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Social media harms teens’ mental health, mounting evidence shows. what now.

Understanding what is going on in teens’ minds is necessary for targeted policy suggestions

Most teens use social media, often for hours on end. Some social scientists are confident that such use is harming their mental health. Now they want to pinpoint what explains the link.

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By Sujata Gupta

February 20, 2024 at 7:30 am

In January, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, appeared at a congressional hearing to answer questions about how social media potentially harms children. Zuckerberg opened by saying: “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health.”

But many social scientists would disagree with that statement. In recent years, studies have started to show a causal link between teen social media use and reduced well-being or mood disorders, chiefly depression and anxiety.

Ironically, one of the most cited studies into this link focused on Facebook.

Researchers delved into whether the platform’s introduction across college campuses in the mid 2000s increased symptoms associated with depression and anxiety. The answer was a clear yes , says MIT economist Alexey Makarin, a coauthor of the study, which appeared in the November 2022 American Economic Review . “There is still a lot to be explored,” Makarin says, but “[to say] there is no causal evidence that social media causes mental health issues, to that I definitely object.”

The concern, and the studies, come from statistics showing that social media use in teens ages 13 to 17 is now almost ubiquitous. Two-thirds of teens report using TikTok, and some 60 percent of teens report using Instagram or Snapchat, a 2022 survey found. (Only 30 percent said they used Facebook.) Another survey showed that girls, on average, allot roughly 3.4 hours per day to TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, compared with roughly 2.1 hours among boys. At the same time, more teens are showing signs of depression than ever, especially girls ( SN: 6/30/23 ).

As more studies show a strong link between these phenomena, some researchers are starting to shift their attention to possible mechanisms. Why does social media use seem to trigger mental health problems? Why are those effects unevenly distributed among different groups, such as girls or young adults? And can the positives of social media be teased out from the negatives to provide more targeted guidance to teens, their caregivers and policymakers?

“You can’t design good public policy if you don’t know why things are happening,” says Scott Cunningham, an economist at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Increasing rigor

Concerns over the effects of social media use in children have been circulating for years, resulting in a massive body of scientific literature. But those mostly correlational studies could not show if teen social media use was harming mental health or if teens with mental health problems were using more social media.

Moreover, the findings from such studies were often inconclusive, or the effects on mental health so small as to be inconsequential. In one study that received considerable media attention, psychologists Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski combined data from three surveys to see if they could find a link between technology use, including social media, and reduced well-being. The duo gauged the well-being of over 355,000 teenagers by focusing on questions around depression, suicidal thinking and self-esteem.

Digital technology use was associated with a slight decrease in adolescent well-being , Orben, now of the University of Cambridge, and Przybylski, of the University of Oxford, reported in 2019 in Nature Human Behaviour . But the duo downplayed that finding, noting that researchers have observed similar drops in adolescent well-being associated with drinking milk, going to the movies or eating potatoes.

Holes have begun to appear in that narrative thanks to newer, more rigorous studies.

In one longitudinal study, researchers — including Orben and Przybylski — used survey data on social media use and well-being from over 17,400 teens and young adults to look at how individuals’ responses to a question gauging life satisfaction changed between 2011 and 2018. And they dug into how the responses varied by gender, age and time spent on social media.

Social media use was associated with a drop in well-being among teens during certain developmental periods, chiefly puberty and young adulthood, the team reported in 2022 in Nature Communications . That translated to lower well-being scores around ages 11 to 13 for girls and ages 14 to 15 for boys. Both groups also reported a drop in well-being around age 19. Moreover, among the older teens, the team found evidence for the Goldilocks Hypothesis: the idea that both too much and too little time spent on social media can harm mental health.

“There’s hardly any effect if you look over everybody. But if you look at specific age groups, at particularly what [Orben] calls ‘windows of sensitivity’ … you see these clear effects,” says L.J. Shrum, a consumer psychologist at HEC Paris who was not involved with this research. His review of studies related to teen social media use and mental health is forthcoming in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.

Cause and effect

That longitudinal study hints at causation, researchers say. But one of the clearest ways to pin down cause and effect is through natural or quasi-experiments. For these in-the-wild experiments, researchers must identify situations where the rollout of a societal “treatment” is staggered across space and time. They can then compare outcomes among members of the group who received the treatment to those still in the queue — the control group.

That was the approach Makarin and his team used in their study of Facebook. The researchers homed in on the staggered rollout of Facebook across 775 college campuses from 2004 to 2006. They combined that rollout data with student responses to the National College Health Assessment, a widely used survey of college students’ mental and physical health.

The team then sought to understand if those survey questions captured diagnosable mental health problems. Specifically, they had roughly 500 undergraduate students respond to questions both in the National College Health Assessment and in validated screening tools for depression and anxiety. They found that mental health scores on the assessment predicted scores on the screenings. That suggested that a drop in well-being on the college survey was a good proxy for a corresponding increase in diagnosable mental health disorders. 

Compared with campuses that had not yet gained access to Facebook, college campuses with Facebook experienced a 2 percentage point increase in the number of students who met the diagnostic criteria for anxiety or depression, the team found.

When it comes to showing a causal link between social media use in teens and worse mental health, “that study really is the crown jewel right now,” says Cunningham, who was not involved in that research.

A need for nuance

The social media landscape today is vastly different than the landscape of 20 years ago. Facebook is now optimized for maximum addiction, Shrum says, and other newer platforms, such as Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, have since copied and built on those features. Paired with the ubiquity of social media in general, the negative effects on mental health may well be larger now.

Moreover, social media research tends to focus on young adults — an easier cohort to study than minors. That needs to change, Cunningham says. “Most of us are worried about our high school kids and younger.” 

And so, researchers must pivot accordingly. Crucially, simple comparisons of social media users and nonusers no longer make sense. As Orben and Przybylski’s 2022 work suggested, a teen not on social media might well feel worse than one who briefly logs on. 

Researchers must also dig into why, and under what circumstances, social media use can harm mental health, Cunningham says. Explanations for this link abound. For instance, social media is thought to crowd out other activities or increase people’s likelihood of comparing themselves unfavorably with others. But big data studies, with their reliance on existing surveys and statistical analyses, cannot address those deeper questions. “These kinds of papers, there’s nothing you can really ask … to find these plausible mechanisms,” Cunningham says.

One ongoing effort to understand social media use from this more nuanced vantage point is the SMART Schools project out of the University of Birmingham in England. Pedagogical expert Victoria Goodyear and her team are comparing mental and physical health outcomes among children who attend schools that have restricted cell phone use to those attending schools without such a policy. The researchers described the protocol of that study of 30 schools and over 1,000 students in the July BMJ Open.

Goodyear and colleagues are also combining that natural experiment with qualitative research. They met with 36 five-person focus groups each consisting of all students, all parents or all educators at six of those schools. The team hopes to learn how students use their phones during the day, how usage practices make students feel, and what the various parties think of restrictions on cell phone use during the school day.

Talking to teens and those in their orbit is the best way to get at the mechanisms by which social media influences well-being — for better or worse, Goodyear says. Moving beyond big data to this more personal approach, however, takes considerable time and effort. “Social media has increased in pace and momentum very, very quickly,” she says. “And research takes a long time to catch up with that process.”

Until that catch-up occurs, though, researchers cannot dole out much advice. “What guidance could we provide to young people, parents and schools to help maintain the positives of social media use?” Goodyear asks. “There’s not concrete evidence yet.”

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Social Media and Mental Health Essay

The role of social media in people’s lives has increased exponentially over the past decade. The online personas that people create matter to them nearly just as much as their real-life image due to the constant communication and the opportunity to track down their responses to specific posts at any time. As a result, the impact of social media on the mental well-being of its users is worth considering. Sumner et al. point to the positive effects of social media, clarifying that the specified technological innovation can be used as the tool for improving mental health of its users. Namely, the research states that social media allows spreading useful and positive information about health-related issues much faster than traditional media. As a result, the opportunities for increasing the levels of public health and addressing some of the most common public health issues emerge.

The connection between the positivity of a message and its reception in social media is a crucial piece of information that needs to be incorporated into the current approach toward increasing the levels of public health, citizens’ health literacy, and the accessibility of health services. Namely, the conclusions that Sumner et al. make concerning the direct correlation between the positivity of a message and the likelihood of it being transmitted to a greater number of people should be used as the tool fro encouraging better health management: “Sheer volume of supportive content provided by produced by organizations or individuals may be less important than creating higher-quality messages” (p. 143). Thus, the conclusion that the authors provide should be used to enhance the efficacy and accessibility of the current health services.

One could argue that the general research outcomes should be seen as quite upsetting given the implications that they provide. Namely, the fact that the work of health professionals, who perform meticulous studies and arrange the data as carefully as possible to provide accurate and concise guidelines may be less important than an upbeat yet empty message is a rather sad idea. The specified conclusions may lead to a drop in the extent of health practitioners’ and nurse educators’ enthusiasm in providing the services of the highest quality.

However, the message that Sumner et al. convey could also be seen as an opportunity for enhancing health education and raising health literacy within the community by building a better rapport with its members. Namely, the data about the significance of the use of positivity in social networks as the tool for attracting the attention of patients and target audiences should be utilized to shape the current approach toward promoting health literacy. Specifically, healthcare practitioners and registered nurses, especially those that address the issues of patient education directly, need to create the strategy for the online conversation with patients through social media. The specified dialogue could be based on a combination of positive messages and clear visuals that inform patients about key issues in health management and provide them with an opportunity to improve their health literacy.

Additionally, the authors have provided an important tool for the development of a campaign aimed at public health management and improvement. Namely, based on the outcomes of the research carried out by Sumner et al. have informed the strategies for improving communication between patients and nurse educators. The specified change in how people perceive health management is especially important in the context of the present-day epidemic of coronavirus. Given the rapid spread of the epidemic and its recent transformation into the pandemic, reinforcing the instructions for people to remain safe is an essential task for APRNs and healthcare experts worldwide. In turn, the application of social media suits perfectly for the described purpose since it allows sharing information instantly and providing people with clear and concise guidelines for them to follow. Although social media mostly do not allow for detailed descriptions of specific health concerns and profound analysis of these issues, they serve their purpose of bulletin boards with clear and distinct guidelines that the members of the global community can apply to their daily routine.

Specifically, the use of positive messages in social media will reinforce the importance of guidelines and ensuring that people will follow them properly. For instance, Sumner et al. mention that the use of social networks has helped to promote social sharing. As the authors explain, “In topic areas such as cancer support, investigators found that the degree of positive sentiment in a message is associated with increased message spread” (Summer et al, p. 143). Therefore, the inclusion of positive thinking and positive emotions into the process of knowledge sharing enhances the extent to which people are willing to engage in the discussion. Moreover, the rise in the inclination to share a message that is positive will allow fighting some of the most severe health concerns that the global community is facing presently, primarily, the coronavirus.

Furthermore, the discussion sparked by the authors raises the question of inaccurate health-related information in social media and the means of filtering data. Indeed, for an uninitiated user of social media, discerning between accurate health-related information and the posts that reinforce health-associated myths is virtually impossible. Although some indicators such as the identity of the user posting the information could provide hints regarding the veracity of data, social media users have to rely on their intuition for the most part. Therefore, it is also critical for nurses to develop strategies for shielding social media users from the data that provides a distorted picture of health management.

Finally, the issue of addressing serious health concerns in social media should be discussed as a contentious subject. Given the outcomes of the research performed by Summer et al., it is critical to focus on delivering positive messages to target audiences to increase compliance with the established health management strategies. However, when tackling a serious health concern that has led or may potentially lead to a rapid rise in lethal outcomes, remaining positive becomes quite challenging. Not only will a message sound false in the specified circumstances, but it is also likely to be perceived in a negative light due to the dissonance between the subject matter and the tone of its delivery. Therefore, the outcomes of the study pose a difficult dilemma for educators and healthcare providers to resolve when addressing their target audiences via social media. Namely, retaining positivity while talking about serious issues is likely to become a major stumbling block for most healthcare service members.

The outcomes of the study performed by Summer et al. have offered a range of important insights, the significance of positivity in modern media as the means of encouraging citizens to accept healthy behaviors being one of the key conclusions. However, to apply the specified results to the management of current public health concerns, one will have to shape the existing framework for communicating with patients significantly. Therefore, the research should be seen as the basis for redesigning the present health education strategy, as well as the approach toward conversing with patients.

Sumner, Steven A., et al. “Factors Associated with Increased Dissemination of Positive Mental Health Messaging on Social Media.” Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention , vol. 41, no. 2, 2019, pp. 141-145. doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000598.

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Pros & cons: impacts of social media on mental health

• Ágnes Zsila 1 , 2 &
• Marc Eric S. Reyes   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5280-1315 3  

BMC Psychology volume  11 , Article number:  201 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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The use of social media significantly impacts mental health. It can enhance connection, increase self-esteem, and improve a sense of belonging. But it can also lead to tremendous stress, pressure to compare oneself to others, and increased sadness and isolation. Mindful use is essential to social media consumption.

