Social Media and effects on teens and young adults.

1. PSYCHOLOGICAL
AND LONG-TERM
EFFECTS OF
SOCIAL MEDIA
By Julie Reay

2. I chose this topic for my personal
learning assignment because I am very
happy working in an elementary
library setting. I see heads bent over
smartphones everyday and would like
to know what the long-term effects
will be on the kids that I see today.
Although I work at a rural school with
a small population, I believe the data
applies to schools across the country.
WHY?

3. I would like to learn about what
today’s generation – who are growing
up on social media – will be like in the
future in regards to mental health,
emotional well-being, and grades.
I would also like to examine whether
there is a chance that social media can
lead to addiction.
LEARNING
GOALS

4. • 800 million users are accessing
Facebook on a regular basis
• 425 million users are accessing
Facebook on a mobile device
• 18 million Canadians are on
Facebook – more than ½ the
population
• 12 million Canadians are daily
visitors of the site (Pilieci)
FACEBOOK
STATISTICS

5. There is a growing need to examine
whether social media is a detriment to
our mental health. It has quickly
become the medium of choice for
young people to communicate with
one another. It is a major change in
society. Facebook, in particular, is
being studied extensively to look at
this new way to communicate. (Pilieci)
SOCIAL MEDIA
AND MENTAL
HEALTH

6. People with low self-esteem often express their emotions in a negative way
and therefore have fewer likes on Facebook. People with high self-esteem
post positive updates and garner more comments and likes. This may help
magnify depression in young people. The more people, teens in particular, use
Facebook, the more likely they are to suffer from anxiety and depression.
There is also evidence that young adults suffer from anti-social behaviours
due to extended periods of social media use, as they tend to get used to a
conversation with a computer instead of a person. (Pilieci)

7. Facebook can feed anxiety and the users feelings of inadequacy through the
use of posts. Users often feel like they can never be as good as another
person after seeing an “idealized” profile of another. This kind of unconscious
measurement can undermine a person’s self-esteem. This new standard is
hard to live up to and the pressure young people feel to create the perfect
online image is, at times, too much to bear as online identities become more
and more important. (Ehmke)

8. DECLINING
SOCIAL SKILLS
IN TEENS
Many of the important social skills
children need to develop into
healthy adults are being lost
thanks to social media and the
constant online communication.
(Ehmke)

9. Kids are hiding behind screens and keeping their true feelings hidden – they
cannot see the effect the conversation is having on the other person.
Learning to keep friends and making new friends is a life skill. Sometimes a
problem needs to be faced head-on and an open and honest face-to-face
discussion is the only way this can happen. Communication only gets more
difficult as people age and are involved in relationships and new employment.
(Ehmke)

10. CONSTANT
CONNECTION
Those who over-use social media sites are
constantly connected. Everyone on their page
knows where they are, what they are doing and
with whom. There are no breaks and the
pressure to post is relentless.

11. Despite the incessant connectivity of teens, they are always devastatingly
aware of when they are being ignored. Phones are always on and within
reach, so an unanswered text or a post with no likes or comments can have
heart-breaking consequences. (Ehmke)

12. Facebook addiction disorder is a new
term that has not yet been generally
accepted by the medical community.
Far too many young people are
genuinely scared of logging out of the
social media site for fear of missing
something important. More than half
of Facebook users felt “worried or
uncomfortable” when they were not
able to log into their social media
accounts. (Whiteman)
FACEBOOK
ADDICTION
DISORDER

13. Being liked is a universal need and Facebook can be a big supplier
of that need. Many users that may be suffering from an addiction
use the site to get attention, and boost their self-esteem through
positive reinforcement. The more likes and positive comments we
receive, the happier we are. (Whiteman)

14. GRADES AND
SOCIAL MEDIA
Studies have shown that young people
entering college are usually leaving
home for the first time and have left
behind the parental control. They may
use social media more often than they
had at home because they are no
longer supervised. Because of this they
are often not completing their
homework and are missing classes.
They do not have the confidence level
they should and feel they are not good
enough to do well in school. They are
also lacking sleep due to the over-use of
social media. (Nauert)

15. There are some good points to social
media that should not be overlooked.
• Kids who are using social media are
good at showing empathy towards
friends who may be posting
something sad.
• Social networking sites may help
bring the introverted out of their
shells by giving them the chance to
learn socialization skills from behind
a screen – whether it be a
smartphone or computer. (Rosen)
ALL IS NOT
LOST…

16. The exact long-term effects of social media on our mental health remain to
be seen, but one thing is certain – our use of social networking sites is unlikely
to fade anytime soon. (Whiteman)

17. Beattie, Alex. (2013). Social media and its effects on our emotional well-being. Metro. Retrieved from
http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/15/social-media-and-its-effects-on-our-emotional-well-being-
3924915/.
Ehmke, Rachel. (2013). Teens and social media. Child Mind Institute. Retrieved from
http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2013-11-26-self-esteem-and-anxiety-digital-age.
Nauert, Rick. (2013). Social media, Facebook & Twitter use may harm grades of college freshmen.
Psychcentral. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/12/social-media-use-may-
harm-grades-of-college-freshman/53711.html.
REFERENCES

18. Pilieci, Vito. (2012). Is social media harming our mental health, researchers wonder.
National Post. Retrieved from http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/25/is-social-
media-harming-our-mental-health-researchers-wonder/.
Rosen, Larry D. (2011). Social networking’s good and bad impacts on kids. American
Psychological Association. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx.
Whiteman, Honor. (2014) Social media: how does it really affect our mental health
and well-being? Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/275361.php.