Introduction
Human beings are social creatures who need each other’s companionship to thrive in life, and the caliber of their relationships greatly impacts how happy and healthy they are. Social engagement with others can extend lifespan, ease loneliness, ease stress, anxiety, and depression, boost self-esteem, and offer comfort and joy. However, a lack of strong social bonds can adversely compromise one’s mental and emotional health.
Many individuals connect through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram (Robinson & Smith, 2022). While each platform has its advantages, social media can never fully replace actual interaction between humans. This issue is especially relevant to me because the pandemic has left me feeling only relative substitutability of real-world communication with web 2.0 counterparts. Thus, the paper aims to critically analyze the connection between social media and mental health.
Primary Argument
The main argument is that most people now use their smartphones or tablets to access social media. This continual, high-speed connectivity can lead to issues with impulse control, damage the ability to concentrate and focus, interfere with sleep, and make a person dependent on their phone. There are several premises for this, and the first one is that FOMO, or the fear of missing out, might keep an individual coming back to social media (Robinson & Smith, 2022). FOMO will trick the person into thinking that many events can wait or require an instant reaction. There is a probability that a person is concerned that if they do not catch the newest news or rumors on social media, they will lose out on the conversation at school or work.
People go for their phones and open social media whenever they are in a social setting and feel uneasy, embarrassed, or lonely. Naturally, engaging in social media activities merely prevents having face-to-face interactions that might reduce anxiety. An individual’s extensive social media use may conceal underlying issues like boredom, stress, or sadness (Robinson & Smith, 2022). People could use social media to block out negative emotions or regulate their mood if they use it more frequently when they are depressed, lonely, or bored.
Eventually, overusing social media can start a vicious loop that feeds on itself. People use social media more frequently to pass the time or feel connected to people when they are feeling lonely, sad, nervous, or stressed. However, frequent social media use worsens FOMO and feelings of inferiority, unhappiness, and loneliness (Robinson & Smith, 2022). These emotions harm disposition and exacerbate stress, anxiety, and sadness. People use social media more as these feelings increase, which feeds the negative cycle.
Evidence
The usage of social media has gained popularity worldwide. OCD symptoms are common in the general population, and compulsive social media use is predicted by OCD symptoms (Fontes-Perryman & Spina, 2022). A larger worry of losing out on social information was seen among social media users from the general population with non-clinical OCD symptoms. This anxiety predicted compulsive social media usage and weariness, which are linked to lower well-being (Fontes-Perryman & Spina, 2022). Therefore, online tools may be useful for those with non-clinical OCD symptoms to prevent obsessive social media use and its associated drawbacks.
At certain points in their adolescence, girls and boys may be more susceptible to the harmful consequences of social media use. People could be more vulnerable at this age due to social changes like leaving home or beginning a job. Two datasets, including over 84,000 people between the ages of 10 and 80, were analyzed by a group of experts, including psychologists, neuroscientists, and modelers (Wilson & Stock, 2021). These included information on 17,400 young people between the ages of 10 and 21, known as longitudinal data, which records people through time (Wilson & Stock, 2021). The researchers investigated whether there was a relationship between estimated social media use and stated life satisfaction and discovered crucial adolescent life stages when social media use was linked to a decline in happiness 12 months later (Wilson & Stock, 2021). One year later, the researchers discovered that youths who were less satisfied with life than average people use social media more often.
Social media substantially impacts how successfully young adults can manage their chronic diseases (LTC). Its main subject is a balancing act since using social media may have both positive and negative aspects, which calls for a balancing act to handle (Scientists find that the impact of social media on well-being varies, 2022). In order to control when and how to use social media best to enable them to live well with their LTCs, they needed to reflect on the time spent on the Internet.
Conclusion
Eventually, all the arguments are deductive since they start from general observation and narrow to more specific evidence and conclusions. The research and analysis of data from the studies and experiments support their results. However, there is a lack of research on whether social media makes people more anxious and depressed, or maybe the majority who initially experienced mental struggle serves as a safe space on the Internet. Both of these points can be considered weaknesses for these arguments.
The benefits of social interaction include a longer life expectancy, reduced loneliness, reduced stress, anxiety, and depression, increased self-esteem, and comfort and delight. One’s mental and emotional health may be severely affected by a lack of solid social ties. Overuse of social media can cause FOMO, which makes people feel inadequate, unhappy, and lonely. OCD symptoms are widespread in society and are a good indicator of obsessive social media use. Online solutions can help people with non-clinical OCD symptoms avoid abusing the Internet.
References
Fontes-Perryman, E., & Spina, R. (2022). Fear of missing out and compulsive social media use as mediators between OCD symptoms and social media fatigue. Psychology of Popular Media, 11(2), 173. Web.
Robinson, L. & Smith, M. (2022). Social media and mental health. Help Guide. Web.
Scientists find that the impact of social media on well-being varies across adolescence. (2022). Science Daily. Web.
Wilson, C., & Stock, J. (2021). ‘Social media comes with good and bad sides, doesn’t it?’A balancing act of the benefits and risks of social media use by young adults with long-term conditions. Health, 25(5), 515-534. Web.