Do you use social media? Chances are good that you do, and in fact, there is a decent chance that you accessed this blog through a link on the Restorative Solutions Counseling Facebook page. Well, I’m about to spend some time criticizing social media, and that little bit of irony is kind of funny. On the surface, social media has such potential for good. It allows us to stay connected to people from our past, helps us to easily find information, and provides a convenient resource for creative people to share content with the world. There is a dark side to this level of connectivity, though. It also allows for interactions that make us feel horrible about ourselves, promotes misinformation and the spreading of conspiracy theories as though they were actually true, and provides an easy way for people to hurt one another.
Some may remember that in 2021, a whistleblower from Facebook reported that their own studies showed that using Instagram (owned by Facebook) made adolescent girls feel worse about themselves. Other studies have shown this to be true as well. In an article for Forbes*, Kim Elsesser references several peer reviewed studies that have found the following:
Social media use increases the risk of developing eating disorders
Instagram use is associated with depression, low self-esteem, and dissatisfaction with body appearance.
Posting selfies actually tends to put people in a negative mood and makes them feel less attractive.
Use of social media is associated with increased desire for cosmetic surgery.
There are actual changes in brain activity based on “likes.”
Instagram use is associated with a preoccupation with “thinness.”
The ease with which people manipulate photographs has a negative effect on the self-image of adolescent girls.
People who compare themselves to others (which is a normal experience for teens) tend to be at the biggest risk for negative outcomes with social media.
Social media use is strongly associated with increased suicidal thoughts and self-harm behavior.
A reduction in the use of social media is associated with decreased feelings of loneliness.
Before working in private practice I was a school social worker. I frequently heard adolescents talk about issues of cyber bullying. Many people want to know why this seems to be such a problem, and why “good kids” are capable of saying such mean things online. The anonymity is a big part of the problem. In order to say something nasty or insulting to someone’s face, a person has to be willing to watch the effect that their words have on the other person. Anger or emotional immaturity can make this easier for some than it is for others, but one still has to watch the other person’s reaction. Social media allows people to write something brutal and then press send without immediately seeing the effects of their actions, and we know that immediate consequences are important for kids because their brains sometimes aren’t developed enough to fully understand delayed consequences. Research tells us, however, that these insults land every bit as hard as (or possibly harder than) if they were said in-person. So while it might be easier to insult someone from behind a phone screen, the feelings of the person who was insulted are hurt just as bad as if the interaction had been face-to-face.
The spread of misinformation is also a huge problem with social media. A popular quote that is often attributed to Mark Twain is, “A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.” Apparently, there is a lot of debate about who originally came up with this bit of insight, but in the age of social media, it feels more correct than ever. Anyone can put content out there. As a matter of fact, you might be asking yourself, “Who the heck is writing this blog?” We do need to show a little trust when we are consuming online content, but some healthy skepticism is good too. Typically, a quick google search is enough to confirm whether or not a politician does, in fact, want to ban all schools from serving pork.
Responsible use tends to be an important key with social media. Stan Lee gave the character, Uncle Ben, one of the greatest lines in comics when he wrote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” If we are responsible with our own social media use, then we are regulating our time, fact checking before we share, and monitoring the effects it is having on our children and our own mental health. You might notice that not all of these bullet points listed above are about the effects on kids. Yes, adults are also at-risk from a lot of the same consequences as teens when it comes to social media use. The fact that their brains aren’t fully developed (that happens around the age of 25) does put them at more risk than adults, but adults aren’t immune from the negative outcomes, either. Anyone’s mental health is at risk who isn’t careful about their use of social media. However, used correctly, it really can be the force for good that we were promised.