Yvette Juarez Ms.Lehmann English 1-1B 7 February 2020 The Battle of Social Media and Mental Health In spring of 2017, 39% of teenagers in the United States are on social networking apps every day, but with social media usage comes consequences (Clement). Teens should be responsible users of social media because social media impacts teens’ well- being, social connectedness, and academic achievements. In examining social media’s impacts on well-being, it is clear the connection is complex. How we use social media impacts our well-being. Social media has both positive and negative impacts on teens’ emotional health. There are a range of challenges teens face in life, and social media allows them to seek out help they may not get otherwise. James et al writes, “The ability to communicate anonymously can mitigate barriers, such as a shame, that interfere with support-seeking offline” (72). Being able to anonymously ask for help has a positive impact on teens’ lives because it allows people to ask for help without feeling judged so that they can get the help they need. Having considered the positive impacts of social media, users must also be aware of the negative. Social media has been blamed for many negative impacts on people’s lives. James et al explain, “Several investigations document correlations between heavy media use and reduce well-being – related outcomes, such as diminished life satisfaction, internalizing negative experiences, and various dimensions of ill-being, such as depression, anxiety, attention problems, and stress” (72). When young adults use social media to compare themselves to others, negative outcomes will follow. When social mediapresents the good things in our lives as the only things, users can lose sight of the messiness of life, making them feel less satisfied with what they have. The impact that social media has on adolescents’ well-being depends upon how it is being used. With that being said, whenteensuse social media, it’s impact is determined by the young adults’ personalities. A teen’s vulnerability depends on their outlook on life and on how affected they areby social media. In a survey called “Social Media, Social Life,” results were released that“The 17 percent who scored in the low SEWB group were the most impacted by social media interactions, suggesting that the personality- not the platform- is the more important factor when determining the influence of social media” (K.Y. 18).Everyone has a different personality,and we can’t always know how social media will affect each person. When teens losecommunication with others, they also lose the ability to strengthen relationships and trust. The surveyshows that adolescents prefer social media to communicate overface to face communication. “Teens’ preference for face to face communication with friends has declined substantially, and their perception of social media’s interference with personal interactions has increased. Only 32 percent say their favorite way to communicate with friends is in person (dropping from 49 percent in 2012)” (K.Y. 18). The statistics have increased dramaticallyfrom 20 years ago, which leads to friendships falling apart. Overall, social connectedness is a key point in building relationships and strengthening communication skills, and social media can have negative effects onconnections. Some argue that the dangers of social media have been overexaggerated. Despite the appeal of this argument, the negative effects of social media cannot be ignored entirely. Using social media too much has been connected to a lack of emotional and physical well-being as well as weaker social connectedness. Success in school has also been impacted by screen time. “Academic performance is directly related to sleep time and inversely related to overall sedentary SMU [screen media usage] among the students who participated in this study” (Peiró-Velert et al 5). The study found that the more time students spent on their screens, the less time they had to sleep, which resulted in lower academic achievement. It’s obvious that social media’s impact is complicated, and people should be mindful of how they use it. By using social media responsibly, teenscan minimize its impact on their health, connections with others, and success in school. Being aware of how they use social media can minimize the negative effects it has on adolescents. Teens like social media, and it causes them to be more distracted, which leads them to lose communication skills. The amount of time teens spend on social media can indirectly impact academic achievements. Given the shocking statistics,it is crucial teenslearn how to use social media responsibly.
Work Cited Page Clement, J. “Most popular social networks of teenagers in the United States from fall 2012 to spring 2019” Statista, 15 October 2019, Accessed 5 March 2020. James, Carrie, Katie Davis, Linda Charmaraman, Sara Konrath, Petr Slovak, Emily Weinstein, and Lana Yarosh. “Digital Life and Youth Well-being, Social Connectedness, Empathy, and Narcissism.” Pediatrics, vol. 140, no. S2, November 2017, pp. 71-75. Academic Search Premier, doi: 10.1542/peda.2016-178F. Accessed 21 January 2020. K.Y “Social media and Teens.” School Library Journal, vol.64, no.10, October 2018, pp. 18-18. Academic Search Premier. Accessed 21 January 2020. Peiró-Velert, Carmen, Alexandra Valencia-Peris, Luis M. González, Xavier Garcia-Massó, Pilar Serra-Año, Devís-Devís. “Screen Media Usage, Sleep Time and Academic Performance in Adolescents: Clustering a Self-Organizing Maps Analysis.” Plos One, vol.9, no.6, June 2014, pp. 1-9. Academic Search Premier,doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.009478. Accessed 10 February 2020. Research Paper Reflection 1. Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific. I first started with looking through articles for proof to help me when writing my paper, next I used Cornell notes to help organize all of the research I collected, after I began to write my research paper. 2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them? It qualifies because it includes a main claim, evidence, rebuttal, and restating your claim. 3. Explain one thing you learned about reading research or taking notes on research that you can apply to your next research paper. I learned when reading research to make sure it is credible and has their sources cited, I found Cornell notes extremely helpful and will continue to use them.