Social media has become integral to our daily routines: we interact with family members and friends, accept invitations to public events, and join online communities to meet people who share similar preferences using these platforms. Social media has opened a new avenue for social experiences since the early 2000s, extending the possibilities for communication. According to recent research [ 1 ], people spend 2.3 h daily on social media. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have become increasingly popular among youth in 2022, and one-third think they spend too much time on these platforms [ 2 ]. The considerable time people spend on social media worldwide has directed researchers’ attention toward the potential benefits and risks. Research shows excessive use is mainly associated with lower psychological well-being [ 3 ]. However, findings also suggest that the quality rather than the quantity of social media use can determine whether the experience will enhance or deteriorate the user’s mental health [ 4 ]. In this collection, we will explore the impact of social media use on mental health by providing comprehensive research perspectives on positive and negative effects.

Social media can provide opportunities to enhance the mental health of users by facilitating social connections and peer support [ 5 ]. Indeed, online communities can provide a space for discussions regarding health conditions, adverse life events, or everyday challenges, which may decrease the sense of stigmatization and increase belongingness and perceived emotional support. Mutual friendships, rewarding social interactions, and humor on social media also reduced stress during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 4 ].

On the other hand, several studies have pointed out the potentially detrimental effects of social media use on mental health. Concerns have been raised that social media may lead to body image dissatisfaction [ 6 ], increase the risk of addiction and cyberbullying involvement [ 5 ], contribute to phubbing behaviors [ 7 ], and negatively affects mood [ 8 ]. Excessive use has increased loneliness, fear of missing out, and decreased subjective well-being and life satisfaction [ 8 ]. Users at risk of social media addiction often report depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem [ 9 ].

Overall, findings regarding the impact of social media on mental health pointed out some essential resources for psychological well-being through rewarding online social interactions. However, there is a need to raise awareness about the possible risks associated with excessive use, which can negatively affect mental health and everyday functioning [ 9 ]. There is neither a negative nor positive consensus regarding the effects of social media on people. However, by teaching people social media literacy, we can maximize their chances of having balanced, safe, and meaningful experiences on these platforms [ 10 ].

We encourage researchers to submit their research articles and contribute to a more differentiated overview of the impact of social media on mental health. BMC Psychology welcomes submissions to its new collection, which promises to present the latest findings in the emerging field of social media research. We seek research papers using qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on social media users’ positive and negative aspects. We believe this collection will provide a more comprehensive picture of social media’s positive and negative effects on users’ mental health.

Data Availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

Ágnes Zsila was supported by the ÚNKP-22-4 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

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Introduction

Social media has become a prominent fixture in the lives of many individuals facing the challenges of mental illness. Social media refers broadly to web and mobile platforms that allow individuals to connect with others within a virtual network (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or LinkedIn), where they can share, co-create, or exchange various forms of digital content, including information, messages, photos, or videos (Ahmed et al. 2019 ). Studies have reported that individuals living with a range of mental disorders, including depression, psychotic disorders, or other severe mental illnesses, use social media platforms at comparable rates as the general population, with use ranging from about 70% among middle-age and older individuals to upwards of 97% among younger individuals (Aschbrenner et al. 2018b ; Birnbaum et al. 2017b ; Brunette et al. 2019 ; Naslund et al. 2016 ). Other exploratory studies have found that many of these individuals with mental illness appear to turn to social media to share their personal experiences, seek information about their mental health and treatment options, and give and receive support from others facing similar mental health challenges (Bucci et al. 2019 ; Naslund et al. 2016b ).

Across the USA and globally, very few people living with mental illness have access to adequate mental health services (Patel et al. 2018 ). The wide reach and near ubiquitous use of social media platforms may afford novel opportunities to address these shortfalls in existing mental health care, by enhancing the quality, availability, and reach of services. Recent studies have explored patterns of social media use, impact of social media use on mental health and wellbeing, and the potential to leverage the popularity and interactive features of social media to enhance the delivery of interventions. However, there remains uncertainty regarding the risks and potential harms of social media for mental health (Orben and Przybylski 2019 ) and how best to weigh these concerns against potential benefits.

In this commentary, we summarized current research on the use of social media among individuals with mental illness, with consideration of the impact of social media on mental wellbeing, as well as early efforts using social media for delivery of evidence-based programs for addressing mental health problems. We searched for recent peer reviewed publications in Medline and Google Scholar using the search terms “mental health” or “mental illness” and “social media,” and searched the reference lists of recent reviews and other relevant studies. We reviewed the risks, potential harms, and necessary safety precautions with using social media for mental health. Overall, our goal was to consider the role of social media as a potentially viable intervention platform for offering support to persons with mental disorders, promoting engagement and retention in care, and enhancing existing mental health services, while balancing the need for safety. Given this broad objective, we did not perform a systematic search of the literature and we did not apply specific inclusion criteria based on study design or type of mental disorder.

Social Media Use and Mental Health

In 2020, there are an estimated 3.8 billion social media users worldwide, representing half the global population (We Are Social 2020 ). Recent studies have shown that individuals with mental disorders are increasingly gaining access to and using mobile devices, such as smartphones (Firth et al. 2015 ; Glick et al. 2016 ; Torous et al. 2014a , b ). Similarly, there is mounting evidence showing high rates of social media use among individuals with mental disorders, including studies looking at engagement with these popular platforms across diverse settings and disorder types. Initial studies from 2015 found that nearly half of a sample of psychiatric patients were social media users, with greater use among younger individuals (Trefflich et al. 2015 ), while 47% of inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia reported using social media, of which 79% reported at least once-a-week usage of social media websites (Miller et al. 2015 ). Rates of social media use among psychiatric populations have increased in recent years, as reflected in a study with data from 2017 showing comparable rates of social media use (approximately 70%) among individuals with serious mental illness in treatment as compared with low-income groups from the general population (Brunette et al. 2019 ).

Similarly, among individuals with serious mental illness receiving community-based mental health services, a recent study found equivalent rates of social media use as the general population, even exceeding 70% of participants (Naslund et al. 2016 ). Comparable findings were demonstrated among middle-age and older individuals with mental illness accessing services at peer support agencies, where 72% of respondents reported using social media (Aschbrenner et al. 2018b ). Similar results, with 68% of those with first episode psychosis using social media daily were reported in another study (Abdel-Baki et al. 2017 ).

Individuals who self-identified as having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder responded to a survey shared through the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) and reported that visiting social media sites was one of their most common activities when using digital devices, taking up roughly 2 h each day (Gay et al. 2016 ). For adolescents and young adults ages 12 to 21 with psychotic disorders and mood disorders, over 97% reported using social media, with average use exceeding 2.5 h per day (Birnbaum et al. 2017b ). Similarly, in a sample of adolescents ages 13–18 recruited from community mental health centers, 98% reported using social media, with YouTube as the most popular platform, followed by Instagram and Snapchat (Aschbrenner et al. 2019 ).

Research has also explored the motivations for using social media as well as the perceived benefits of interacting on these platforms among individuals with mental illness. In the sections that follow (see Table 1 for a summary), we consider three potentially unique features of interacting and connecting with others on social media that may offer benefits for individuals living with mental illness. These include: (1) Facilitate social interaction; (2) Access to a peer support network; and (3) Promote engagement and retention in services.

Facilitate Social Interaction

Social media platforms offer near continuous opportunities to connect and interact with others, regardless of time of day or geographic location. This on demand ease of communication may be especially important for facilitating social interaction among individuals with mental disorders experiencing difficulties interacting in face-to-face settings. For example, impaired social functioning is a common deficit in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and social media may facilitate communication and interacting with others for these individuals (Torous and Keshavan 2016 ). This was suggested in one study where participants with schizophrenia indicated that social media helped them to interact and socialize more easily (Miller et al. 2015 ). Like other online communication, the ability to connect with others anonymously may be an important feature of social media, especially for individuals living with highly stigmatizing health conditions (Berger et al. 2005 ), such as serious mental disorders (Highton-Williamson et al. 2015 ).

Studies have found that individuals with serious mental disorders (Spinzy et al. 2012 ) as well as young adults with mental illness (Gowen et al. 2012 ) appear to form online relationships and connect with others on social media as often as social media users from the general population. This is an important observation because individuals living with serious mental disorders typically have few social contacts in the offline world and also experience high rates of loneliness (Badcock et al. 2015 ; Giacco et al. 2016 ). Among individuals receiving publicly funded mental health services who use social media, nearly half (47%) reported using these platforms at least weekly to feel less alone (Brusilovskiy et al. 2016 ). In another study of young adults with serious mental illness, most indicated that they used social media to help feel less isolated (Gowen et al. 2012 ). Interestingly, more frequent use of social media among a sample of individuals with serious mental illness was associated with greater community participation, measured as participation in shopping, work, religious activities, or visiting friends and family, as well as greater civic engagement, reflected as voting in local elections (Brusilovskiy et al. 2016 ).

Emerging research also shows that young people with moderate to severe depressive symptoms appear to prefer communicating on social media rather than in-person (Rideout and Fox 2018 ), while other studies have found that some individuals may prefer to seek help for mental health concerns online rather than through in-person encounters (Batterham and Calear 2017 ). In a qualitative study, participants with schizophrenia described greater anonymity, the ability to discover that other people have experienced similar health challenges and reducing fears through greater access to information as important motivations for using the Internet to seek mental health information (Schrank et al. 2010 ). Because social media does not require the immediate responses necessary in face-to-face communication, it may overcome deficits with social interaction due to psychotic symptoms that typically adversely affect face-to-face conversations (Docherty et al. 1996 ). Online social interactions may not require the use of non-verbal cues, particularly in the initial stages of interaction (Kiesler et al. 1984 ), with interactions being more fluid and within the control of users, thereby overcoming possible social anxieties linked to in-person interaction (Indian and Grieve 2014 ). Furthermore, many individuals with serious mental disorders can experience symptoms including passive social withdrawal, blunted affect, and attentional impairment, as well as active social avoidance due to hallucinations or other concerns (Hansen et al. 2009 ), thus potentially reinforcing the relative advantage, as perceived by users, of using social media over in person conversations.

Access to a Peer Support Network

There is growing recognition about the role that social media channels could play in enabling peer support (Bucci et al. 2019 ; Naslund et al. 2016b ), referred to as a system of mutual giving and receiving where individuals who have endured the difficulties of mental illness can offer hope, friendship, and support to others facing similar challenges (Davidson et al. 2006 ; Mead et al. 2001 ). Initial studies exploring use of online self-help forums among individuals with serious mental illnesses have found that individuals with schizophrenia appeared to use these forums for self-disclosure and sharing personal experiences, in addition to providing or requesting information, describing symptoms, or discussing medication (Haker et al. 2005 ), while users with bipolar disorder reported using these forums to ask for help from others about their illness (Vayreda and Antaki 2009 ). More recently, in a review of online social networking in people with psychosis, Highton-Williamson et al. ( 2015 ) highlight that an important purpose of such online connections was to establish new friendships, pursue romantic relationships, maintain existing relationships or reconnect with people, and seek online peer support from others with lived experience (Highton-Williamson et al. 2015 ).

Online peer support among individuals with mental illness has been further elaborated in various studies. In a content analysis of comments posted to YouTube by individuals who self-identified as having a serious mental illness, there appeared to be opportunities to feel less alone, provide hope, find support and learn through mutual reciprocity, and share coping strategies for day-to-day challenges of living with a mental illness (Naslund et al. 2014 ). In another study, Chang ( 2009 ) delineated various communication patterns in an online psychosis peer-support group (Chang 2009 ). Specifically, different forms of support emerged, including “informational support” about medication use or contacting mental health providers, “esteem support” involving positive comments for encouragement, “network support” for sharing similar experiences, and “emotional support” to express understanding of a peer’s situation and offer hope or confidence (Chang 2009 ). Bauer et al. ( 2013 ) reported that the main interest in online self-help forums for patients with bipolar disorder was to share emotions with others, allow exchange of information, and benefit by being part of an online social group (Bauer et al. 2013 ).

For individuals who openly discuss mental health problems on Twitter, a study by Berry et al. ( 2017 ) found that this served as an important opportunity to seek support and to hear about the experiences of others (Berry et al. 2017 ). In a survey of social media users with mental illness, respondents reported that sharing personal experiences about living with mental illness and opportunities to learn about strategies for coping with mental illness from others were important reasons for using social media (Naslund et al. 2017 ). A computational study of mental health awareness campaigns on Twitter provides further support with inspirational posts and tips being the most shared (Saha et al. 2019 ). Taken together, these studies offer insights about the potential for social media to facilitate access to an informal peer support network, though more research is necessary to examine how these online interactions may impact intentions to seek care, illness self-management, and clinically meaningful outcomes in offline contexts.

