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Katie Kilpatrick

Prof. Richardson

English 1201

22 March 2019

The Negative Effects of Social Media

Everyone uses social media. It’s how everyone stays connected in today’s society. Social

media can even be used for certain classes in school. It plays a big role in today’s world, but is it

always beneficial? I have been researching how social media negatively affects the adolescent

brain. I chose this topic because I am one to always be on social media. I love to see what my

friends are up to and I love being able to stay connected with people even though we may be

5000 miles away. But sometimes I catch myself on social media for way too long. It can be

distracting when I’m trying to do homework and cause me to procrastinate. I also catch myself

sometimes comparing my life to other peoples’ lives when they post something cool and I'm just

at home. There are also times where if another girl posts a picture, I find myself comparing

myself to her. I wonder why I don’t look like that and I know it hurts my self esteem. This is

why I chose to research the effects of social media.

Everyday I see young kids on their iPhones on Instagram or Twitter or Snapchat. I

wonder to myself why their parents allow them to be on social media when it can be so

dangerous. I often times relate my personal experiences with social media to what these kids are

doing. Social media can be a very dangerous place and it can ruin a young person's self esteem if

they aren’t careful. Social media can also be addicting. I find myself on it for hours at a time,

then I’ll look at the time and it’s late and I still haven’t done my homework. This is what sparked

my interest in the topic. For me, as an eighteen year old, social media affects the way my own
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brain works. So when I would see young kids on social media, I would wonder what was

happening to them- how was social media affecting the way their brain worked?

Exploring this topic was very interesting to me because social media is such a big part of

everyone’s daily life. It is used by a majority of people everyday, including adolescents. As the

interest in social media for adolescents continues to grow, their mental health declines. Social

media affects adolescents in a negative way because their mental health is declining, as well as

their academic performance, due to social media usage.

Being online, people have access to communication with the entire world. One can talk to

anyone online. This can become very dangerous for adolescents because the Internet may contain

predators or bullies. Cyberbullying has become more prevalent nowadays as social media usage

among adolescents increases. Cyberbullying negatively affects the adolescent brain in many

ways. A study done in the Pakistan Journal of Criminology by Sumera Batool researched the

effects of cyberbullying through social media on adolescents in Pakistan. The study asked young

kids questions about how social media affected them. The study found that cyberbullying

“affect[s] the psychology of the youth such as emotional and academic disturbance as well as

also create[s] social relationship gaps…” (Batool 134). Because adolescents are constantly on

social media, they are more subject to cyberbullying. This leads to a disturbance of emotions,

academics, and relationships. The study concluded that cyberbullying “had bad consequences on

the social relation and result[ed] in isolation of the individuals” (Batool 135). Bad social media

interactions cause adolescents to become depressed and isolate themselves from their peers. This

can negatively affect the adolescents for the rest of their lives. Cyberbullying can also be

especially dangerous because of how quickly information can be spread online. It is also harmful

because it can be anonymous. In Social Media and Adolescent Health by Maggie R Guinta, it is
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stated that “most cyberbullied recipients know the perpetrator; however, in 10% to 27% of cases,

the culprit is unknown” (Guinta 197). Guinta also states that cyberbullying often increases the

chance of depression (Guinta 197). So again, social media has given a platform to bullies to

spread rumors, insult people, and spread pictures of people all behind the mask of the internet.

The anonymity makes it easier for bullies to bully which causes harm to those who are

innocently using social media. Cyberbullying is one of the largest negative effects of social

media as it affects one in their daily life. It causes adolescents to underperform academically, it

causes depression, and it affects relationships by causing social isolation.

Fig. 1. A girl is shown as upset because of social media. A finger is pointing at her as if she is

being taunted. This illustrates the cyberbullying done on social media to teens like this one (“The

Effects of Social Media on Depression”).

Most parents are not aware of what their teenagers are doing online. Their teens may

bully other kids, or they may be doing illegal things online. This can be very dangerous as

teenagers do not understand that what they put online, stays out there forever. No one has

privacy online. In Social Media and Adolescent Health by Maggie R. Guinta, privacy on the

Internet is discussed. Guinta states that “content posted on social media – or the Internet in

general – is difficult or impossible to remove” (Guinta 197). This can be harmful to adolescents

as future employers can see anything that they have put online. If an adolescent posts about
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something illegal they have done, it can majorly affect their future. There is virtually no privacy

on the Internet. Sexting has also become a major problem among teens. When discussing sexting

amongst adolescents, Holson states “ images can be widely and quickly distributed via the

Internet or cell phones without permission” and when these pictures are spread, “victims face

embarrassment and humiliation, and suffer emotional distress. Perpetrators can face school

suspensions and legal consequences, including felony child pornography charges” (Guinta 197).

