Effects of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health

Social media has become a natural part of teenagers' lives in the modern world, and there is a high rate of technological innovation in information and communication technologies. Technology, specifically social media, has turned into a source of identification between teenagers and communication but recently has been associated with several harms to the psychological well-being of teenagers. While teenagers interact with these technologies and try to find their way through them, their psychological well-being is sensitive and subject to social networking sites' positive and negative impacts. This essay aims to discuss the impact which social media has on teenagers' psychological well-being, taking into account the benefits as well as the drawbacks while providing parents, educators, and teenagers with relevant information about these social media impacts so that they can consciously ponder about how they could benefit from it at the same time minimize the risks.

Firstly, it can enhance the adolescent's mental well-being since it is one of the most common platforms people actively use to interact with others. Typically, adolescents are likely to use social media to buffer friendship and interpersonal communication skills as it assists in keeping up relationships with people and other related interpersonal skills (O'Reilly, 2020). Therefore, the mastery of technology in interactions with peers and the development of social contacts is crucial in the learning process of adolescents. However, people believe that social media can continue to be seen as a recreational activity to help teenagers unwind and free them from school responsibilities (Keles et al., 2020). Through these social media activities, adolescents can get a peek at some of the fun things people do in daily life and feel happy when handling the stress they are exposed to daily.

Nonetheless, social media's harmful impact on teenage mental health should not be disregarded. Indeed, excessive use and exposure to curated information might have negative implications, for instance, participants express concern about low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and sleep problems as potential risks associated with social media overuse (Keles et al., 2020; O'Reilly, 2020 ). Continuous exposure to idealized pictures, along with the addictive nature of social media, can be detrimental to self-esteem, emotional well-being, and healthy habits. Essentially, associations between social media use and depression, anxiety, and psychological discomfort exist in four domains: "time spent, activity, investment, and addiction." (Keles et al., 2020). Too much exposure to social media and its dependency may lead to mental health challenges like anxiety, stress, and depression.

Furthermore, 'cyberbullying' is one of the 'ugly' faces of social media on adolescent's mental health – it triggers self-harm and suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Specifically, cyberbullying is a form of peer abuse that is made easy by technology and anonymity; this normally leads to depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem, which can lead to other cases of suicide among victims (O'Reilly, 2020). The adverse effects of cyberbullying are that they leave emotional impacts and are related to other mental health issues because they make people feel helpless from the fact that they cannot control what happens to them. On another front, social media encourages self-harm conduct among vulnerable youth in quests for social support or acceptance (Keles et al., 2020). Coupled with the ease of accessing harm-associated content and reinforcement factors, the risks are compounded.

Nevertheless, the above negative impacts of social media on teens' psychological well-being can be managed. Addressing the current gaps in mental health literacy and help-seeking intentions among adolescents is possible. This can be done by utilizing mental health professionals with a large following on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram (Pretorius et al., 2022). These influencers can reach a large audience and give reliable and understandable information and directions when it comes to mental health. Realistically, this is important for teenagers who have limited access to a psychologist or any other professional (O'Reilly, 2020). However, these accounts must be ethical and professional, so they should not share misinformed information; they should avoid boundary issues and encourage people to seek professional help when needed (Pretorius et al., 2022). That is why such mental health influencers must apply their influence responsibly and show adolescents that social networks can be beneficial only if they are used for promoting mental health and raising awareness of the problem.

In conclusion, though many social media platforms provide social interaction, stress relief, and creativity, they cause several mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, in the cases of excessive usage and harmful content influence. Also, the negative impacts of cyberbullying, the promotion of suicide, and suicidal thoughts in social media are life-threatening issues that need intensive cooperation from health professionals, teachers, and caregivers. It is significantly possible to enhance the positive impact of mental health influencers on social media platforms and provide appropriate guidance for adolescents, strengthening the mental health literacy level, helping-seeking behavior, and improving adolescents' psychological well-being in modern society.