Promote Engagement and Retention in Services

Many individuals living with mental disorders have expressed interest in using social media platforms for seeking mental health information (Lal et al. 2018 ), connecting with mental health providers (Birnbaum et al. 2017b ), and accessing evidence-based mental health services delivered over social media specifically for coping with mental health symptoms or for promoting overall health and wellbeing (Naslund et al. 2017 ). With the widespread use of social media among individuals living with mental illness combined with the potential to facilitate social interaction and connect with supportive peers, as summarized above, it may be possible to leverage the popular features of social media to enhance existing mental health programs and services. A recent review by Biagianti et al. ( 2018 ) found that peer-to-peer support appeared to offer feasible and acceptable ways to augment digital mental health interventions for individuals with psychotic disorders by specifically improving engagement, compliance, and adherence to the interventions and may also improve perceived social support (Biagianti et al. 2018 ).

Among digital programs that have incorporated peer-to-peer social networking consistent with popular features on social media platforms, a pilot study of the HORYZONS online psychosocial intervention demonstrated significant reductions in depression among patients with first episode psychosis (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2013 ). Importantly, the majority of participants (95%) in this study engaged with the peer-to-peer networking feature of the program, with many reporting increases in perceived social connectedness and empowerment in their recovery process (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2013 ). This moderated online social therapy program is now being evaluated as part of a large randomized controlled trial for maintaining treatment effects from first episode psychosis services (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2019 ).

Other early efforts have demonstrated that use of digital environments with the interactive peer-to-peer features of social media can enhance social functioning and wellbeing in young people at high risk of psychosis (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2018 ). There has also been a recent emergence of several mobile apps to support symptom monitoring and relapse prevention in psychotic disorders. Among these apps, the development of PRIME (Personalized Real-time Intervention for Motivational Enhancement) has involved working closely with young people with schizophrenia to ensure that the design of the app has the look and feel of mainstream social media platforms, as opposed to existing clinical tools (Schlosser et al. 2016 ). This unique approach to the design of the app is aimed at promoting engagement and ensuring that the app can effectively improve motivation and functioning through goal setting and promoting better quality of life of users with schizophrenia (Schlosser et al. 2018 ).

Social media platforms could also be used to promote engagement and participation in in-person services delivered through community mental health settings. For example, the peer-based lifestyle intervention called PeerFIT targets weight loss and improved fitness among individuals living with serious mental illness through a combination of in-person lifestyle classes, exercise groups, and use of digital technologies (Aschbrenner et al. 2016b , c ). The intervention holds tremendous promise as lack of support is one of the largest barriers towards exercise in patients with serious mental illness (Firth et al. 2016 ), and it is now possible to use social media to counter such. Specifically, in PeerFIT, a private Facebook group is closely integrated into the program to offer a closed platform where participants can connect with the lifestyle coaches, access intervention content, and support or encourage each other as they work towards their lifestyle goals (Aschbrenner et al. 2016a ; Naslund et al. 2016a ). To date, this program has demonstrated preliminary effectiveness for meaningfully reducing cardiovascular risk factors that contribute to early mortality in this patient group (Aschbrenner, Naslund, Shevenell, Kinney, et al., 2016), while the Facebook component appears to have increased engagement in the program, while allowing participants who were unable to attend in-person sessions due to other health concerns or competing demands to remain connected with the program (Naslund et al. 2018 ). This lifestyle intervention is currently being evaluated in a randomized controlled trial enrolling young adults with serious mental illness from real world community mental health services settings (Aschbrenner et al. 2018a ).

These examples highlight the promise of incorporating the features of popular social media into existing programs, which may offer opportunities to safely promote engagement and program retention, while achieving improved clinical outcomes. This is an emerging area of research, as evidenced by several important effectiveness trials underway (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2019 ; Aschbrenner et al. 2018a ), including efforts to leverage online social networking to support family caregivers of individuals receiving first episode psychosis services (Gleeson et al. 2017 ).

Challenges with Social Media for Mental Health

The science on the role of social media for engaging persons with mental disorders needs a cautionary note on the effects of social media usage on mental health and wellbeing, particularly in adolescents and young adults. While the risks and harms of social media are frequently covered in the popular press and mainstream news reports, careful consideration of the research in this area is necessary. In a review of 43 studies in young people, many benefits of social media were cited, including increased self-esteem and opportunities for self-disclosure (Best et al. 2014 ). Yet, reported negative effects were an increased exposure to harm, social isolation, depressive symptoms, and bullying (Best et al. 2014 ). In the sections that follow (see Table 1 for a summary), we consider three major categories of risk related to use of social media and mental health. These include: (1) Impact on symptoms; (2) Facing hostile interactions; and (3) Consequences for daily life.

Impact on Symptoms

Studies consistently highlight that use of social media, especially heavy use and prolonged time spent on social media platforms, appears to contribute to increased risk for a variety of mental health symptoms and poor wellbeing, especially among young people (Andreassen et al. 2016 ; Kross et al. 2013 ; Woods and Scott 2016 ). This may partly be driven by the detrimental effects of screen time on mental health, including increased severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms, which have been well documented (Stiglic and Viner 2019 ). Recent studies have reported negative effects of social media use on mental health of young people, including social comparison pressure with others and greater feeling of social isolation after being rejected by others on social media (Rideout and Fox 2018 ). In a study of young adults, it was found that negative comparisons with others on Facebook contributed to risk of rumination and subsequent increases in depression symptoms (Feinstein et al. 2013 ). Still, the cross-sectional nature of many screen time and mental health studies makes it challenging to reach causal inferences (Orben and Przybylski 2019 ).

Quantity of social media use is also an important factor, as highlighted in a survey of young adults ages 19 to 32, where more frequent visits to social media platforms each week were correlated with greater depressive symptoms (Lin et al. 2016 ). More time spent using social media is also associated with greater symptoms of anxiety (Vannucci et al. 2017 ). The actual number of platforms accessed also appears to contribute to risk as reflected in another national survey of young adults where use of a large number of social media platforms was associated with negative impact on mental health (Primack et al. 2017 ). Among survey respondents using between 7 and 11 different social media platforms compared with respondents using only 2 or fewer platforms, there were 3 times greater odds of having high levels of depressive symptoms and a 3.2 times greater odds of having high levels of anxiety symptoms (Primack et al. 2017 ).

Many researchers have postulated that worsening mental health attributed to social media use may be because social media replaces face-to-face interactions for young people (Twenge and Campbell 2018 ) and may contribute to greater loneliness (Bucci et al. 2019 ) and negative effects on other aspects of health and wellbeing (Woods and Scott 2016 ). One nationally representative survey of US adolescents found that among respondents who reported more time accessing media such as social media platforms or smartphone devices, there were significantly greater depressive symptoms and increased risk of suicide when compared with adolescents who reported spending more time on non-screen activities, such as in-person social interaction or sports and recreation activities (Twenge et al. 2018 ). For individuals living with more severe mental illnesses, the effects of social media on psychiatric symptoms have received less attention. One study found that participation in chat rooms may contribute to worsening symptoms in young people with psychotic disorders (Mittal et al. 2007 ), while another study of patients with psychosis found that social media use appeared to predict low mood (Berry et al. 2018 ). These studies highlight a clear relationship between social media use and mental health that may not be present in general population studies (Orben and Przybylski 2019 ) and emphasize the need to explore how social media may contribute to symptom severity and whether protective factors may be identified to mitigate these risks.

Facing Hostile Interactions

Popular social media platforms can create potential situations where individuals may be victimized by negative comments or posts. Cyberbullying represents a form of online aggression directed towards specific individuals, such as peers or acquaintances, which is perceived to be most harmful when compared with random hostile comments posted online (Hamm et al. 2015 ). Importantly, cyberbullying on social media consistently shows harmful impact on mental health in the form of increased depressive symptoms as well as worsening of anxiety symptoms, as evidenced in a review of 36 studies among children and young people (Hamm et al. 2015 ). Furthermore, cyberbullying disproportionately impacts females as reflected in a national survey of adolescents in the USA, where females were twice as likely to be victims of cyberbullying compared with males (Alhajji et al. 2019 ). Most studies report cross-sectional associations between cyberbullying and symptoms of depression or anxiety (Hamm et al. 2015 ), though one longitudinal study in Switzerland found that cyberbullying contributed to significantly greater depression over time (Machmutow et al. 2012 ).

For youth ages 10 to 17 who reported major depressive symptomatology, there were over 3 times greater odds of facing online harassment in the last year compared with youth who reported mild or no depressive symptoms (Ybarra 2004 ). Similarly, in a 2018 national survey of young people, respondents ages 14 to 22 with moderate to severe depressive symptoms were more likely to have had negative experiences when using social media and, in particular, were more likely to report having faced hostile comments or being “trolled” from others when compared with respondents without depressive symptoms (31% vs. 14%) (Rideout and Fox 2018 ). As these studies depict risks for victimization on social media and the correlation with poor mental health, it is possible that individuals living with mental illness may also experience greater hostility online compared to individuals without mental illness. This would be consistent with research showing greater risk of hostility, including increased violence and discrimination, directed towards individuals living with mental illness in in-person contexts, especially targeted at those with severe mental illnesses (Goodman et al. 1999 ).

A computational study of mental health awareness campaigns on Twitter reported that while stigmatizing content was rare, it was actually the most spread (re-tweeted) demonstrating that harmful content can travel quickly on social media (Saha et al. 2019 ). Another study was able to map the spread of social media posts about the Blue Whale Challenge, an alleged game promoting suicide, over Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr, and other forums across 127 countries (Sumner et al. 2019 ). These findings show that it is critical to monitor the actual content of social media posts, such as determining whether content is hostile or promotes harm to self or others. This is pertinent because existing research looking at duration of exposure cannot account for the impact of specific types of content on mental health and is insufficient to fully understand the effects of using these platforms on mental health.

Consequences for Daily Life

The ways in which individuals use social media can also impact their offline relationships and everyday activities. To date, reports have described risks of social media use pertaining to privacy, confidentiality, and unintended consequences of disclosing personal health information online (Torous and Keshavan 2016 ). Additionally, concerns have been raised about poor quality or misleading health information shared on social media and that social media users may not be aware of misleading information or conflicts of interest especially when the platforms promote popular content regardless of whether it is from a trustworthy source (Moorhead et al. 2013 ; Ventola 2014 ). For persons living with mental illness, there may be additional risks from using social media. A recent study that specifically explored the perspectives of social media users with serious mental illnesses, including participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, or major depression, found that over one third of participants expressed concerns about privacy when using social media (Naslund and Aschbrenner 2019 ). The reported risks of social media use were directly related to many aspects of everyday life, including concerns about threats to employment, fear of stigma and being judged, impact on personal relationships, and facing hostility or being hurt (Naslund and Aschbrenner 2019 ). While few studies have specifically explored the dangers of social media use from the perspectives of individuals living with mental illness, it is important to recognize that use of these platforms may contribute to risks that extend beyond worsening symptoms and that can affect different aspects of daily life.

In this commentary, we considered ways in which social media may yield benefits for individuals living with mental illness, while contrasting these with the possible harms. Studies reporting on the threats of social media for individuals with mental illness are mostly cross-sectional, making it difficult to draw conclusions about direction of causation. However, the risks are potentially serious. These risks should be carefully considered in discussions pertaining to use of social media and the broader use of digital mental health technologies, as avenues for mental health promotion or for supporting access to evidence-based programs or mental health services. At this point, it would be premature to view the benefits of social media as outweighing the possible harms, when it is clear from the studies summarized here that social media use can have negative effects on mental health symptoms, can potentially expose individuals to hurtful content and hostile interactions, and can result in serious consequences for daily life, including threats to employment and personal relationships. Despite these risks, it is also necessary to recognize that individuals with mental illness will continue to use social media given the ease of accessing these platforms and the immense popularity of online social networking. With this in mind, it may be ideal to raise awareness about these possible risks so that individuals can implement necessary safeguards, while highlighting that there could also be benefits. Being aware of the risks is an essential first step, before then recognizing that use of these popular platforms could contribute to some benefits like finding meaningful interactions with others, engaging with peer support networks, and accessing information and services.

To capitalize on the widespread use of social media and to achieve the promise that these platforms may hold for supporting the delivery of targeted mental health interventions, there is need for continued research to better understand how individuals living with mental illness use social media. Such efforts could inform safety measures and also encourage use of social media in ways that maximize potential benefits while minimizing risk of harm. It will be important to recognize how gender and race contribute to differences in use of social media for seeking mental health information or accessing interventions, as well as differences in how social media might impact mental wellbeing. For example, a national survey of 14- to 22-year olds in the USA found that female respondents were more likely to search online for information about depression or anxiety and to try to connect with other people online who share similar mental health concerns when compared with male respondents (Rideout and Fox 2018 ). In the same survey, there did not appear to be any differences between racial or ethnic groups in social media use for seeking mental health information (Rideout and Fox 2018 ). Social media use also appears to have a differential impact on mental health and emotional wellbeing between females and males (Booker et al. 2018 ), highlighting the need to explore unique experiences between gender groups to inform tailored programs and services. Research shows that lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals frequently use social media for searching for health information and may be more likely compared with heterosexual individuals to share their own personal health experiences with others online (Rideout and Fox 2018 ). Less is known about use of social media for seeking support for mental health concerns among gender minorities, though this is an important area for further investigation as these individuals are more likely to experience mental health problems and online victimization when compared with heterosexual individuals (Mereish et al. 2019 ).

