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Social Media: Effects on Psychological Wellbeing
Social media, like most technological developments, is composed of both positive aspects and negative aspects. The consequences of social media on our society, health, and wellbeing fill a spectrum. I believe there is a balance to all things in life and that if a person is mindful and aware they can find their own balance. Social media is wonderful, engaging, expansive, and important. However, there are effects that are unfortunate, harmful, and even dangerous. The goal of this series of blog posts is to break down some of the effects of social media on psychological wellbeing. My goal is to engage you as a reader to consider all of these effects and then to consider what we can do to enhance or challenge them.
For this first post, I would like to create a foundation of knowledge that we can use in later posts to break down and understand these effects. Now I would also like to preface that due to the fast growth of social media there is not scientifically conclusive data. Meaning that while there have been many studies on the effects of social media on psychological wellness not all of these studies have been properly re-tested and solidified. However, this gives us more room to be skeptical and to delve into the material with more critical and individual depth.
Let’s start with the positive effects and aspects of social media. Social media provides humans with the tools and resources to connect with each other. Humans are social creatures. It is in our nature to seek out and communicate with others. Communication, relationships, and social engagement are very important parts of human wellbeing and success. The development of social media has provided humans with the ability to not only maintain connections to our loved ones but to also be able to create new connections that may have never been created or possible without social media platforms. Social media connects us on a level that has never been possible before. People are able to live on opposite sides of the world and still have the ability to not only talk with each other but now they can see each other. Another positive aspect of social media is that it provides so much cultural and global information. The ability to better understand other cultures and to know what is going on in the rest of the world is so important for building understanding, tolerance, and acceptance.
There is a dark side to the world of social media. Studies on social media have presented information that social media is correlated with low self-esteem levels, increases in depression, anxiety, and mood disorder symptoms, and increases in feelings such as loneliness and jealousy. Is social media responsible for these negative effects, and if so, are there practices and cultural shifts we can engage in that limit or extinguish these effects?
So until the next post, I challenge you all to open your mind and consider the effects, both positive and negative, of social media on your mental health and on the mental health of others. Till next time. xoxo