So sharing anything online can be extremely harmful for adolescents. It can cause one to end up

in jail. Since social media isn’t private, teens must be careful about what they put online or they

will face many negative consequences.

As mentioned before, social media can impact an adolescent’s academic performance by

causing them to underperform. In the study done by Sumera Batool, she states that “the victim

[of cyberbullying] becomes mentally upset [so] their academic performance [is] affect[ed]”

(Batool 128). So when a student is being bullied online through social media, they are upset and

cannot focus on the schoolwork they are required to do. This causes their grades to suffer as

they are being constantly harassed online. It is not only cyberbullying that can affect academic

performance, though. In Social Media and Adolescent Health, Maggie Guinta states, “there is a

negative correlation between scholastic outcomes and the use of electronic media, including

social media. Multitasking by using social media sites while in class or doing schoolwork can be

detrimental to student academic performance” (Guinta 197). Students are often on their phones

while in class which is a major distraction from what they should be learning. Since students are

often more focused on what is going on on social media, they are not focused on their education

and their studies, causing their academics to suffer. Social media is a major distraction when it
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comes to school. The academic performance of adolescents will continue to suffer if their use of

social media does not decline.

Because social media is so distracting, adolescents often cannot fall asleep because of it.

This lack of sleep can lead to many mental health issues, and can also lead to the disruption of

their academic performance. Kids should be getting at least eight and a half hours of sleep per

night to maintain proper mental health and to perform at their best academically. In Social

Media’s Vampires: They Text by Night, Laura M. Holson discusses why teens stay up late on

their phones. They are distracted by social media and feel the need to talk to their friends. When

discussing why teens stay up on their phones and on social media, Holson states that “teenagers

have a desire to connect and the solitude of night allows for intimate conversation” and “they are

reacting to overbooked schedules packed with sports, music lessons and homework that give

them less free time to pursue personal interests” (Holson 1). So because these kids want to

connect with their friends outside of their busy schedules, social media gives them that outlet,

and they end up staying up later than they should be. This causes adolescents to lose sleep. When

discussing sleeping habits of teens, Holson states “more than half of 15- to 17-year-olds sleep

about seven hours a night, 90 minutes less than the minimum recommendation. With myriad

electronic ways to socialize, gossip and explore hobbies, tech-addicted teenagers are getting even

fewer hours of sleep” (Holson 1). This lack of sleep due to social media can only cause negative

effects as sleep is one of the most important things for adolescents. Getting less than the

adequate amount of sleep can harm the teenage brain.

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Fig. 2. A person is chained to their computer, illustrating their addiction to social media.

This addiction often keeps adolescents up late so they get little to no sleep (“The Negative

Effects of Social Media”).

Social media largely affects adolescent development. Social media offers a way of

communication for these adolescents. This can either help or hurt their social development. In

Growing Up Wired: Social Networking Sites and Adolescent Psychosocial Development by

Lauren A. Spies Shapiro, she discusses how adolescents use social media to form social

connections. She states “adolescents in general have an easier time self-disclosing in online

versus face-to-face communication” (Shapiro 1). Adolescents often turn to social media as a way

to communicate nowadays with their friends and form new social connections. They can improve

upon their social skills by using social media. This sounds beneficial, but it can also be harmful.

Shapiro also states “spending excessive amounts of time on SNSs actually can lead to symptoms

of depression, which then increase the risk for social isolation” (Shapiro 1). The more time kids

spend on social media making these social connections and talking to their friends, the more

likely they are to become depressed, and eventually isolate themselves from these friends. These

kids end up only talking to their peers online and not in person, which is a huge part of social

development. Kids need to learn to form connections in the real world and not just on social

media because of all the negative effects that social media can have on the adolescent brain.
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Fig. 3. A couple is shown at the dinner table on their phones. They are communicating

through technology instead of personally, showing how social media has taken away their ability

or want to communicate in person (“The Negative Effects Social Media Can Have On

Relationships”).

The adolescent brain is also very impressionable. Young kids see models who don’t look

like them, but they see these models getting positive attention because of how they look, causing

these kids to be upset because they don’t look that way. This can lead to bad body image and self

esteem issues. What kids don’t know is that most of these images are photoshopped and edited,

but they still want to look this way. Having bad body image can lead to eating disorders and

depression. In Effects of Attributions and Social Media Exposure on Obesity Stigma Among

Korean Adolescents by Yujin Lim, the stigma surrounding obesity and how social media causes

this was discussed. Lim states “body image content emphasizing thinness and physical

attractiveness on social media may have strengthened the obesity stigmatization through external

attributions” (Lim 2049). Social media has affected the way adolescents think about body image

to where they now think about it in a negative way. They are used to seeing thinness so that is

what they think everyone should look like. This could affect the way adolescents see themselves.