Similarly, efforts are needed to explore the relationship between social media use and mental health among ethnic and racial minorities. A recent study found that exposure to traumatic online content on social media showing violence or hateful posts directed at racial minorities contributed to increases in psychological distress, PTSD symptoms, and depression among African American and Latinx adolescents in the USA (Tynes et al. 2019 ). These concerns are contrasted by growing interest in the potential for new technologies including social media to expand the reach of services to underrepresented minority groups (Schueller et al. 2019 ). Therefore, greater attention is needed to understanding the perspectives of ethnic and racial minorities to inform effective and safe use of social media for mental health promotion efforts.

Research has found that individuals living with mental illness have expressed interest in accessing mental health services through social media platforms. A survey of social media users with mental illness found that most respondents were interested in accessing programs for mental health on social media targeting symptom management, health promotion, and support for communicating with health care providers and interacting with the health system (Naslund et al. 2017 ). Importantly, individuals with serious mental illness have also emphasized that any mental health intervention on social media would need to be moderated by someone with adequate training and credentials, would need to have ground rules and ways to promote safety and minimize risks, and importantly, would need to be free and easy to access.

An important strength with this commentary is that it combines a range of studies broadly covering the topic of social media and mental health. We have provided a summary of recent evidence in a rapidly advancing field with the goal of presenting unique ways that social media could offer benefits for individuals with mental illness, while also acknowledging the potentially serious risks and the need for further investigation. There are also several limitations with this commentary that warrant consideration. Importantly, as we aimed to address this broad objective, we did not conduct a systematic review of the literature. Therefore, the studies reported here are not exhaustive, and there may be additional relevant studies that were not included. Additionally, we only summarized published studies, and as a result, any reports from the private sector or websites from different organizations using social media or other apps containing social media–like features would have been omitted. Although, it is difficult to rigorously summarize work from the private sector, sometimes referred to as “gray literature,” because many of these projects are unpublished and are likely selective in their reporting of findings given the target audience may be shareholders or consumers.

Another notable limitation is that we did not assess risk of bias in the studies summarized in this commentary. We found many studies that highlighted risks associated with social media use for individuals living with mental illness; however, few studies of programs or interventions reported negative findings, suggesting the possibility that negative findings may go unpublished. This concern highlights the need for a future more rigorous review of the literature with careful consideration of bias and an accompanying quality assessment. Most of the studies that we described were from the USA, as well as from other higher income settings such as Australia or the UK. Despite the global reach of social media platforms, there is a dearth of research on the impact of these platforms on the mental health of individuals in diverse settings, as well as the ways in which social media could support mental health services in lower income countries where there is virtually no access to mental health providers. Future research is necessary to explore the opportunities and risks for social media to support mental health promotion in low-income and middle-income countries, especially as these countries face a disproportionate share of the global burden of mental disorders, yet account for the majority of social media users worldwide (Naslund et al. 2019 ).

Future Directions for Social Media and Mental Health

As we consider future research directions, the near ubiquitous social media use also yields new opportunities to study the onset and manifestation of mental health symptoms and illness severity earlier than traditional clinical assessments. There is an emerging field of research referred to as “digital phenotyping” aimed at capturing how individuals interact with their digital devices, including social media platforms, in order to study patterns of illness and identify optimal time points for intervention (Jain et al. 2015 ; Onnela and Rauch 2016 ). Given that most people access social media via mobile devices, digital phenotyping and social media are closely related (Torous et al. 2019 ). To date, the emergence of machine learning, a powerful computational method involving statistical and mathematical algorithms (Shatte et al. 2019 ), has made it possible to study large quantities of data captured from popular social media platforms such as Twitter or Instagram to illuminate various features of mental health (Manikonda and De Choudhury 2017 ; Reece et al. 2017 ). Specifically, conversations on Twitter have been analyzed to characterize the onset of depression (De Choudhury et al. 2013 ) as well as detecting users’ mood and affective states (De Choudhury et al. 2012 ), while photos posted to Instagram can yield insights for predicting depression (Reece and Danforth 2017 ). The intersection of social media and digital phenotyping will likely add new levels of context to social media use in the near future.

Several studies have also demonstrated that when compared with a control group, Twitter users with a self-disclosed diagnosis of schizophrenia show unique online communication patterns (Birnbaum et al. 2017a ), including more frequent discussion of tobacco use (Hswen et al. 2017 ), symptoms of depression and anxiety (Hswen et al. 2018b ), and suicide (Hswen et al. 2018a ). Another study found that online disclosures about mental illness appeared beneficial as reflected by fewer posts about symptoms following self-disclosure (Ernala et al. 2017 ). Each of these examples offers early insights into the potential to leverage widely available online data for better understanding the onset and course of mental illness. It is possible that social media data could be used to supplement additional digital data, such as continuous monitoring using smartphone apps or smart watches, to generate a more comprehensive “digital phenotype” to predict relapse and identify high-risk health behaviors among individuals living with mental illness (Torous et al. 2019 ).

With research increasingly showing the valuable insights that social media data can yield about mental health states, greater attention to the ethical concerns with using individual data in this way is necessary (Chancellor et al. 2019 ). For instance, data is typically captured from social media platforms without the consent or awareness of users (Bidargaddi et al. 2017 ), which is especially crucial when the data relates to a socially stigmatizing health condition such as mental illness (Guntuku et al. 2017 ). Precautions are needed to ensure that data is not made identifiable in ways that were not originally intended by the user who posted the content as this could place an individual at risk of harm or divulge sensitive health information (Webb et al. 2017 ; Williams et al. 2017 ). Promising approaches for minimizing these risks include supporting the participation of individuals with expertise in privacy, clinicians, and the target individuals with mental illness throughout the collection of data, development of predictive algorithms, and interpretation of findings (Chancellor et al. 2019 ).

In recognizing that many individuals living with mental illness use social media to search for information about their mental health, it is possible that they may also want to ask their clinicians about what they find online to check if the information is reliable and trustworthy. Alternatively, many individuals may feel embarrassed or reluctant to talk to their clinicians about using social media to find mental health information out of concerns of being judged or dismissed. Therefore, mental health clinicians may be ideally positioned to talk with their patients about using social media and offer recommendations to promote safe use of these sites while also respecting their patients’ autonomy and personal motivations for using these popular platforms. Given the gap in clinical knowledge about the impact of social media on mental health, clinicians should be aware of the many potential risks so that they can inform their patients while remaining open to the possibility that their patients may also experience benefits through use of these platforms. As awareness of these risks grows, it may be possible that new protections will be put in place by industry or through new policies that will make the social media environment safer. It is hard to estimate a number needed to treat or harm today given the nascent state of research, which means the patient and clinician need to weigh the choice on a personal level. Thus, offering education and information is an important first step in that process. As patients increasingly show interest in accessing mental health information or services through social media, it will be necessary for health systems to recognize social media as a potential avenue for reaching or offering support to patients. This aligns with growing emphasis on the need for greater integration of digital psychiatry, including apps, smartphones, or wearable devices, into patient care and clinical services through institution-wide initiatives and training clinical providers (Hilty et al. 2019 ). Within a learning healthcare environment where research and care are tightly intertwined and feedback between both is rapid, the integration of digital technologies into services may create new opportunities for advancing use of social media for mental health.

As highlighted in this commentary, social media has become an important part of the lives of many individuals living with mental disorders. Many of these individuals use social media to share their lived experiences with mental illness, to seek support from others, and to search for information about treatment recommendations, accessing mental health services and coping with symptoms (Bucci et al. 2019 ; Highton-Williamson et al. 2015 ; Naslund et al. 2016b ). As the field of digital mental health advances, the wide reach, ease of access, and popularity of social media platforms could be used to allow individuals in need of mental health services or facing challenges of mental illness to access evidence-based treatment and support. To achieve this end and to explore whether social media platforms can advance efforts to close the gap in available mental health services in the USA and globally, it will be essential for researchers to work closely with clinicians and with those affected by mental illness to ensure that possible benefits of using social media are carefully weighed against anticipated risks.

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Dr. Naslund is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (U19MH113211). Dr. Aschbrenner is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (1R01MH110965-01).

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Naslund, J.A., Bondre, A., Torous, J. et al. Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice. J. technol. behav. sci. 5 , 245–257 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-020-00134-x

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Social Media Use and Mental Health: A Global Analysis

1 Department of Public Health & Prevention Science, Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, OH 44017, USA; ude.wb@61htimsj

Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic

2 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, St Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA

Mahdi Baghbanzadeh

3 Department of Business Development, Ofogh Kourosh Chain Stores, Tehran 1433894961, Iran; [email protected]

Ateka Bashir

4 Department of Public Health, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002, USA; moc.liamg@68aaketa

Jacob Smith

Ubydul haque.

5 Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of North Texas Health Science Center, North Texas, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA; [email protected]

Associated Data

Data will be shared based upon request through the corresponding author.

Research indicates that excessive use of social media can be related to depression and anxiety. This study conducted a systematic review of social media and mental health, focusing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Based on inclusion criteria from the systematic review, a meta-analysis was conducted to explore and summarize studies from the empirical literature on the relationship between social media and mental health. Using PRISMA guidelines on PubMed and Google Scholar, a literature search from January 2010 to June 2020 was conducted to identify studies addressing the relationship between social media sites and mental health. Of the 39 studies identified, 20 were included in the meta-analysis. Results indicate that while social media can create a sense of community for the user, excessive and increased use of social media, particularly among those who are vulnerable, is correlated with depression and other mental health disorders.

1. Introduction

Mental health is defined as emotional, psychological, and social well-being [ 1 ]. It plays a role in nearly every aspect of one’s life and can determine how we think, feel, act, respond to stress, relate to others, and even make choices [ 1 ]. According to the DSM-5, mental health disorders are “characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.” Mental health disorders are common and their etiology ranges from biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry, to life experiences, such as trauma or a history of abuse [ 1 ]. Approximately one in five American adults have some mental health issue, one in ten young people experience a period of major depression, and one in twenty-five Americans report living with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression [ 1 ].

Furthermore, mental health disorders are influenced by and affect our daily social interactions [ 1 ]. Many of our social interactions occur via social media, with individuals spending a significant amount of time on popular social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among others. As of December 2019, Facebook reported 2.5 billion monthly active users, Twitter reported 330 million monthly active users, and as of January 2020, Instagram had over 1 billion active monthly users worldwide.

Social media platforms are a great tool for individuals to interact, connect, and support one another [ 2 ]. Moreover, many individuals with mental health problems turn to social media platforms to seek support networks and aid others [ 2 ]. Social media can further promote a sense of community and assist in keeping relationships not otherwise maintained, which could improve mental health outcomes if correct information and advice are obtained [ 3 ]. At the same time, however, increased use of social media may also lead to a constant desire to be connected and can promote negative experiences, which in turn can affect the mental health of the users [ 3 ]. Negative effects of increased social media use are especially pronounced for youth; the literature suggests, for instance, that social media use has the potential to amplify the risk of alcohol and drug use among youth [ 4 , 5 ].

In this paper, a meta-analysis was performed to explore the relationship between social media use (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and mental health, using a systematic review of studies from January 2010 to June 2020. The paper additionally assessed the strength of the evidence presented regarding social media and mental health and sought to determine whether a positive effect exists between social media use and mental health.

A literature search using PRISMA guidelines was conducted to explore the relationship between social media site (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) usage and mental health ( Figure 1 ). A multi-database search identified studies published between January 2010 and June 2020. Articles from PubMed and Google Scholar were selected to investigate the relationship of each type of social media site and mental health. While Google Scholar has wide coverage in terms of interdisciplinary scientific studies, it was supplemented and complemented by PubMed due to PubMed’s widely accessible resources and because the database has a provision of MEDLINE and other National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources. Search terms were chosen to broadly capture the various ways social media and mental health have been defined and explored in the existing literature. See Box 1 for a summary of the search strategy and selection process for the systematic review.

Literature search related to social media and mental health.

• Period search: January 2010 to June 2020.
• Source: PubMed and Google Scholar.
• Search terms: (‘mental health’) AND (‘Social Media’) AND (‘Twitter’ OR ‘Facebook’ OR ‘Instagram’) AND (‘COVID-19′).
• Inclusion criteria: Only articles that displayed use of Social Media, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
• Articles found = 71; Articles included = 39.
• All age groups, male/female, publication date last ten years, all countries and origins.
• Exclusion criteria: Any articles that do not focus on either Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
• Articles retained for evaluation = 39.

PRISMA 2009 flowchart showing research of records.

