The Impact of Social Media On
Youth Mental Health
Today's media landscape is larger and more diverse than ever before, with youth having access to an unprecedented volume of digital content across numerous devices, including smartphones, tablets, computers, laptops, and gaming consoles. Social media represents a central component of this landscape.
Broadly, social media is defined as any digital tools or applications that allow users to interact socially, and can be distinguished from traditional media (eg, television) by the fact that users can both consume and create content. Under this broad definition, “social media” may include social networking sites (eg, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok), text messaging and messaging apps, social gaming tools, YouTube, and more. Any comprehensive understanding of contemporary adolescents' mental health requires a consideration of the role of social media.
Adolescence represents a period of heightened risk for the onset of mental illness, with nearly 1 in 5 adolescents suffering from a diagnosable mental disorder. Notably, the incidence of certain mental health concerns, such as depression and suicide, have increased significantly among adolescents in recent years, with rates of suicide among youth aged 10-24 increasing 56% from 2007 to 2017. Given that this increase has coincided with the widespread adoption of social media, this has led to concerns regarding a potential link. In addition, technology use tends to increase over the course of childhood, with adolescents using new media, and social media in particular, at higher rates and with greater frequency than younger children. Nearly all adolescents aged 13-17 use some form of social media, with the most popular sites currently being YouTube (85%), Instagram (72%), Snapchat (69%), and Facebook (51%); however, new platforms are frequently introduced, with some (i.e., TikTok), quickly gaining traction among young people.
Furthermore, social media may uniquely appeal to adolescents given the characteristics of this developmental period, making teens particularly susceptible to both the opportunities and risks of new technologies. During adolescence, rapid development of the brain's socio-affective circuitry may heighten sensitivity to social information, increasing the drive for social rewards and concern over peer evaluation. Important developmental tasks of adolescence include the establishment of intimate peer relationships, increasing independence from adults, and the exploration of identity. Social media offers a prime context for navigating these tasks in new, increasingly complex ways: peers are constantly available, personal information is displayed publicly and permanently, and quantifiable peer feedback is instantaneously provided in the form of “likes” and “views”.
Source: North Carolina Medical Journal
