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What Impact Does Social Media Have on Teenagers?

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Homeward Bound
What Impact Does Social Media Have on Teenagers?

Social media, like all technology, has advantages and disadvantages. Those advantages and disadvantages are significant when it comes to the social media impact on teens.


Platforms like TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, on the other hand, can be lifesavers for youth who feel alone or stigmatized. Social media also helped youth feel more connected and less lonely during the pandemic.


However, the influence of social media on kids might be damaging to their mental health. Social media and teen depression are particularly connected. In addition, excessive use of the apps exposes kids to cyberbullying, body image concerns, addiction, and less time spent engaging in healthy, real-world activities. While most parents assume they know what their children post on social media, a Pew Research survey revealed that 70% of teenagers hide their online conduct from their parents.


Why Social Media Can Be Harmful to Mental Health: Research on Social Media and Teen Depression


Is social media to blame for the dramatic increase in teen depression over the previous decade? According to surveys of US teens, teen depression symptoms and suicide rates increased significantly between 2010 and 2015, particularly among girls. Some experts believe these shifts are due to increased social media and screen use between those years. According to the study, adolescents who spent more time on social media were more likely to report mental health difficulties. Unplugged activities such as in-person social engagement, sports, exercise, schoolwork, and print media were less likely to be reported by those who spent more time on them.


A vast amount of studies correlating teens' social media usage with rising teen depression has supported this notion over the previous decade. According to this research, a teen's social media usage is directly related to their mental health.


Many specialists feel that social networking's frequent overstimulation causes the nervous system to go into fight-or-flight mode. As a result, conditions including ADHD, teen depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and teen anxiety are exacerbated. However, some study on social media and teen depression suggests that the causation is reversed, with sad teens using social media more frequently.


Learn more about anxiety coping mechanisms by visiting Homeward Bound.

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