Student Research Report: The Damage That Comes With Social Media
In Fall 2021, students in Dr. Emily Stark’s Research Methods and Design course completed multiple hands-on data collection projects. They were also assigned a blog paper where they discussed one of the topics they chose to research and explained their findings to a general audience. The goal of this assignment was to give students an opportunity to explore a different form of writing from APA-style research papers. Some of these blog papers will be featured here throughout the spring to showcase the students’ findings. Please feel free to contact Dr. Stark through the contact form on this site for additional information about this course or the assignments used.
By Julia Stegmaier
Do you ever feel unproductive, unsatisfied, anxious, or even sad after hours of scrolling through your favorite social media app feed? Whenever you go on social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, you could be on it seemingly forever. After seeing the most perfectly edited pictures, videos of pretty girls dancing, or the most perfect ‘day in my life,’ it is not surprising that you may experience feelings of anxiety or dissatisfaction.
Does social media influence our mental health?
A research study indicated that people who spent more time passively on social media experience more negatively related moods such as loneliness, hopelessness, and feeling inferior (Aalbers et al., 2019). Passive use of social media implies one’s scrolling through news feeds or liking photographs of others without actively participating. You for sure know that one friend who is always scrolling through Instagram, liking others’ pictures without ever posting on their profile.
Along with the results of a recent study on how problematic social media use and factors such as depression, anxiety, and social isolation are related; this study mainly focused on the effects of real-life support and social media support (Meshi et al., 2021). According to the results of this study, real-life support for problematic social media use can cause more problems when dealing with depression, anxiety, and social isolation. Social support on the other hand, did not provide the same results. Some people may be able to relate to the idea that receiving support online is not as uncomfortable as meeting with a therapist would be. Another research study analyzed the direct effects of social media on academic performance and the indirect effects of social media on psychological reactions in university students (Malak et al., 2021). The results of the study showed that there is an indirect correlation between social media addiction and lower academic performance. Whereas social media addiction is correlated to students´ stress and anxiety levels.
For my Psychology Research Methods and Design course at Minnesota State University, Mankato, I conducted a research study on how time spent on social media affects people´s mental wellbeing and academic performance. The results found that the amount of time spent on social media does not directly relate to mental wellbeing or academic success. The study was designed to see if time spent on social media correlates to negative feelings, like anxiety or sadness, or a lower grade point average. While this study mainly focused on university students, the study’s sample was not big enough to represent the population. Furthermore, the reliability of this research data may be impacted by the construction of the questions and other factors related to the test taker. How often have you filled out a survey, thinking, “What answer does the researcher want to hear?” or “Let´s just click a random answer. I want to be done already.”
In essence, social media may influence your mental wellbeing in some way. Although, social media does not need to affect you negatively. It can be a positive influence on mental health as well; for instance, by staying connected with our friends, watching a new baking video, or getting lifehacks from TikToks, and so on. Moreover, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline works with different social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more, to initiate the best ways to prevent suicide. Nonetheless, whenever you experience feelings of loneliness, unsatisfaction, anxiety, insecurity, etc., I came up with some tips you may want to remind yourself of:
“Not everything you see on social media is real”: Make allowances for a person who seems to be perfect might have to record themselves over and over to post the story you just watched. People tend to only post their best self on social media, and the picture you just liked might also be photoshopped.
“Get inspired instead of dragged down”: Try to only follow people or pages that inspire you and make you feel good about yourself. If you are struggling with issues regarding body images and low self-esteem, never compare yourself to a specific person. Instead, give the person who posts motivational quotes or cooking recipes a follow.
“Leave that social media world behind”: There is a world outside of social media. When was the last time you went out to get coffee with your friends? If you find yourself scrolling through social media for the fifth time that day, call your friends. There is a likelihood that they are on social media as well, and they sure will be happy that you called.
Keep in mind, social media platforms are not the real world you live in. Social media might be a great way to keep up with your friends, your favorite vlogger, your family friend’s new puppy. However, social media can be a risk, or a trigger to your mental wellbeing. If you often feel down after social media usage, or you cannot get rid of these negative feelings you experience, remember there are ways to get help.
If you are in a suicidal, emotional crisis, or worried about a loved one; the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal or emotional distress across the United States.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
References
Aalbers, G., McNally, R. J., Heeren, A., de Wit, S., & Fried, E. I. (2019). Social media and depression symptoms: A network perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(8), 1454-1462. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/10.1037/xge0000528
Malak, M. Z., Shuhaiber, A. H., Al-amer, R., Abuadas, M. H., & Aburoomi, R. J. (2021). Correlation between psychological factors, academic performance and social media addiction: Model-based testing. Behaviour & Information Technology, http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1891460
Meshi, D., & Ellithorpe, M. E. (2021). Problematic social media use and social support received in real-life versus on social media: Associations with depression, anxiety and social isolation. Addictive Behaviors, 119, 6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106949
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. (2021, November 17). 1-800-273-8255. https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Stegmaier, J. (2021). How Does Social Media Usage Relate to Mental Wellbeing and Academic Performance? Unpublished manuscript, University of Minnesota, Mankato.