious negative social media impacts. There is a negative relationship between social media use and grades and obesity rates. Teenagers spend a majority of their time in the classroom or working on homework, so having social media available at all times is a great way to escape responsibilities. The more we use social media, the more we physically change our brains and make them less efficient. “Social media short-circuits the brain, we’re starting to find that it has actual cognitive consequences, one of them being the sort of pervasive background hum of anxiety”(Newport). This anxiety turns into a need to check the Internet, which then leads to permanent attention deficit problems. I was recently diagnosed which ADHD inattentive type, and the psychologist believes that this is in part due to my online activity. The constant feeling that I needed to check my phone was so distracting that it starting to affect my schoolwork. The impacts are real and biological, and it can happen to anyone. By taking periodical mental breaks, we increase the time it takes us to complete tasks. This can be an issue in high school, college, and the workplace. It is also important to acknowledge the physical affects of social media. Social media is allowing us to “live in a sedentary lifestyle that is more hazardous to our health than smoking”( Internet Use, Obesity, and Poor Health 1).  The correlation between social media use and obesity rates is very high, especially in the United States. People would much rather relax and scroll through Facebook than go to the gym or spend time exercising. Not exercising leads to health problems that will harm teenagers later on in life. 

The online world can be a more dangerous place than we think. Cyber bulling, online predators, and hacking are all issues parents should consider when they allow their teenagers to sign up online. The first issue is cyber bullying, or bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Cyber bullying is becoming a huge problem because the bulliers have the ability to hide behind a screen and say whatever they want to whomever they want. They can make fake accounts and harass others without their identity being known. Because of the ability to be anonymous, this form of bulling is more harmful and kids have a harder time escaping it. According to the 2014–2015 School Crime Supplement (National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics) nationwide, about 21% of students ages 12-18 experienced bullying(Aspa 1). Those who are cyber bullied say the inability to escape it increases depression and suicidal thoughts. Beasley and Berrrin state that “Culture has disentangled the world wide web from the web of humanity. No longer do we believe that our online behavior has any serious consequences, good or bad, in real time. The trouble is that our online behavior does have consequences”(40).  The online world is harmful, and with little requirements for an online account, anyone is capable of anything, especially when there is a mentality that what happens online stays online. Another online concern is the possibility of lurking online predators. Although this issue is more rare, it is important to discuss. It doesn’t happen as often as cyber bullying, but it is still something that can happen to any online user. With little security and accounts that aren’t private, predators can use posts and pictures to locate their victims and track them down. This is a terrifying thought, but people have a certain illusion of privacy that makes individuals believe that it could not happen to them (Olsen 7). People also often fall into fake account traps, which is called “cat fishing”. Social media users believe they are talking to someone who is actually a fictional person, and they build relationships with fictional people. Some individuals let the relationship go on for years because the social media profile seems real and legit. Teenagers may think they are talking to another 15-year-old boy who is actually a 50 year old predator hiding behind a screen. Predators may also have the skills to hack on to your computer and access personal information. The second someone signs up for a Facebook account, they are accepting the risks and possible dangers.

Social media’s impact on body image is the most common and also the most harmful to teenagers and young women. Social media allows us to compare ourselves to people all around the world at all times of the day. Girls self esteem are harmed by the images of ideal beauty thrown at them every day. It is so hard for women and girls to be confident in themselves when the beauty standards are so high and literally unrealistic. Earlier this year, psychologists found robust cross-cultural evidence linking social media use to body image concerns, dieting, body surveillance, a drive for thinness and self-objectification in adolescence. Any image of a celebrity we see online is touched up and edited. Bodies are distorted and sized down to a point where it is physically impossible to actually look that way. Young girls see images of their favorite celebrities and models and aspire to be like them. Social media is providing fake images to young girls who will lose confidence when they realize they can never look like their idols. 

Some people argue that social media is important and beneficial.  In such a technologically savvy society, social media is an easy and accessible way to stay informed. In todays world it seems like everyone in the world has some type of smart phone. Everywhere you go you find people staring down at their phones, scrolling through their news feed. People are so attached to these devices, and with the touch of a button, we can find out what is happening on the other side of the world. It is nice to have access to unlimited information, but the online web has grown to be so large that it is overwhelming. There is so much out there that it can be hard to find what you are looking for. Important information is being lost because advertisements are taking over the internet. Others argue that social media is very important or businesses. They claim that it helps connect with costumers, and they can use social media to showcase and promote their products. Businesses use these networks to better their products and build stronger relationships with costumers. Although these counterarguments may seem important, there are many other ways for businesses to creatively reach their costumers. If a business uses the internet to communicate, messages can get misinterpreted because there is no face to face interaction. The people who are truly affected by social media are not the business owners, but they consumers who are wasting their life away online. The counterarguments to my argument do provide some strong points, but in the end the negative effects majorly outweigh the positive effects. The main argument for the use of social media is solely so businesses can make profit. Mental and physical health for society is more important than making money, which is why their argument is weak. People are using social media solely for personal profit in our materialistic society and do not consider how these sites are impacting todays young adults. It is overwhelming and promotes unproductivity. Without social media, life would be simpler and more peaceful. 

Before I sat down to write this paper, I downloaded an app that keeps track of how many times I open my phone during a certain time period. According to my phone, I have spent ten minutes on my phone during the couple hours it took me to complete this assignment. This might not seem like a lot, but it is important to factor in the time it takes to refocus attention and begin to work again. Social media is helping us waste away our lives, and overall the negative effects out way the positive ones. It is important that society as a whole becomes aware of these issues, because being uniformed is the easiest way to fall into the temptations of social media. If every person took time to work on improving social media habits, so much good would come. People would spend more time in the moment, enjoy the outdoors, and would be all together happier humans. Women would have more realistic ideals on beauty, and cyber bullying would come to an end. I believe that obesity and depression rates would decline, and overall societies would function better together. When we can put down the screen, we will get to enjoy everything the world has to offer. 
