Effect Of Social Sites On The Mental Health Of Youth
Author: Ruby Sebastian
Keywords:- Mental Health, Social Sites, youth, technology, youngster, online platform, psychological, awareness
Introduction
The use of technology has increased rapidly over years, which makes social media play a major role in the lives of youth. Social media is present everywhere in the daily life of youth. The most used social media platforms among youth are YouTube, Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook, Telegram, Snapchat, and others. Social media has created a new space of exhilarating opportunities as well as challenges. Social media benefits the younger generation in many ways by building relationships and encouraging creative and innovative thinking. They act as resources in education, providing opportunities for critical thinking and assessment. Developing social and communication skills, acting as a space for exploring creativity, and giving inspiration and support.
Though social sites has many advantages, overuse of such or any electronic items can be a problem. Young people are too much into technology without giving much care to the effects it can cause in their life. The effects of social media can either be positive or negative depending on an individual’s usage of it. Most likely social media tends to create a negative effect on youth unless integrated with a business or professional goal.
Life of Social Media
Youngsters consider social sites a significant part of their life nowadays and they prioritize it over other matters. They enjoy being in the comfort of social sites without much interaction with their family or relatives and without taking responsibility for their daily livelihood. The average time spent by a person a day on social networking sites is 1.72 hours. People in their teens spend at least 27 hours per week on these sites. When a person spends an ample amount of time daily on such platform is associated with poor mental health. Depending on how it is used and how often, social media may make matters worse. Social media is an element that can cause strong temptation in a person. It can lead to addiction in youth and begin to side-track them.
People share their personal information on these social media sites and do not read the privacy policies or are unaware that the information given by them can be seen by advertisers, IRS, and insurance companies. This leads to exposing our identities to governmental and corporate intrusions. People with negative ideas use social media as a platform for bullying and sending toxic messages which creates trauma for others. All the information in social media need not be true, it can lead to misinformation or false propaganda.
Social Sites during the Pandemic
The usage rose to a higher level when it was mandatory to stay at home during the pandemic. It has become the prime source of social connection for tweens and teens during the period of the pandemic when there were no other means to socialize with their friends. Individuals especially youth have benefitted through social media at times of isolation. Social media acted as a means of empowerment, entertainment, and sociality by connecting with people of similar tastes and preferences, being aware of new topics, building identity, appreciating social and political engagements, and getting to know others.
Certain studies conducted on this topic suggested that social media was being used as a survival mechanism. To battle the feelings of confinement or segregation due to long-term social distancing. The youngsters relied on these online platforms or social sites to relieve their tensions in the short term. Later on this reliance resulted in negative feelings which tends to be much worse than in their earlier stage. When people approach social sites to reduce their loneliness it is associated with poor mental health. People expect to receive something from the social platform that they are not getting in their real life. Initially, they can get what they desire because all that appears to them is fresh. But gradually they become bored with it which creates a deteriorating mental situation for them.
Mental effects by usage of social sites
Social platform is considered to be a contributing factor in the recent rise in mental health problems such as anxiety disorders and depression among young people. Youth is the most defenseless stage in a person’s life, which is why young people have increased exposure to alcohol, drugs, and highly endangered situations.
Research studies conducted in the U.S. found that social media affects the happiness of young people. A recent condition known as a quarter-life crisis is seen in youth which is defined as a state of anxiety and discontent and a sense of failure borne from the perception that you have not made enough of an impact on the world by age of 25. It created negative effects on their self-esteem, and self-image, creating anxiety, loneliness, and depression in young minds. It is accompanied by a lot of risks which include the fear of missing out on things. Exposure to upsetting or traumatic content, cyberbullying, online predators, and getting access to incorrect information. The input during a person’s growth plays a pivotal role in shaping his or her identity. Not only youth, but even adults are also highly influenced by the articles and information on such platforms.
Therefore, there is a high possibility that young people would be more impacted by the messages and images. That have the prospect to influence them unfavorably the impression they have about themselves and how they suit this world.
Social sites usage and impact on women
Studies conducted found that young women aged 16-24 years are more prone to suffer from psychological hardships and disorders than young men of the same age. The idealized lives and beauty notions that are portrayed through social platforms seek the attention of women more than men. They arouse pressure in people to put forward an ideal version of themselves. There is a tendency among youth to compete with people of their age to craft the individuality that helps them become popular.
Women compare themselves with others who are deemed to be desirable, which can cause problems with their self-esteem in them. Constant comparisons result in the participation of unauthentic promotional activities to picturise a fake view of their own lives to get the acceptance of the likeness of others. They are so immersed in their looks, taking lots of pictures until they find the perfect one. And worrying about exhibiting themselves in a certain way that might not even be of their choice. Young women are put through a lot of threatening, violent, sexual, and derogatory personal comments through social media than men which might cause severe damage to their mental health.
Conclusion
Social media has a lot of advantages on its own but the way people use it makes it a bad source which can even disturb our mental health. Adults must take proper care of their children in controlling their usage of social media sites. Parents should monitor the activities of their children on social media without intruding on their privacy. Children should be instructed on how the privacy protections are set by the concerned officials and it is not acknowledgeable to share personal information on social media sites. Adult predators use this information provided in their attempts to captivate and make use of youth.
The most suitable way for parents to impose rules on reducing their children’s screen time. By engaging them in the activities of the physical world. Since it is easy for youth to fall into negative loops of social platform, teachers can take a step to counter such things. From happening by sharing good examples of social media activities that are beneficial for youth. People being aware of ill-effects of social media must make sure that they don’t fall into dangerous side of it. The unified attempt of parents, teachers, and children can turn society into young people with a good mindset.
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