1. Social Media s Effect On Our Well Being
Khalyn Levasseur & Gina Ammett
What does  Well-Being  mean?
a complex combination of a person s physical, emotional, mental and social
health factors
strongly linked to a person s happiness
it is how you feel about yourself and your life as a whole
What is Social Media?
an array of Internet sites that enable people around the world to interact with
one another
ex. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc.
Social Media Statistics
1 in 4 people worldwide have accounts
Facebook: 50+ million active users
Twitter: 255 million active users
Instagram: 20 billion active users
72% of Internet users are active on social media
18-29 year olds: 89%
30-49 year olds: 72%
50-60 year olds: 60%
65 + year olds: 43%
factors that lead to enhancing well-being
happy and healthy intimate relationship
network of close friends
regular exercise
nutritional diet
optimistic outlook
good physical health(ie. no illness/disease)
factors leading to a poor well-being
unhealthy, unhappy intimate relationship
no close friends
poor nutrition
little/no exercise
poor self-esteem
illness/disease (physically or mentally)
alcohol and/or substance abuse
addictions
Now,
Let s compare these factors to social media………..
Anxiety
 one of the most common mental health problems on college campuses (Anxiety
and Depression Association of America)
Disconnect Anxiety: negative emotional feelings when unable to be online
Salford business school at University of Salford:
228 participants
half- social media changed their lives, 51% for the worse
Anxiety
Psychology Department at Michigan State University:
monitored 300+ undergraduate student s social media use
those who multitasked= higher rates of anxiety, as well as depression
 One possibility is that the more people multitask,the more anxious they
get. Another is that the more anxious and depressed people are, the more they
multitask.  (Christopher Hopwood,associate professor at Michigan State

2. University)
http://www.columbiachronicle.com/health_and_tech/article_aa2daa9a-d7e4-11e3-
9286-001a4bcf6878.html
Anxiety
fear of missing out
 compare and despair 
self consciousness/seeking perfection
SOCIAL ANXIETY:
strong and persistent fear of of social or performance situations in which
humiliation or embarrassment may occur
https://www.anxiety.org/social-media-causes-anxiety
Depression
Social media is linked to feelings of social isolation, depression, insecurity,
envy, and poor self esteem
Viewing photos of family vacations, birthdays, weddings, social gatherings can
cause people to become envious and fall into depression wishing they could be
part of those photos
Shows a false reality of what the world is about
People anxious about posting their displeasing traits or unflattering pictures
online, so they edit and crop themselves so they appear more attractive than
they actually are, which causes them to be distressed about their appearance
Spending too much time on social media causes a negative cycle; secluding
yourself from the world and focusing on media, becoming a victim of your own
thoughts, being less attuned to those around you, being swallowed into a chat
room surrounded by people who prompt negative thoughts
Increase in interaction of social media and networking causes a decrease in
face-to-face interactions, which discourages healthy boundaries
Self-Esteem
loss of confidence
self-criticism
isolation
298 users- 50% say their self esteem worsened
 Social media can give us a false sense of belonging and connecting that is
not built on real-life exchanges. 
 We compare ourselves to what we see… 
 ...Only snapshots of reality…. 
(Sherrie Campbell, psychotherapist)
number of  likes  is valued- it s a tool of verification for acceptance
 Teen s self-esteem is at the mercy of likes, shares, comments, and retweets
on social media websites. 
emotional well being is potentially destroyed by self-esteem issues
Self-Esteem
signs of a weakened self-esteem (from social media):
disrupts real world thoughts and interactions
affects your mood
being alone is uncomfortable
becoming envious of what others promote
relishing in other s misfortune
measure your success upon others
addiction to drama and attention
Self-Image

3. A result from a survey taken on school aged children showed that girls as young
as 5 years old were worried about their size and appearance
Cosmetic surgery rates increased 20% since 2008
Adolescent females are suffering from thin ideal internalization, self-
objectification and weight dissatisfaction caused by photos and ads of the ideal
image of beauty scattered over the places a teenager would constantly be around
Women who read fashion magazines are more likely to have the desire to be thin,
are dissatisfied with their body and have a fear of gaining weight than those
who aren t interested in these magazines
 Body image  is thought to be a complex phenomenon influenced by family,
friends and social media
We believe that in order to be considered as beautiful or be an icon of desire,
we need to be thin, beautiful and perfect
Relationships
 Social media networks are the primary way young people communicate and their
main channel to the outside world  (Caroline Nokes, 2014). Teenagers nature is
becoming distant as they chose to converse with individuals through the use of
social media; they use texting, Facebook, emoticons as their primary way of
communicating
Social media creates a competition to see who is the most population; the most
likes, most friends, most expensive things
Begins and ends relationships (friendly and intimate)
The more we spent time attached to social media and networks, we become de-
attached to those around us
Encompasses friends, family, co-workers, distant relatives, former classmates
etc.
Creates an easy bridge for connecting, befriending, communicating, collaborating
Structural Functionalist Theory
views society a complex, interconnected system
each part works together as a functional whole
How would it relate to this issue?
as a whole, our society needs to work on making our everyday social interactions
more important than what is happening over a website
everyone needs to try to cut down their time on accounts-causing a  chain-link
effect 
IDEA
Next time you go for dinner with friends, have everyone put their phone in a
pile on the table. The first to grab their phone pays everyone s bill!
Structural Functionalist Theory:
This theory explains why our society functions the way it does by focusing
on the relationships between different associations that makes up our society.
It sees our society as a complex system that works together to promote
solidarity and stability. It relates to our topic (technology affecting our well
being) since technology is the broad focus on social structures that shape and
evolve our society. As our time is consumed and drawn into the ways of social
media, it begins to shape the way our community runs and affects the people
within it. A common analogy by Hebert Spencer (who developed this theory) claims
the parts of the society works as  organs  that work together toward the
proper functioning of the  body  as a whole. The  organs  are us in our
community and the  body  is our society/community. We aim to all work
together toward a goal of a proper function society, but the issues of our
technology and social media come across as a barrier and get in the way.
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