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Negative impact of social media on youth

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Negative impact of social media on youth


How does social media impact teenagers? Technology has its good and bad sides, and social media is no exception. Teenagers face significant advantages and disadvantages when it comes to their social media use.

On one hand, platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat can be crucial to LGBTQ teens and those who feel marginalized or isolated. Additionally, social media has helped teens to remain connected and avoid loneliness during the pandemic.

The effect of social media on young people's mental health can be harmful. Specifically, social media has a strong connection to teenage depression. Additionally, spending too much time on these apps leaves teens vulnerable to cyberbullying, body insecurities, and excessive technology usage, resulting in less time available for healthy and real-life activities. Most parents think they know what their child posts on social media. However, a survey by Pew Research revealed that 70% of teens hide their online activities from parents.

Do social media platforms negatively impact the well-being of teens?  The impact of social media on teens has been a highly debated topic with studies showing inconsistent findings.

Many young people who were surveyed stated that social media is crucial to them in terms of receiving support, advice, and expressing creativity, in addition to staying in touch with their friends and family members. Furthermore, 43% of respondents stated that using social media improves their mood when they feel anxious, depressed, or stressed. Among LGBTQ youth, 52% said that social media helps them feel better during problematic emotional states.

Meanwhile, the report indicated a significant link between social media and adolescent depression. Teens with moderate to severe depressive indications were twice as likely to use social media frequently: 33 percent of depressed teenagers reported steady social media use, compared to 18 percent of non-depressed peers. Furthermore, using social media makes teens feel more anxious, lonely, and depressed if their symptoms are severe. This highlights that social media does not assist depressed teens and worsens their mental outlook.

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Some researchers theorize that the increase in social media and overall screen use between those years could account for these changes. The adolescents surveyed who spent more time on social media sites were more likely to report mental health issues. Those who spent more time on real-life activities, such as in-person social interaction, sports, exercise, homework, and print media, were less likely to report these issues.


Cur­rent Lev­els of Teen Social Media Use

Vir­tu­al­ly all teens (95%) ages 13 to 17 use social media, with more than 1 in 3 report­ing that they use it ​“almost con­stant­ly.” While most U.S. social media plat­forms require users to be at least 13 years old, near­ly 40% of kids ages 8 to 12 use social media. The advi­so­ry also noted:

Ado­les­cents who use social media more than three hours per day face twice the risk of expe­ri­enc­ing poor men­tal health outcomes.


A recent sur­vey found that eighth and 10th grade stu­dents spend an aver­age of 3.5 hours per day on these platforms.

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