This study followed Warton et al.’s (2011) recommendation to use GLMMs for the meta-analysis with the logit transformation in meta-analysis problems with single proportions [ 6 ]. All the statistical analyses were performed in R studio (version 3.6.1, The R Foundation, Vienna, Austria), using the meta3 and metaphor4 packages [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].

Subgroup Analyses

To identify differences among studies with different scopes, a subgroup analysis with five groups was conducted. Studies were clustered into groups depending on the social media site specified as being the focus of the study. Thus, five groups were created, including only Facebook (labeled F, n = 10), only Twitter (labeled T, n = 2), only Instagram (labeled I, n = 2), all three social media platforms (labeled FTI, n = 1), and unknown (social media platform not specified) (labeled U, n = 5).

In the subgroup analysis, the sample sizes and the year of publication of the study were also considered ( Table S1: Supplementary Materials ). For the sample size, we considered the median value of the sample sizes (600) for the cut-off, and for the year of publication studies were categorized as before 2018 and after 2018 (including 2018). To test for the existence of publication bias, we used a funnel plot.

A total of 71 articles were identified through the Google Scholar and PubMed database search. After duplicates were removed, 39 articles were retained for evaluation.

Of the 39 studies included, 14 studies focused on Facebook only [ 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].

Two studies focused on both Facebook and Twitter [ 2 , 24 ], and twelve focused on exclusively Twitter [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ].

Three studies included all three social media sites [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Furthermore, three studies focused on Instagram only [ 40 , 41 , 42 ].

Finally, in five studies, the social media platform included was unknown/not specified [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].

The literature spanned vast geographical ranges including Italy [ 3 ], Thailand [ 15 ], Poland [ 16 ], The United States [ 11 , 14 , 17 , 20 , 22 , 28 , 30 , 33 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 43 ], Germany [ 18 , 41 ], Australia [ 20 , 26 ], Korea [ 13 , 29 ]. The United Kingdom [ 21 , 24 , 35 , 36 ], Japan [ 32 ], China [ 44 , 45 ], Iraq [ 39 ], India [ 46 ], and Pakistan [ 47 ]. Of the studies included, Twitter was the social media platform most used due to its ease of collecting data by extrapolating large numbers of tweets simultaneously. Some studies were only based on Twitter posts and other studies were based on users of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The studies included in our meta-analysis employed various analysis methodologies including a study of the association of factors on social media, risk assessment, repeated-measures ANOVA, logistic regression, Poisson multilevel regression, bivariate and multivariate analysis, correlation analysis, advance sentiment analysis, multistage clustering techniques, a sample test of proportional, and statistical inference.

3.1. Facebook

Of the 39 included studies, Facebook emerged as one of the main social media sites in 14 of the studies where the relationship between social media and mental health was examined. At least seven of the studies reviewed provided support for a positive relationship between social media use and mental health. For instance, in a survey study conducted in Germany [ 18 ], it was found that Facebook users had higher values of certain reported personality traits and positive variables protecting mental health than did non-users. Similarly, while assessing mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD, Masedu et al. (2014) reported that Facebook use among adults 25–54 years old had a positive impact on mental health and quality of life outcomes in the years following a disaster [ 3 ]. Naslund et al. (2018) found Facebook to be promising for supporting health behavior change among people with serious mental illness [ 11 ].

Three of the studies included in the analysis found a negative relationship between social media use and mental health. For example, Hanprathet et al. (2015) illustrated some risks of Facebook usage that affected the mental health status of Thai adolescents in their cross-sectional study [ 15 ]. Blachnio et al. (2015) found additional evidence that daily internet use time in minutes, gender, and age were predictive of Facebook intrusion [ 16 ].

Therefore, studies included in our analysis that focused on Facebook only indicate evidence for both a positive and negative relationship between social media usage and mental health, with slightly more studies evidencing a positive relationship.

3.2. Twitter

Of the 12 studies focusing exclusively on Twitter, it was clear that Twitter has been used to raise awareness about many different mental health issues and to help individuals connect and feel that they are not alone [ 25 , 26 ]. For instance, Cavazos-Rehg et al. (2016) reported supportive and knowledge-based awareness tweets about fighting depression to be most common, making up 40% of the tweets reported [ 27 ]. Cavazos-Rehg et al. (2016) suggest that health professionals can use Twitter to tailor and target prevention and awareness about mental health [ 27 ]. Twitter data have also been found to be useful in providing insight for mental health surveillance before and after traumatic events such as natural disasters [ 28 ].

Furthermore, Twitter has been useful in the detection and anticipation of mental health issues [ 28 ]. For example, Reece et al. (2017) built models to predict the emergence of depression and PTSD by using learning algorithms analyzing the linguistic patterns in Tweets of the sample months before a clinical diagnosis of depression [ 48 ]. The results of their study indicated that despite the limitation of 180 characters per tweet, people who were depressed showed signs of depression in their tweets significantly before the actual diagnosis, resulting in the viable option to use Twitter as a predictive depression evaluation tool for clinicians. Similarly, Berry et al. (2017) conducted a study using Text mining methods for Twitter to collect and organize tweets from the hashtag #WhyWeTweetMH [ 25 ]. Four overarching themes were derived from the tweets collected: (1) A sense of community; (2) raising awareness and combatting stigma; (3) a safe space for expression; and (4) coping and empowerment [ 25 ]. Therefore, evidence from studies focusing on Twitter seems to suggest a positive relationship between social media and mental health.

3.3. Instagram

Three of the studies included in the analysis focused on Instagram. Across these studies, the general trend was that Instagram may be a contributing factor in causing body image and self-harm issues in young people. Of the three studies focusing exclusively on Instagram, one study found a relationship between consistent Instagram usage and negative body image and self-harm [ 40 ]. This study focused on content posted on Instagram between 18 June 2014, and 30 June 2014, to evaluate the meaning, popularity, and content advisory warnings related to ambiguous non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) hashtags on Instagram. The sample of 201 Instagram posts led to the identification of 10 ambiguous NSSI hashtags, with some common terms including #selfinjuryy and #MySecretFamily. “#MySecretFamily” was a popular term that described the broader community of NSSI and mental illness. The term #MySecretFamily had approximately 900,000 search results at the time. Content Advisory warnings were only generated by one-third of the relevant hashtags [ 40 ]. Another study discussed how image-based social media such as Instagram may become a source of mental health-related information and a tool for health communication [ 42 ]. Brown et al. (2019) pointed out in their study how although most of the study participants (80%) had come across expressions of active suicidal thoughts, activity and language use on Instagram did not predict acute suicidality [ 41 ].

It is important to add that Instagram is the newest platform of the three social media platforms included in this paper, so its lack of history makes it difficult to draw specific conclusions of mental health issues about its long-term use. Nevertheless, based on the inclusion of a limited number of studies, one can conclude that there appears to be a correlation between consistent Instagram usage and the effect on negative body image and self-harm.

3.4. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Analysis of three studies focusing on all three social media platforms generally indicates that social media use has the potential to influence people’s mental health and psychological well-being. For example, Lis et al. (2015) researched the opinions of psychiatrists on whether social media had adverse effects on psychosis [ 37 ]. The study found that 37% of participants believed there was an association between psychopathology and social media sites [ 37 ].

In a subsequent study, Lin et al. (2016) assessed depression and social media use across multiple social media platforms in a large and nationally representative sample of young adults [ 38 ]. It was found that social media use was significantly associated with increased depression [ 38 ]. Most recently, a quantitative survey study by Ahmad et al. (2020) obtained data from the Kurdish social media and found a statistically significant positive correlation between self-reported social media use and the spread of panic related to COVID-19 (R = 0.8701) Results from this study also showed that majority of youth aged 18–35 years are facing psychological anxiety [ 39 ]. Therefore, though the number of studies focusing on all three social media platforms included in this analysis is limited, the results of studies included show a negative relationship between social media usage and mental health.

3.5. Unknown/Not Specified

Five of the studies included in the analysis did not specify a social media platform analyzed in their respective study. These studies were more recent in terms of their respective publication date and focus on the relationship between social media use and mental health, primarily during COVID-19. For example, in Hill et al.’s (2019) study, medical students from one US allopathic medical school were asked to complete a 12-item questionnaire [ 43 ]. Questions were designed to assess students’ ability to identify, address, and counsel patients on the association between social media and mental health. Results indicated that most of the students believed there could be both a positive and negative effect of social media on mental health [ 43 ].

Gao et al. (2020) investigated the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and a combination of depression and anxiety (CDA) during the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, by using multivariable logistic regression to identify associations between social media exposure with mental health problems after controlling for covariates [ 44 ]. They found that more than 80% of participants reported frequent exposure to social media [ 44 ]. Findings showed that there was a high prevalence of mental health problems, which were in turn positively associated with frequent social media exposure during the COVID-19 outbreak [ 44 ].

Another study conducted by Ni et al. (2020) examined risk factors, including the use of social media, for probable anxiety and depression in the community and among health professionals also in Wuhan, China [ 45 ]. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine these factors [ 45 ]. Of the 1577 community-based adults, about one-fifth of respondents reported probable anxiety and depression [ 45 ]. Similarly, of the 214 health professionals, about one-fifth of surveyed health professionals reported probable anxiety or depression [ 45 ]. Interestingly, social support was associated with less probable anxiety and depression in both health professionals and community-based adults [ 45 ]. The results of this study suggest that online platforms can be leveraged to survey community-based adults and health professionals during an epidemic and lockdown [ 45 ].

Roy et al. (2020) attempted to assess knowledge, attitude, anxiety experience, and perceived mental healthcare need among the adult Indian population during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 46 ]. An online survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire using a non-probability snowball sampling technique [ 46 ]. The respondents had a moderate level of knowledge about the COVID-19 infection and adequate knowledge about its preventive aspects [ 46 ]. In addition to distress-related social media and sleep difficulties, paranoia about acquiring COVID-19 infection was also reported [ 46 ]. The perceived mental healthcare need was seen in more than 80% of participants [ 46 ]. The authors suggest that there is a need to intensify the awareness and address the mental health issues of people during this COVID-19 pandemic [ 46 ].

In Balkhi et al.’s (2020) study, a structured, self-administered questionnaire was constructed, assessing the psychological impact and behavioral changes about COVID-19 [ 47 ]. This research examined data from 400 participants residing in Karachi, Pakistan [ 47 ]. The responses were compared based on gender, age, and level of education, to find possible statistical correlations using the chi-square test [ 47 ]. The study found increased levels of anxiety due to the use of social media among people below 35 years resulted in avoidance behaviors ( p = 0.04) [ 47 ].

In sum, the five studies included in the analysis that did not specify a social media platform suggest not only that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues among social media users, but that many have used social media during the pandemic to seek social support for their mental health issues.

4. Meta-Analysis Results

Of the twenty studies, nine reported a proportion lower than 50% for a positive effect ( Figure 1 ). These results are based on the random-effects model. Confidence intervals are based on the Clopper–Pearson interval (exact binomial interval). Here, Q is distributed as a chi-square statistic with k (number of studies) minus 1. It indicates a wide range of values in the outcomes of the studies, and according to I2 = 100%, it was estimated that approximately all of the variance was due to heterogeneity ( Figure 1 ). The forest plots for the studies are found in Figure 2 . Considering the scope of the studies (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all three, or unknown/not specified), the year of the publication (before 2018 and after 2018), and the sample size of the studies (below 600 and above 600), a subgroup analysis was used to determine the effect of this variation on the pooled results, and the results of these analyses are reported in Table S1, Supplementary Materials . The forest plots for each scenario are illustrated in Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 , respectively.

Forest plot of the studies.

Forest plot of the studies. Grouped by social media platforms.

Forest plot of the studies. Grouped by sample size.

Forest plot of the studies. Grouped by year of publication.

The subgroup analysis of 10 studies (those which focused only on Facebook) showed an identical pooled proportion of 0.67 (95% CI: 0.38–0.86) with a homogenous characteristic ( p -value for heterogeneity = 0.09, I2 = 100%). Two studies were sub-grouped based on only Twitter (proportion of 0.59 CI (95% CI: 0.22–0.88)) and two studies focused on Instagram (proportion 0.29 (95% CI: 0.16–0.47)). Among the studies, the studies focused on Instagram both reported a proportion lower than 50% ( Table 1 ). One study was grouped as all three platforms (proportion 0.44 (95% CI: 0.42–0.46)). Five studies were grouped as unknown (proportion 0.62 (95% CI: 0.38–0.81)). According to the groups’ Q (Qb = 7.92, df = 4, p -value = 0.09), there was no significant difference found between groups at level α = 0.05 ( Table 1 ). Furthermore, there is no significant difference between studies with sample sizes below and above 600 ( Figure 3 and Table 1 ) and no significant difference between studies before and after 2018 ( Figure 4 and Table 1 ). The funnel plot does not show any clear asymmetrical pattern in publications ( Figure 6 ).

Funnel plot for publication bias.