Lim also states “thin ideal images on social media could intensify adolescents’ pressures for a

thin body image” (Lim 2052). Because adolescents are seeing so much thinness on social media,
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they want to look that way as well. This could lead to eating disorders as well as other mental

health issues because these adolescents want to achieve this desired look. Social media plays a

huge role in how people perceive themselves as Lim states that the “amount of time spent on

social media was related to the negative perception of body image and low level of weight

satisfaction” (Lim 2052). Again, the more time adolescents spend seeing these thin models and

peers, the more they think they need to look that way as well. They turn to eating disorders to

achieve the desired result quicker. Social media is very harmful in the way adolescents perceive

themselves because they end up feeling like they are overweight when all they see online is

thinness.

With bad body image also comes self esteem issues. Kids see someone online and want

to look like them, but get upset when they don’t look that way. It can negatively affect their self

esteem and lead to many mental health issues. In Self-Esteem, Daily Internet Use and Social

Media Addiction as Predictors of Depression among Turkish Adolescents by Kağan Kırcaburun,

a study was done highlighting the effects of social media on self esteem. The study found that

“depression was directly negatively associated with self-esteem and positively with daily internet

use” (Kırcaburun 68). If these adolescents had high depression levels, it was also found that they

had low self esteem levels. This also says that if adolescents had high depression levels, they had

high levels of daily internet use. This shows that “self-esteem, daily internet use and social media

addiction are significant predictors of depression” (Kırcaburun 69). If a kid frequently uses social

media they are more likely to have low self esteem. It was stated in the study that “low self-

esteem was a significant risk factor and was leading individuals to depression” (Kırcaburun 69).

This means that the more these kids are using social media, the more likely they are to have low

self esteem. If they have low self esteem, it is more likely to lead them to depression. Being on
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social media too often has very negative outcomes. Depression negatively affects the

development of the adolescent brain. Social media is a main contributor to low self esteem and

depression.

All of these negative effects of social media that I mentioned previously can all lead to

poor mental health. Teenagers are exposed to all of these things at such a young age now and

their brains are not prepared to process it. It hurts their self esteem and leads to many mental

health problems, like depression or anxiety. Cyberbullying, poor academic performance, sleep

deprivation, lack of privacy, poor social development, poor body image, and lack of self esteem

all lead to depression. In Social Media and Adolescent Health by Maggie R. Guinta, she explains

that these things are all linked to depression and poor mental health. Guinta states “social media

usage links to depression due to concerns of its addictive use, cyberbullying, and the evocation

of jealousy” and “social media may influence psychological distress through communication

overload and reduced self-esteem” (Guinta 197). Social media is a dangerous place where its

negative effects are long lasting on adolescent mental health as described in this article. Guinta

also describes the terms “Facebook depression” and “Facebook envy.” She describes “Facebook

depression” as classic symptoms of depression following an extreme usage of social media, and

“Facebook envy” as social media users comparing themselves to others causing “damaging life

satisfaction among adolescents” (Guinta 197). These two concepts describe how adolescents feel

after using excessive amounts of social media. It affects their brains and may lead to depression.

By adolescents comparing themselves to others, it lowers their self esteem and makes them feel

like they aren't good enough, which can lead to depressive symptoms. Guinta also states

“negative Facebook experiences were significantly associated with depressive symptoms”

(Guinta 197). So those that experience “Facebook depression” and “Facebook envy” have those
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negative experiences that are linked with depression. For adolescents, becoming depressed can

have lifelong negative effects on their mental health. Social media plays a huge role in links to

depression, which is why it is so dangerous for adolescents.

While social media has many negative effects for adolescents, there are also benefits to

using social media, as long as it is not used excessively. Some benefits may include tolerance,

social support networks, health communication, and enhancing self esteem. Adolescents can use

social media to “learn, understand, and empathize with marginalized groups” (Guinta 198).

Young people can expand their minds and learn to communicate with many other groups of

people instead of being sheltered in their own towns, where there may only be a few groups of

people. Social media allows for this kind of communication. But with this may come hatred

towards these groups because social media does not always monitor what can be said. So

although social media allows for young people to learn from other groups of people, there is still

the chance that they will spread hatred and their own ideals without learning to tolerate others.

