Castillo

Kennedy Castillo
English 120
Megan Malcom Morgan
Research Paper
April 22, 2016
The Overuse of Social Media Leads to Mental Affects in Young Adults
The first known use of social media was in 2004 and since than it has reshaped our
culture of communication immensely. Social media is forms of electronic
communication through which users create online communities to share information,
ideas, personal messages, and other content such as videos. (Shimi) The most abundant
group of social media users are young adults who spend most of their days scrolling
through popular applications such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, Facebook
etc. With young adults already being vulnerable for anxiety and depression, their
interaction with social media also plays a huge role. Not only are young adults just on
social media, but also they are constantly overusing social media on a daily basis. Social
media is adversely affecting the mental health of young adults and the number of users is
only increasing. The analysis of overuse of social media involves the breakdown of the
pros and cons of social media, consequences of young adults overusing social media, and
preventable methods to stop young adults from overusing social media.
There is a huge misconception between social media and social networking when
people tend to compare these two things as similar ways to connect online. The difference
is, social networking is the practice of expanding the number of ones business and or
social contacts by making virtual connections with individuals online. (Turkle) Although
social media is a place where virtual connections are also made, social networking is a
positive way to further businesses in their careers. Social media and Social Networking

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both use online resources to connect, share, and publicize. Social networking publicizes
their business, marketing, and products while social media publicizes their lives,
thoughts, and opinions. Social networking and social media are both beneficial for those
who are looking to develop their business because in the virtual world you are connected
to everyone. Another gain that social media and social networking offer is employment.
Social Media gives the opportunity to people to work at home and telecommunicate
through social networking online. The number of telecommuters in the U.S ranges from
2.8 million people to 4.4 million people. (Hwell) Social Media also gives job recruiters
the advantage to look at potential employees. Not only are social media/networking uses
beneficial for the work place, but they also are beneficial for connecting with relatives
and friends across the world. Statistics show that 70% of adults have used social media
sites to connect with relatives in other states, and 57% of teens have reported making new
friendships on social media sites. (Shimi) People have access to communicate with long
distance family members and friends through the networking of social media. A huge
betterment that social media brings to the table is the fast spread of news information
worldwide. Over 50% of people learn about breaking news on social media. (Hwells)
This not only allows everyone to be quickly notified about events happening, but also it
gives people the opportunity to take action on the events taking place. Although social
media and social networking have their many perks, there are many negative perks as
well.
The negative aspects that social media has brought to our culture vary. They say that
once something is posted online it is permanent, even if you delete it after. Social media
sites lack the privacy of the users and gives exposure to the government and corporate

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intrusions. 13 million users said they had not set or did not know about Facebooks
privacy settings and 28% shared all or nearly all of their posts publicly. (Mendys) This
kind of public access can lead to trouble in a persons work life, social life, and
networking life. Not only does social media allow public access to almost everyone, it is
also known to spread unreliable and false information. For example, false rumors of fires,
shootouts, and floods have been reported on social media which lead to many phone calls
to the local Police and Fire departments, distracting them from actual real life problems.
Another disadvantage the social media causes is low and bad grades in students who
overuse social media. Students who use social media had an average GPA of 3.06 while
non-users had an average of 3.82 and students who used social networking sites while
studying scored 20% lower on tests. (Mendys) Students become very distracted to their
screens while studying and doing homework, causing a decrease in their GPA and test
scores. As you can see there are many adverse effects of social media on people, but the
most prominent effect is the way social media effects young adults mentally.
Due to social media, people spend less time interacting face-to-face, which
correlates with personality and brain disorders because of the inability to have in-person
conversations. Young adults who overuse social media are more vulnerable to develop
loneliness, depression, anxiety, and general distress. The reasons for this are that, social
media allows you to be anyone you want to be, meaning that people can make up a life
that is not their own using social media. In the article, Are You Obsessed with Social
Media?, it is referred to as the online self, or an idealized version of the person we
want others to see, not the person we are in our daily life. The images feed into societys
standards on everything from beauty to behavior. (Mendys) Those who do this are

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drifting away from their own reality of their life and becoming someone who they are
not. This not only leads to loneliness, but also depression. The overconsumption of social
media use that young adults go through on the daily is causing addictive patterns that are
very unhealthy. Not only does social media overuse promote poor mental health, but also
poor self-image on those who are constantly on it. Another reason why social media
overuse affects the mental health of young adults is due to them comparing themselves
with others online. Social Media makes it seem like everyone has the best job, best life,
best family, and best everything but no one really knows whats happening once they put
their phone down. This can be extremely destructive to a young adults self-conception
because they are comparing themselves to unrealistic goals and they constantly are trying
to keep up with them. This kind of behavior is correlated with anxiety and depression.
Social media also causes FOMO in young adults, which is the fear that occurs when
you feel pressure to be doing what everyone else is doing, attend every event, and share
every life experience. (Monty) This feeling evokes anxiety and young adults often
question their lives when comparing them to others.
Young adults that overuse social media are had a high risk of developing all of the
mental illnesses that I have previously mentioned. In order for those risks to be reversed,
young adults first have to reduce the amount of time that they use on social media.
Setting a limiting amount of time that you can go on social media for the day can do this.
Another way is to delete the social media apps completely from your phone until you are
able to cope with your own reality of life. This will help to create awareness for yourself
of how reliable you actually are on social media. Lastly, make a list of things you want to
do outside for the day with out any social media. These three prevention strategies will

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not only make you realize how much time you spend on social media, but how much time
you are wasting by using it.