The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health: An Analysis
The Ask
Create a 1400-1750 word analysis that will lead to a research question and showcase awareness and relevant global and cultural contexts.
The Research Question.
The first step was to establish a research question to determine the strategy approach for evidence and relevance. I knew I wanted to focus my topic on the idea of mental health and how it affects students specifically. I began to research some of the top causes of depression and anxiety within people ages 18-24. Social media became the top subject to focus effective research on.
One of the reasons as to why this topic is researchable and relevant is because social media and the internet are an undeniable force that people use every day for hours on end. From politicians to marketers to newscasters, social media is constantly being utilized and operated as a means of communication, information, and self-expression. It is an incredibly researchable topic, given the fact that people sometimes use their personal mobile devices just for the use of social media, especially young adults. Many academic and scholarly articles talk about the prevalence of social media plays in teens' lives. This heavily interests me given the outstanding presence social media plays in my day-to-day life, and the emotions I feel with it. I find myself often getting “sucked into” a never-ending hole of platforms and feeling distant and drained after a bit of time scrolling. As a media studies minor, I am constantly researching different social media outlets and how consuming social media has on all different age groups. However, the age group that fascinates me the most was my own, young adults and teenagers. I believe social media has the strongest hold upon younger generations and is tied together with the growing issues of mental health within this age group.
Finding the impact.
The Final Essay.
Social media and mental health are two completely relevant and up to date factors surrounding young adult growth and wellbeing. The two issues practically tie into each other hand in hand and the mental health concerns are constantly growing from this connection. Coming from personal experience, I had proof social media is a constant burden weighing down on a learning and growing young adult, and the side effects of intense social media usage are clear and saddening. The depression, anxiety, and suicide rates within this age group are skyrocketing and a solution needs to be bred to help decrease these rates. My plan for research involved extensive searches for data and examples tied within social media usage. I ventured towards several solutions for this issue, besides just using my current knowledge of mental health and social media relations. With my essay, I centered my topic around just how prevalent this issue of social media usage is, and how to help reduce these rates among young adults.
The Outcome
I have always been extremely passionate about taking care of one’s mental health and the impact society and our daily lives have on our well-being. I found the research fascinating and really enjoyed learning more about the data and statistics involved with social media’s impact. I plan to continue educating myself and others about the harmful effects media controls and ways to prevent further damage. I was also recommended by my professor to submit the essay to the 2022 Essay Competition at VCU.