*: Heterogeneity of between groups.

We also conducted Egger’s regression test. The results of the test (z = −0.19, p -value = 0.85) show that there is no significant evidence of publication bias in our study ( Table 1 ).

5. Discussion

Social media sites play an important role in individuals’ mental health. In a rapidly evolving world where people experience less face-to-face interaction, understanding the relationship between social media and mental health is essential for the utilization of digital platforms to promote mental health and create a healthier world. The findings of our meta-analysis are mixed and show that social media can both support and hinder one’s mental health. The variations observed depended on the social media platform used as well as whether the study was conducted before or after the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, studies that focused on Twitter and Instagram social media platforms described the worst mental-health expression for the population that was considered in the respective study.

Facebook, the largest and the most used social media site worldwide, connects people from all over the world and enables individuals and communities to easily band together and create movement. Its’ ability for the global exchange of information is unparalleled, as it can bridge people of multiple faiths, nationalities, and orientations in one platform to pursue common goals and raise movements of reform. Facebook can also be used to bridge the worlds of numerous people in a relatively small location through the promotion of health campaigns and community activity to encourage wellness and social interaction.

In terms of mental health, our study shows that Facebook can be and is used to promote mental health through the connection to other users, mental health professionals, and organizations. Our analysis also shows that Facebook can promote mental health among its users by giving them the ability to connect and share their stories with other people who may have the same mental health challenges, making them feel less alone. Using Facebook as a social media awareness platform is an important way to promote mental health through social media. Facebook has “groups” and “pages” that can be used exclusively for mental health awareness. It can also be used to educate individuals and communities about prevention, which could be effective, provided the pages can guarantee anonymity. Facebook’s global reach is quite vast; therefore, any type of mental health intervention employed has the potential of reaching and affecting many individuals.

Likewise, our study shows that there are mental health risks associated with Facebook overuse. One study that stands out in this finding is by Park et al. (2013), which investigated overall life satisfaction before and after Facebook [ 13 ]. Results from this study indicated decreased levels of contentment with the self and life after excessive Facebook usage [ 13 ]. Therefore, the relationship between social media usage and mental health when only Facebook is considered varies, and the amount and quality of time spent on Facebook might be an important variable to consider in future studies.

Twitter is a large platform for people to engage in conversation. It has a strong and loyal audience. Introducing a hashtag and having many people retweet it creates a strong story or interest in the topic it is following. In terms of mental health, Twitter in many ways can serve as a window into users’ mental health. For example, any positive phrases or words related to mental health could be followed by a #mentallove or #mentalhealthlove, and the tweet will be placed in these categories so that any person can search the tweets that are potentially helping others.

Our study indicates that Twitter can be a useful social media platform to combat mental health issues by observing tweets that contain suggestions of depression and then targeting ads or certain pages to respective individuals where they can express their emotions or obtain the necessary help (i.e., nearby medical facilities). Mental health professionals can read and evaluate the tweets to determine if a post shows signs of a mental health issue. People can then be guided to the needed mental health service. With these interventions, professionals can use Twitter to improve the mental health outcomes of many of its users. Policymakers, as well as public health professionals, can use tweets about depression, or other mental health issues, to help find the root cause. They can also reach out to the people who tweet about depression and obtain their feedback on how they can spread awareness.

Since a survey of studies examined in our study suggests a positive relationship between its use and mental health, it is fair to conclude that Twitter may be particularly helpful in promoting an aspect of realness that is fleeting on social media as time goes on. This sense of realness in a virtual community such as Twitter can help minimize skewed mental images, blurring the lines of reality and facade. A true sense of community occurs when role models promote awareness and relate to others as well, so celebrities, policymakers, and athletes tweeting about a mental health issue can also have positive results.

Instagram is a photo-based platform that emphasizes photo and video sharing via its mobile app with over 700 million users worldwide. Our analysis of existing studies focusing on Twitter as a social media platform shows that if Twitter is not used responsibly, it has the potential to negatively influence young people’s body image and self-esteem, such as the evidence from the MacMillan et al.’s (2017) study [ 49 ] indicates.

Though the number of studies focusing on Twitter that are included in our analysis is limited to only three studies, it was clear that young women were the largest group of people that were found to be affected by the negative impact of Instagram, and mostly in terms of their mental health. Matt Kreacher, the author of the #StatusofMind report, suggests that “Instagram draws young women to compare themselves against unrealistic, largely curated, filtered and Photoshopped versions of reality.” All of this is in the palm of their hands for viewing any time of the day or night thus potentially creating a development of body image issues. Because of Instagram and the high level of mental health issues it has been associated with within the literature, the Royal Society of Mental Health proposed social media platforms place a warning on images that have been digitally enhanced or altered photos to reduce feelings of inadequacy [ 50 ]. Non-Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI) continues to be a growing and concerning trend on the social media picture-sharing app Instagram, particularly during middle school or early high school years with an estimated prevalence of approximately 7–24% [ 40 ].

Other mental health issues that have arisen with the increase in Instagram usage are anxiety, depression, bullying, fear of missing out, and disruptive sleep patterns. Studies have shown that young people who spend more than two hours a day on social media are more likely to report psychological distress [ 51 ]. The #StatusofMind report claims that Instagram users may develop a ‘compare and despair’ attitude if they spend too much time on Instagram or other social media platforms.

Other conclusions that can be drawn from our analysis are that studies examined within our parameters that focus on all three social media platforms support the powerful effect that social media has on one’s mental health. Though the number of studies included in our study to arrive at this conclusion is limited, the results of these studies are consistent in showing that increased social media usage equals lower mental health.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing have created an unprecedented setting for examining the relationship between social media usage and mental health. Studies included in our analysis, most of which did not specify a social media platform of focus, inevitably show that while social media usage increased and was rewarding to many users looking for support when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, excessive use also led to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Therefore, it can be argued that social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic specifically is much like a double-edged sword; it can promote mental health, but its overuse can likewise hinder one’s mental health. Mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely be studied well into the future including among ethnic minorities [ 52 , 53 ].

6. Implications

Mental health professionals and others promoting psychological health can benefit from learning more about social media and its relationship with mental health. Social media campaigns can likewise promote more knowledge and awareness of specific mental health conditions. A successful advertising campaign can bring awareness to complex mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Such a campaign has the potential to lead to policymakers flagging or possibly deactivating accounts that promote negative mental health issues. In addition to deactivating negativity, social media sites can promote and advertise positive mental health messages, which would allow the self-help promoting information to reach a wider audience. Using certain hashtags could connect people who are suffering from these issues and give them a needed virtual support group they likely would not have attended in person due to stigma. As an example, the Royal Society for Mental Health is recommending that social media platforms create a “heavy usage” notification to pop up after too much time has been spent online. Social media is not going away, so developing a safe relationship and constructively using social media may not only decrease the negative impact of social media on one’s health but may have a positive impact instead.

7. Strengths and Limitations

A major strength of this review is that it analyzes studies from areas all over the globe, including the United States, the Middle East, Asia, and several European countries. Additionally, the relationship between social media usage and mental health is a particularly important and timely topic to consider. In March of 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. Global lockdowns required citizens to start spending more time at home, and as a result, social media usage has both increased and changed. More than ever, individuals have turned to social media for socialization, interaction, entertainment, and social support for their mental health.

A limitation of this meta-analysis is the number of databases used to conduct a systematic review, as well as limitations inherent in specifically using Google Scholar and PubMed as databases to identify highly relevant research studies. Each database is limited in its focus and scope, and neither is optimal for topical research. Ideally, multiple databases would provide the optimal and most comprehensive systematic review. Utilizing databases such as PsycINFO, MEDLINE (Ovid), Scopus, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and other educational resources should be considered in future studies. Furthermore, it is well known that most users of social media tend to be adolescents [ 40 ], limiting the generalizability of the findings to a wider and older audience. Additionally, only a few of the studies included in the review focused on Instagram only and all three platforms, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn about the relationships between Instagram specifically and mental health.

8. Conclusions

Our study shows that individuals suffering from mental health issues use social media as an outlet, and we should continue to use social media to promote wellness. Although these platforms can be a distorted reality for some, they ultimately still serve as platforms where individuals can express themselves. Such expression can be therapeutic for those experiencing mental health issues. Our analysis further shows that Facebook and Twitter have generally been used to both benefit mental health by bringing people of similar mental health situations together and creating a supportive environment. We must continue to strengthen the communities within social networks so that people will be more connected, which will in turn potentially improve their mental health.

The most important finding of this analysis, however, is that there is an untapped potential for early detection using social media platforms. Providing education and tools to navigate social media constructively in schools is a good way to promote self-esteem and mental health. The greatest suggestion to emerge from this study as we move forward into the digital age is to create forums on these social media sites used to benefit the health of the community. Finally, the way people use technology has important implications for healthcare professionals. Social media use should be closely examined from a clinical and public health perspective.

Supplementary Materials

The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/epidemiologia3010002/s1 , Table S1: Social media use and mental health: A global analysis.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, O.U., U.H. and J.S.; methodology, O.U., A.K.-M., U.H. and M.B.; software, M.B.; validation, O.U., A.K.-M. and J.S.; formal analysis, U.H.; investigation, A.B., J.S. and O.U.; resources, A.K.-M.; data curation, A.B.; writing—original draft preparation, O.U., A.B., A.K.-M. and J.S.; writing—review and editing, O.U., A.B., M.B., J.S. and A.K.-M.; visualization, J.S., M.B. and A.B.; supervision, U.H.; project administration, O.U. and A.K.-M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

No external funding was available for this study. U.H. was supported by the Research Council of Norway (grant # 281077).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable since we used publicly available data.

Informed Consent Statement

Patient consent was waived since we used de-identified delinked publicly available data.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Living Better

The truth about teens, social media and the mental health crisis.

Michaeleen Doucleff

For years, the research picture on how social media affects teen mental health has been murky. That is changing as scientists find new tools to answer the question. Olivier Douliery /AFP via Getty Images hide caption

For years, the research picture on how social media affects teen mental health has been murky. That is changing as scientists find new tools to answer the question.

Back in 2017, psychologist Jean Twenge set off a firestorm in the field of psychology.

Twenge studies generational trends at San Diego State University. When she looked at mental health metrics for teenagers around 2012, what she saw shocked her. "In all my analyses of generational data — some reaching back to the 1930s — I had never seen anything like it," Twenge wrote in the Atlantic in 2017.

Twenge warned of a mental health crisis on the horizon. Rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness were rising. And she had a hypothesis for the cause: smartphones and all the social media that comes along with them. "Smartphones were used by the majority of Americans around 2012, and that's the same time loneliness increases. That's very suspicious," Twenge told NPR in 2017.

But many of her colleagues were skeptical. Some even accused her of inciting a panic with too little — and too weak — data to back her claims.

Now, six years later, Twenge is back. She has a new book out this week, called Generations , with much more data backing her hypothesis. At the same time, several high-quality studies have begun to answer critical questions, such as does social media cause teens to become depressed and is it a key contributor to a rise in depression?

In particular, studies from three different types of experiments, altogether, point in the same direction. "Indeed, I think the picture is getting more and more consistent," says economist Alexey Makarin , at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Shots - Health News

How to help young people limit screen time — and feel better about how they look, a seismic change in how teens spend their time.

In Generations , Twenge analyzes mental health trends for five age groups, from the Silent Generation, who were born between 1925 and 1945, to Gen Z, who were born between 1995 and 2012. She shows definitively that "the way teens spend their time outside of school fundamentally changed in 2012," as Twenge writes in the book.

Take for instance, hanging out with friends, in person. Since 1976, the number of times per week teens go out with friends — and without their parents — held basically steady for nearly 30 years. In 2004, it slid a bit. Then in 2010, it nosedived.

"It was just like a Black Diamond ski slope straight down," Twenge tells NPR. "So these really big changes occur."

At the same time, around 2012, time on social media began to soar. In 2009, only about half of teens used social media every day, Twenge reports. In 2017, 85% used it daily. By 2022, 95% of teens said they use some social media, and about a third say they use it constantly, a poll from Pew Research Center found .

"Now, in the most recent data, 22% of 10th grade girls spend seven or more hours a day on social media," Twenge says, which means many teenage girls are doing little else than sleeping, going to school and engaging with social media.

Not surprisingly, all this screen time has cut into many kids' sleep time. Between 2010 and 2021, the percentage of 10th and 12th graders who slept seven or fewer hours each night rose from a third to nearly one-half. "That's a big jump," Twenge says. "Kids in that age group are supposed to sleep nine hours a night. So less than seven hours is a really serious problem."

Teen girls and LGBTQ+ youth plagued by violence and trauma, survey says

On its own, sleep deprivation can cause mental health issues. "Sleep is absolutely crucial for physical health and for mental health. Not getting enough sleep is a major risk factor for anxiety and depression and self-harm," she explains. Unfortunately, all of those mental health problems have continued to rise since Twenge first sounded the alarm six years ago.