Adolescents can also use social media to communicate with their friends. In Benefits and Costs

of Social Media in Adolescence by Yalda T. Uhls, she states “media help them understand their

friends’ feelings and feel more connected to them. During a developmental stage when peer

support and approval is critical, social media support these needs” (Yahls 68). This

communication between friends is important as they can increase their social development. But

communication online also has the chance to lead to cyberbullying, which leads to depression.

Social media can also offer “an environment of inclusion for individuals seeking a community”

(Guinta 198). For young people apart of the LGBTQ group, they may find a sense of community

among others like them through social media. These groups can offer support that they may not

find in their hometowns. But again, there is the issue of hatred. Others may cyberbully these
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individuals trying to use social media as an escape to be themselves, ultimately leading to poor

mental health. Social media can be used by adolescents to access a multitude of information.

Young people “exhibit low healthcare utilization, social media presents an opportunity to engage

and provide tailored messaging” (Guinta 198). Adolescents can learn about many topics

pertaining to their health that they may be too afraid to ask about in person, like sexual health.

They can find all the answers they need online without having to ask a parent or go to a doctor.

The information is free and they don’t need to be afraid to ask about in over social media. But

everything one sees online, isn’t necessarily always true. The information provided to these

young kids may be false, which could, in turn, be more damaging to their health. Social media

cannot always be trusted. On social media, kids can post pictures of themselves and receive

immediate feedback. If that feedback is positive, it “can enhance self esteem and well-being”

(Guinta 198). Receiving positive feedback on a picture one posts makes that person feel good

and well liked. It makes them happy to know their friends like the picture that they posted. But if

the feedback is negative, this can drastically lower their self esteem, which in turn leads to

depression. So social media has the opportunity to raise or lower one's self esteem. So, as

mentioned, social media does have many benefits to it. But the negatives that social media has

outweighs all of the benefits. The benefits do not do as much good as the negative aspects do

bad. The negative aspects can be much more detrimental to adolescent health.

Social media is a dangerous place for adolescents. The harmful effects of being on social

media as an adolescent greatly outweigh the benefits. Being on social media so much myself, I

was not aware that social media can be so detrimental. It hugely affects the mental health of

adolescents and mental health is so valuable to adolescent development. Social media is a major

part of my daily life, just as it is with other people's lives. But after this research, I have come to
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the realization that I may need to limit my usage on social media in order to avoid these negative

effects. Social media contributes to the declining mental health of adolescents through

cyberbullies, declining academic performance, sleep deprivation, lack of privacy, poor social

development, poor body image, and lack of self esteem. The negative effects of social media are

so great and can be very detrimental. So next time you get on Instagram or Twitter or Snapchat,

think of the negative impacts these sites are having on your brain.

Works Cited

Batool, Sumera, et al. “Bullying in Social Media: An Effect Study of Cyber Bullying on

the Youth.” Pakistan Journal of Criminology, vol. 9, no. 4, Oct. 2017, pp. 119–139.

EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=tsh&AN=129014252&site=eds-live.
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Guinta, Maggie R. “Social Media and Adolescent Health.” Pediatric Nursing, vol. 44, no.

4, July 2018, pp. 196–201. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=tfh&AN=131366570&site=eds-live.

HOLSON, LAURA M. “Social Media’s Vampires: They Text by Night.” New York

Times, vol. 163, no. 56554, 6 July 2014, pp. 1–9. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=a9h&AN=96913256&site=ehost-live.

Kircaburun, Kagan. “Self-Esteem, Daily Internet Use and Social Media Addiction as

Predictors of Depression among Turkish Adolescents.” Journal of Education and

Practice, vol. 7, no. 24, Jan. 2016, pp. 64–72. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=eric&AN=EJ1112856&site=eds-live.

Spies Shapiro, Lauren A and Gayla Margolin. “Growing up wired: social networking

sites and adolescent psychosocial development” Clinical child and family psychology

review vol. 17,1 (2014): 1-18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3795955/

“The Effects of Social Media on Depression.” Ethos News,

ethosnews.com/2018/02/27/the-effects-of-social-media-on-depression/.
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“The Negative Effects of Social Media.” Wall Street International, wsimag.com/science-

and-technology/24461-the-negative-effects-of-social-media.

“The Negative Effects Social Media Can Have On Relationships.” Study Breaks,

studybreaks.com/culture/negative-effects-social-media-can-relationships/.

Uhls, Yalda T., et al. “Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence.” Pediatrics,

American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Nov. 2017,

pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/Supplement_2/S67.

YUJIN LIM, and SOONTAE AN. “Effects of Attributions and Social Media Exposure on

Obesity Stigma among Korean Adolescents.” Social Behavior & Personality: An

International Journal, vol. 46, no. 12, Dec. 2018, pp. 2049–2061. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=s3h&AN=133467342&site=eds-live.