How Social Media Affects Mental Health

The Impact and Important Implications of Social Media for Mental Health

Today, nearly 240 million Americans (about 70% of the population) are subscribers to one or more social media platforms, and this number has increased every year since their introduction in the late 1990s (Kemp, 2024). Not surprisingly, this proliferation of social media sites has resulted in a mixed array of mental health outcomes, with some users reporting feeling more connected and less isolated than in the past, while others are suffering from various negative experiences such as cyberbullying that cause them real problems in their daily lives. To learn more about this public health issue, the purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature to develop a timely and informed answer to the question, “What impact do you believe that social media is having on mental health and why is it important to address this issue?” Following this review and discussion, a summary of the research is provided in the paper’s conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Although Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are currently the global industry leaders in social media platforms with about 80 million active users in the U.S. each month (Most popular social networks worldwide, 2024), there are also tens of thousands of social media platforms of various popularity that cater to every taste, preference, interest or political ideology possible. The vast majority of these sites provide a positive, valuable and useful framework in which people can share their personal thoughts, created content and feelings about anything, and mental health resources are available from some social media sites for those in need but who are reluctant to seek professional help for any numbers of reasons.

There are some other sites, though, that seem to attract the type of people who used to stay in their basement, out of sight and mind of mainstream American society, writing their manifestoes and plotting their revenge. Indeed, no matter how crazy something may sound, at least a few people are probably already talking about it in some social media site where like-minded crazies gather to share their craziness of choice. The so-called “dark web” also features social media sites where illicit exchanges of goods, drugs, weapons and other illegal substances are readily available, provided the consumer has bitcoin and some internet savvy.

Against this backdrop, it is little wonder that some social media users report suffering negative mental health outcomes from their online experiences. In fact, every social media platform comes complete with its share of hate-filled trolls who are constantly on the lookout for anything mildly controversial that they can latch onto to criticize, attack or otherwise shred to pieces (Lawless, 2021). Social media users either respond to these types of attacks by doubling down on their position and escalating the exchanges, or withdrawing from the conversation completely to lick their emotional wounds. Either way, these types of experiences inevitably have an impact on mental health, just as a face-to-face confrontation with a bully or a hateful boss would have on anyone.

Conversely, fringe groups with extremist ideas are able to share their weirdness with others in a virtual bubble that reinforces their extremism and radicalizes them ever more. Far too many of these people become so fully convinced of their conspiracy theory de jure through their social media feedback that they are impossible to convince otherwise, no matter how much hard evidence they are presented with to the contrary. Unfortunately, this powerful trend is polarizing the nation today beyond recognition, and many critics blame social media for this untenable situation.

Clearly, social media is a ubiquitous, dual-edged sword that is already have an adverse impact on public mental health and the end is not in sight. If current trends continue and increasing numbers of social media users are added to the crop each month, it is also reasonable to suggest that the corresponding mental health problems that are caused by social media will also increase. It is not that humans do not have plenty to worry about already besides a lingering pandemic. Each week, another “once-in-a-century” natural disaster devastates some part of the country due to climate change, the world is full of military hot spots that could easily spiral into a World War III fought by nuclear-equipped combatants, and many consumers believe that peak oil may have already come and gone but big oil is not going to tell the truth about anything so it is no wonder many Americans are susceptible to mental health problems.