"Nuclear bomb" on teen social life

"Every indicator of mental health and psychological well-being has become more negative among teens and young adults since 2012," Twenge writes in Generations . "The trends are stunning in their consistency, breadth and size."

Across the board, since 2010, anxiety, depression and loneliness have all increased . "And it's not just symptoms that rose, but also behaviors," she says, "including emergency room visits for self-harm, for suicide attempts and completed suicides." The data goes up through 2019, so it doesn't include changes due to COVID-19.

All these rapid changes coincide with what, Twenge says, may be the most rapid uptake in a new technology in human history: the incorporation of smartphones into our lives, which has allowed nearly nonstop engagement with social media apps. Apple introduced the first iPhones in 2007, and by 2012, about 50% of American adults owned a smartphone, the Pew Research Center found .

The timing is hard to ignore, says data scientist Chris Said , who has a Ph.D. in psychology from Princeton University and has worked at Facebook and Twitter. "Social media was like a nuclear bomb on teen social life," he says. "I don't think there's anything in recent memory, or even distant history, that has changed the way teens socialize as much as social media."

Murky picture becomes clearer on causes of teen depression

But the timing doesn't tell you whether social media actually causes depression in teens.

In the past decade, scientists have published a whole slew of studies trying to answer this question, and those studies sparked intense debate among scientists and in the media. But, Said says, what many people don't realize is scientists weren't using — or didn't even have — the proper tools to answer the question. "This is a very hard problem to study," he says. "The data they were analyzing couldn't really solve the problem."

Mental Health

The mental health of teen girls and lgbtq+ teens has worsened since 2011.

So the findings have been all over the place. They've been murky, noisy, inconclusive and confusing. "When you use tools that can't fully answer the question, you're going to get weak answers," he says. "So I think that's one reason why really strong evidence didn't show up in the data, at least early on."

On top of it, psychology has a bad track record in this field, Said points out. For nearly a century, psychologists have repeatedly blamed new technologies for mental and physical health problems of children, even when they've had little — or shady — data to back up their claims.

For example, in the 1940s, psychologists worried that children were becoming addicted to radio crime dramas, psychologist Amy Orben at the University of Cambridge explains in her doctoral thesis. After that, they raised concerns about comic books, television and — eventually — video games. Thus, many researchers worried that social media may simply be the newest scapegoat for children's mental health issues.

A handful of scientists, including MIT's Alexey Makarin, noticed this problem with the data, the tools and the field's past failures, and so they took the matter into their own hands. They went out and found better tools.

Hundreds of thousands of more college students depressed

Over the past few years, several high-quality studies have come that can directly test whether social media causes depression. Instead of being murky and mixed, they support each other and show clear effects of social media. "The body of literature seems to suggest that indeed, social media has negative effects on mental health, especially on young adults' mental health," says Makarin, who led what many scientists say is the best study on the topic to date.

In that study, Makarin and his team took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the staggered introduction of Facebook across U.S. colleges from 2004 to 2006. Facebook rolled out into society first on college campuses, but not all campuses introduced Facebook at the same time.

For Makarin and his colleagues, this staggered rollout is experimental gold.

"It allowed us to compare students' mental health between colleges where Facebook just arrived to colleges where Facebook had not yet arrived," he says. They could also measure how students' mental health shifted on a particular campus when people started to spend a bunch of their time on social media.

Luckily, his team could track mental health at the time because college administrators were also conducting a national survey that asked students an array of questions about their mental health, including diagnoses, therapies and medications for depression, anxiety and eating disorders. "These are not just people's feelings," Makarin says. "These are actual conditions that people have to report."

They had data on a large number of students. "The data comes from more than 350,000 student responses across more than 300 colleges," Makarin says.

This type of study is called a quasi-experiment, and it allows scientists to estimate how much social media actually changes teens' mental health, or as Makarin says, "We can get causal estimates of the impact of Facebook on mental health."

So what happened? "Almost immediately after Facebook arrives on campus, we see an uptick in mental health issues that students report," Makarin says. "We especially find an impact on depression rates, anxiety disorders and other questions associated with depression in general."

And the effect isn't small, he says. Across the population, the rollout of Facebook caused about 2% of college students to become clinically depressed. That may sound modest, but with more than 17 million college students in the U.S. at the time, that means Facebook caused more than 300,000 young adults to suffer from depression.

For an individual, on average, engaging with Facebook decreases their mental health by roughly 22% of the effect of losing one's job, as reported by a previous meta-analysis, Makarin and his team found.

Facebook's rollout had a larger effect on women's mental health than on men's mental health, the study showed. But the difference was small, Makarin says.

He and his colleagues published their findings last November in the American Economic Review . "I love that paper," says economist Matthew Gentzkow at Stanford University, who was not involved in the research. "It's probably the most convincing study I've seen. I think it shows a clear effect, and it's really credible. They did a good job of isolating the effect of Facebook, which isn't easy."

Of course, the study has limitations, Gentzkow says. First off, it's Facebook, which teens are using less and less. And the version of Facebook is barebones. In 2006, the platform didn't have a "like" button" or a "newsfeed." This older version probably wasn't as "potent" as social media now, says data scientist Chris Said. Furthermore, students used the platform only on a computer because smartphones weren't available yet. And the study only examined mental health impacts over a six-month period.

Nevertheless, the findings in this study bolster other recent studies, including one that Gentzkow led.

Social media is "like the ocean" for kids

Back in 2018, Gentzkow and his team recruited about 2,700 Facebook users ages 18 or over. They paid about half of them to deactivate their Facebook accounts for four weeks. Then Gentzkow and his team looked to see how a Facebook break shifted their mental health. They reported their findings in March 2020 in the American Economic Review.

This type of study is called a randomized experiment, and it's thought of as the best way to estimate whether a variable in life causes a particular problem. But with social media, these randomized experiments have big limitations. For one, the experiments are short-term — here only four weeks. Also, people use social media in clusters, not as individuals. So having individuals quit Facebook won't capture the effect of having an entire social group quit together. Both of these limitations could underestimate the impact of social media on an individual and community.

Nevertheless, Gentzkow could see how deactivating Facebook made people, on average, feel better. "Being off Facebook was positive across well-being outcomes," he says. "You see higher happiness, life satisfaction, and also lower depression, lower anxiety, and maybe a little bit lower loneliness."

Gentzkow and his team measured participants' well-being by giving them a survey at the end of the experiment but also asking questions, via text message, through the experiment. "For example, we sent people text messages that say, 'Right now, would you say you're feeling happy or not happy,'" he explains.

Again, as with Makarin's experiment, the effect was moderate. Gentzkow and his colleagues estimate that temporarily quitting Facebook improves a person's mental health by about 30% of the positive effect seen by going to therapy. "You could view that meaning these effects are pretty big," he explains, "or you could also see that as meaning that the effects of therapy are somewhat small. And I think both of those things are true to an extent."

Scientists still don't know to what extent social media is behind the rising mental health issues among teenagers and whether it is the primary cause. "It seems to be the case — like it's a big factor," says MIT's Alexey Makarin, "but that's still up for debate."

Still, though, other specifics are beginning to crystallize. Scientists are narrowing in on what aspects of social media are most problematic. And they can see that social media won't hurt every teen — or hurt them by the same amount. The data suggests that the more hours a child devotes to social media, the higher their risk for mental health problems.

Finally, some adolescents are likely more vulnerable to social media, and children may be more vulnerable at particular ages. A study published in February 2022 looked to see how time spent on social media varies with life satisfaction during different times in a child's life (see the graphic).

The researchers also looked to see if a child's present use of social media predicted a decrease of life satisfaction one year later. That data suggests two windows of time when children are most sensitive to detrimental effects of social media, especially heavy use of it. For girls, one window occurs at ages 11 through 13. And for boys, one window occurs at ages 14 and 15. For both genders, there's a window of sensitivity around age 19 — or near the time teenagers enter college. Amy Orben and her team at the University of Cambridge reported the findings in Nature Communications .

This type of evidence is known as a correlative. "It's hard to draw conclusions from these studies," Gentzkow says, because many factors contribute to life satisfaction, such as environmental factors and family backgrounds. Plus, people may use social media because they're depressed (and so depression could be the cause, not the outcome of social media use).

"Nevertheless, these correlative studies, together with the evidence from the causal experiments, paint a picture that suggests we should take social media seriously and be concerned," Gentzkow adds.

Psychologist Orben once heard a metaphor that may help parents understand how to approach this new technology. Social media for children is a bit like the ocean, she says, noting that it can be an extremely dangerous place for children. Before parents let children swim in any open water, they make sure the child is well-prepared and equipped to handle problems that arise. They provide safety vests, swimming lessons, often in less dangerous waters, and even then parents provide a huge amount of supervision.

Alyson Hurt created the graphic. Jane Greenhalgh and Diane Webber edited the story.

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Argumentative Essay Writing

Argumentative Essay About Social Media

Crafting a Winning Argumentative Essay on Social Media

Published on: Feb 27, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 31, 2024

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If you've ever gotten into an argument about social media, then you already know how important it is to craft a winning argument.

But what if that argument was turned into an essay?

Crafting an effective argumentative essay on social media can be both challenging and rewarding.

We'll show you everything you need to know in order to write a killer paper that takes your arguments straight to the top!

Read on for some tips and tricks on how to make sure your paper stands out among the rest.

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Argumentative Essay- Explained 

Before writing an argumentative essay about social media, it's important to understand what makes up a good argumentative essay. 

An argumentative essay is an article that presents both sides of an issue or debate in order to reach a conclusion. 

It requires you to provide evidence and facts, present a point of view, and develop an argument.

When writing an argumentative essay on social media, you must present both sides of the issue or debate in a balanced manner. 

You must also be sure to explain why one side has more credibility than the other. 

This means that you’ll need to do your research and make sure that your essay has facts and evidence to back up your claims. 

Why Do We Write an Argumentative Essay About Social Media?

This type of essay can be difficult because it requires you to present both sides of the argument in a balanced and unbiased manner. 

It also requires you to research facts that support either side of the argument and present them in a clear and logical manner.

By writing this essay, you can help readers understand why one point of view is more credible than another. 

This can help them form their own opinions on the issue and become better informed on the topic. 

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Steps to Write an Argumentative Essay About Social Media

Writing an argumentative essay about social media requires research, facts, and evidence. 

Here are a few steps that can help you write a great argumentative essay:

Research To Collect Data and Material 

The first step in writing an argumentative essay about social media is to do research and collect data .

This includes researching various sources such as books, articles, and websites that provide reliable information about the topic. 

Take notes on what you read and highlight any points or quotes that you may want to include in your essay. 

Pick an Engaging Title for an Argumentative Essay About Social Media 

When it comes to writing a great argumentative essay about social media, one of the most important elements is having a great title. 

A good title will draw readers in and encourage them to read your essay.

Make sure the title is catchy yet relevant to the main topic of your paper. 

Form a Descriptive Outline 

Once you have collected enough data and material, it’s time to start forming a descriptive outline of your essay. 

This should include all the points you plan on discussing throughout the body paragraphs. Furthermore, it should include any conclusions that you may want to propose at the end of your paper. 

By having a clear idea of what your paper will cover, it will be much easier to plan out each section before writing it out in full detail.

Check out this amazing blog on argumentative essay outline to craft perfect outlines.

Write an Introduction of an Argumentative Essay About Social Media 

Your introduction should be engaging and introduce readers to the main topic of your paper.

Here, you can also state which side of the argument you are taking (if applicable) so readers know where you stand from the beginning. 

Write Connect The Body Paragraphs Of Your Essay  

In each body paragraph, provide evidence or facts that prove why your opinion is correct.

Each paragraph should introduce a new point or idea related back to your main argument.

Make sure each point flows naturally into one another without jumping around too much from one point/idea to another.  

Write A Compelling Conclusion                  

Finally, write a compelling conclusion that wraps up all points made throughout the body paragraphs.  

Make sure not only summarize what was already said. Also, provide insight into why these topics are still relevant today and how they affect us today going forward!  

Examples of Argumentative Essay About Social Media 

When writing an argumentative essay about social media, it can be helpful to look at examples.

Here is a sample argumentative essay written by our expert writers. Check it out for more inspiration.

By reading these sample essays, you can gain a better understanding of how to write your own essay and what elements are important to include. 

Argumentative Essay About Social Media Pdf

Argumentative Essay About Social Media Addiction

Argumentative Essay About Social Media And Mental Health

Short Argumentative Essay About Social Media

Argumentative Essay About Social Media Advantages And Disadvantages

Argumentative Essay About Social Media Negative Impact

Check our extensive blog on argumentative essay examples to ace your next essay!

