The Potential Drawbacks Of Social Media

Social Media has created the ability to constantly open up our lives for others to see. According to the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine (UPMC), “As many as 90% of young adults use social media,” which can be defined as “A group of Internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content,” (Liu Yi). Social media has proved to be a useful tool: potential employees and employers can find each other, friends and family can reconnect, and a new realm for advertising has formed where a single ad can reach hundreds of thousands of people with just the push of a button. But what, if any, are the potential drawbacks of social media on our health? Does frequent use of a mechanism that has become entrenched in our lives become hazardous to our mental stability? While social media does provide some positive and useful tools, research shows that the direct effect of

When young people find themselves in a situation of abandonment, there are always the computer and cell phone to keep them connected. Young people and adults alike construct a perceived image of themselves to display to others, and from this stems a certain degree of stress (439-440). How much of this stress does it take to become a real mental illness? The research above shows that it is possible that social media can have both a positive and negative affect on mental health. The diverse nature of the studies causes difficulty in determining whether social media and mental health are directly correlated: outside circumstances of the individuals involved in the study may be a major factor in mental health rather than social media itself. The results of the studies shown above indicate that social media can have both a positive and negative impact on mental