Argumentative Essay About Social Media Topics

If you’re looking for topics to write about in your argumentative essay about social media, take a look at the list below for some ideas: 

• The Impact of Social Media on Human Interaction 
• How Can We Limit Social Media Use? 
• Is Social Media Harmful/Beneficial to Mental Health? 
• Social Media and Its Effect on the Education System 
• Is Social Media Really a Positive Influence on Young People? 
• The Impact of Social Media on Privacy 
• How Has Social Media Changed Society in Recent Years? 
• Should We Censor Content Posted on Social Media Platforms like Twitter and Facebook? 
• Does Social Media Make Us Feel More Alone? 
• Are Social Media Users Becoming Increasingly Narcissistic? 
• Should We Rely on Social Media for News Sources? 
• Is Social Media a Tool of Surveillance? 

Check our comprehensive blog on argumentative essay topics to get more topic ideas!

The platform that you use to communicate with others can be a great tool or it can do more harm than good. It all depends on how you use it and what your intentions are. 

You can find social media argumentative essay examples all over the internet, but not every one of them is going to be a winner. 

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• 29 March 2024

The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?

• Candice L. Odgers 0

Candice L. Odgers is the associate dean for research and a professor of psychological science and informatics at the University of California, Irvine. She also co-leads international networks on child development for both the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research in Toronto and the Jacobs Foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland.

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Social-media platforms aren’t always social. Credit: Getty

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness Jonathan Haidt Allen Lane (2024)

Two things need to be said after reading The Anxious Generation . First, this book is going to sell a lot of copies, because Jonathan Haidt is telling a scary story about children’s development that many parents are primed to believe. Second, the book’s repeated suggestion that digital technologies are rewiring our children’s brains and causing an epidemic of mental illness is not supported by science. Worse, the bold proposal that social media is to blame might distract us from effectively responding to the real causes of the current mental-health crisis in young people.

Haidt asserts that the great rewiring of children’s brains has taken place by “designing a firehose of addictive content that entered through kids’ eyes and ears”. And that “by displacing physical play and in-person socializing, these companies have rewired childhood and changed human development on an almost unimaginable scale”. Such serious claims require serious evidence.

Collection: Promoting youth mental health

Haidt supplies graphs throughout the book showing that digital-technology use and adolescent mental-health problems are rising together. On the first day of the graduate statistics class I teach, I draw similar lines on a board that seem to connect two disparate phenomena, and ask the students what they think is happening. Within minutes, the students usually begin telling elaborate stories about how the two phenomena are related, even describing how one could cause the other. The plots presented throughout this book will be useful in teaching my students the fundamentals of causal inference, and how to avoid making up stories by simply looking at trend lines.

Hundreds of researchers, myself included, have searched for the kind of large effects suggested by Haidt. Our efforts have produced a mix of no, small and mixed associations. Most data are correlative. When associations over time are found, they suggest not that social-media use predicts or causes depression, but that young people who already have mental-health problems use such platforms more often or in different ways from their healthy peers 1 .

These are not just our data or my opinion. Several meta-analyses and systematic reviews converge on the same message 2 – 5 . An analysis done in 72 countries shows no consistent or measurable associations between well-being and the roll-out of social media globally 6 . Moreover, findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, the largest long-term study of adolescent brain development in the United States, has found no evidence of drastic changes associated with digital-technology use 7 . Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, is a gifted storyteller, but his tale is currently one searching for evidence.

Of course, our current understanding is incomplete, and more research is always needed. As a psychologist who has studied children’s and adolescents’ mental health for the past 20 years and tracked their well-being and digital-technology use, I appreciate the frustration and desire for simple answers. As a parent of adolescents, I would also like to identify a simple source for the sadness and pain that this generation is reporting.

A complex problem

There are, unfortunately, no simple answers. The onset and development of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are driven by a complex set of genetic and environmental factors. Suicide rates among people in most age groups have been increasing steadily for the past 20 years in the United States. Researchers cite access to guns, exposure to violence, structural discrimination and racism, sexism and sexual abuse, the opioid epidemic, economic hardship and social isolation as leading contributors 8 .

How social media affects teen mental health: a missing link

The current generation of adolescents was raised in the aftermath of the great recession of 2008. Haidt suggests that the resulting deprivation cannot be a factor, because unemployment has gone down. But analyses of the differential impacts of economic shocks have shown that families in the bottom 20% of the income distribution continue to experience harm 9 . In the United States, close to one in six children live below the poverty line while also growing up at the time of an opioid crisis, school shootings and increasing unrest because of racial and sexual discrimination and violence.

The good news is that more young people are talking openly about their symptoms and mental-health struggles than ever before. The bad news is that insufficient services are available to address their needs. In the United States, there is, on average, one school psychologist for every 1,119 students 10 .

Haidt’s work on emotion, culture and morality has been influential; and, in fairness, he admits that he is no specialist in clinical psychology, child development or media studies. In previous books, he has used the analogy of an elephant and its rider to argue how our gut reactions (the elephant) can drag along our rational minds (the rider). Subsequent research has shown how easy it is to pick out evidence to support our initial gut reactions to an issue. That we should question assumptions that we think are true carefully is a lesson from Haidt’s own work. Everyone used to ‘know’ that the world was flat. The falsification of previous assumptions by testing them against data can prevent us from being the rider dragged along by the elephant.

A generation in crisis

Two things can be independently true about social media. First, that there is no evidence that using these platforms is rewiring children’s brains or driving an epidemic of mental illness. Second, that considerable reforms to these platforms are required, given how much time young people spend on them. Many of Haidt’s solutions for parents, adolescents, educators and big technology firms are reasonable, including stricter content-moderation policies and requiring companies to take user age into account when designing platforms and algorithms. Others, such as age-based restrictions and bans on mobile devices, are unlikely to be effective in practice — or worse, could backfire given what we know about adolescent behaviour.

A third truth is that we have a generation in crisis and in desperate need of the best of what science and evidence-based solutions can offer. Unfortunately, our time is being spent telling stories that are unsupported by research and that do little to support young people who need, and deserve, more.

Nature 628 , 29-30 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00902-2

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The author declares no competing interests.

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100+ argumentative essay topics on mental health | example & outline, bob cardens.

• September 2, 2022
• Essay Topics and Ideas

Argumentative Essay Topics on Mental Health. Mental health is an important and often overlooked topic. In this article, we’ll explore some argumentative essay topics related to mental health .

As you continue,  thestudycorp.com  has the top and most qualified writers to help with any of your assignments. All you need to do is  place an order  with us.

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Argumentative Essay Topics about Mental Health

1. Is there a connection between mental health and physical health? 2. How does mental illness affect a person’s ability to function in society? 3. What are the most effective treatments for mental illness? 4. Are there any effective prevention strategies for mental illness? 5. What is the relationship between mental health and substance abuse? 6. How does poverty affect mental health? 7. What are the most common mental disorders? 8. What are the consequences of untreated mental illness? 9. What are the risk factors for developing mental illness? 10. How can mental illness be effectively diagnosed?

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Argumentative essay topics about depression

1. Depression is a real mental health condition.

2. Depression is more than just feeling sad.

3. Depression can lead to serious physical health problems.

4. Depression is treatable with medication and therapy.

5. People with depression can lead happy, fulfilling lives.

6. Untreated depression can be deadly.

7. Depression is often misunderstood and stigmatized.

8. Depression is not a sign of weakness or a character flaw.

9. Anyone can develop depression, even people who seem to have it all together.

10. There is no single cause of depression, but there are risk factors that can make someone more likely to develop the condition.

Argumentative Essay Topics on Mental Health. Mental health is an important and often overlooked topic. In this article, we’ll explore some argumentative essay topics related to mental health.

Argumentative essay about mental health in schools

1. Mental health should be taught in schools. 2. There should be more support for mental health in schools. 3. Mental health should be taken more seriously in schools. 4. Schools should do more to prevent mental health problems. 5. Schools should do more to help students with mental health problems. 6. Mental health problems are increasing in schools. 7. school counselors are not trained to deal with mental health issues 8. most school don’t have a mental health policy 9. lack of awareness about mental health among school staff 10. stigma and discrimination against mental health patients

Argumentative essay on mental health stigma

Argumentative essay topics about mental health can be very controversial and sensitive. However, there are many people who are open to discussing these topics and raising awareness about mental health. Here are twenty argumentative essay topics about mental health that you can use for your next essay.

1. How does society view mental health? 2. Do we need to break the stigma around mental health? 3. How can we better support those with mental health conditions? 4. What is the link between mental health and addiction? 5. How does trauma affect mental health? 6. What are the most effective treatments for mental health conditions? 7. Are there any natural remedies for mental health conditions? 8. How does diet affect mental health? 9. How does exercise affect mental health? 10. What is the link between sleep and mental health? 11. What are the warning signs of a mental health condition? 12. When should someone seek professional help for a mental health condition? 13. How can family and friends support someone with a mental health condition? 14. What are the most common myths about mental health? 15. How does stigma impact those with mental health conditions?

16. How can we destigmatize mental health? 17. What is the link between mental health and violence? 18. How does mental health affect overall health? 19. What are the most common mental health disorders? 20. What are the most effective treatments for mental health disorders?

Mental health debate topics for students

1. The definition of mental health 2. The different types of mental illness 3. The causes of mental illness 4. The treatments for mental illness 5. The side effects of mental illness 6. The impact of mental illness on society 7. The cost of mental health care 8. Mental health in the workplace 9. Mental health in the media 10. Stigma and discrimination against those with mental illness 11. The impact of trauma on mental health 12. Mental health during pregnancy and postpartum 13. Children’s mental health 14. Geriatric mental health 15. Global perspectives on mental health 16. Religion and mental health 17. Cultural competence in mental health care 18. Social media and mental health 19.Nutrition and mental health

20. Exercise and mental health

Expository essay topics about mental illness

1. How does mental illness affect one’s ability to work? 2. What are the most common types of mental illness? 3. How can mental illness be prevented? 4. What are the most effective treatments for mental illness? 5. How does mental illness impact relationships? 6. What are the financial costs of mental illness? 7. How does stigma affect those with mental illness? 8. What are the most common myths about mental illness? 9. How does mental illness differ from addiction? 10. What are the early warning signs of mental illness?

Debates about mental health

1. The definition of mental health is contested and argued by professionals in the field. 2. Some people argue that mental health is a social construction, while others believe that it is a real and valid medical condition. 3. Mental health is often stigmatized in society, and those who suffer from mental illness are often seen as weak or crazy. 4. Mental health is often viewed as something that can be cured, when in reality it is a lifelong battle for many people. 5. Mental illness is often seen as an individual responsibility to deal with, when in reality it affects not just the individual but also their families and loved ones. 6. It is often said that people with mental illness are not able to function in society, when in fact many people with mental illness are high-functioning individuals. 7. Mental health is often viewed as an all-or-nothing proposition, when in reality there is a spectrum of mental health conditions that range from mild to severe. 8. People with mental illness are often treated differently than other people, and they are often discriminated against. 9. There is a lot of misinformation about mental health, and this leads tomisunderstanding and fear. 10. Mental health is a complex issue, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to addressing it.

Persuasive topics related to mental health

1. The link between mental health and physical health. 2. The benefits of therapy and counseling. 3. The importance of early intervention for mental health issues. 4. The impact of trauma on mental health. 5. The correlation between mental health and substance abuse. 6. The connection between mental health and chronic illness. 7. The relationship between mental health and chronic pain. 8. Mental health in the workplace. 9. Mental health in the military. 10. Mental health in schools. 11. Children’s mental health issues. 12. Teens and mental health issues. 13. Elderly mental health issues. 14. Cultural issues and mental health. 15. Religion and mental health. 16. The stigma of mental illness. 17. Mental health awareness and education. 18. Mental health advocacy. 19. Funding for mental health services. 20. Access to mental health care.

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Argumentative Essay

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health

Last updated on: Mar 25, 2024

Writing an Argumentative Essay About Mental Health: Get Examples and Topics

By: Betty P.

10 min read

Reviewed By: Chris H.

Published on: Mar 8, 2023

Crafting a persuasive argumentative essay on mental health topics can seem intimidating.

Perfecting an argument that is both persuasive and backed by evidence can be a difficult balance to strike. 

However, by using the right tips and strategies, crafting an argumentative essay on mental health can be made easier.

Our guide will help you create a winning argument by providing instructions and examples. With our guidance, you'll have all the tools you need to craft a compelling piece of writing. This will make your point clear and leave your reader convinced!

Without further ado, let us begin!

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What is an Argumentative Essay?

An argumentative essay presents arguments on a particular topic, backed by solid evidence and logical reasoning. 

But why should you write one about mental health?

Firstly, argumentative essays provide a platform for expressing your opinions and beliefs while supporting them with credible facts. By writing about mental health, you can shed light on this important topic and contribute to a larger conversation.

Secondly, argumentative essays encourage critical thinking . They require you to analyze different perspectives, evaluate evidence, and form well-reasoned arguments. Writing about mental health allows you to explore complex issues and challenge misconceptions.

Moreover, they have the power to influence and inspire change . By presenting compelling arguments and persuasive evidence, you can raise awareness about mental health, combat stigma, and advocate for better support and resources.

Learn how to perfect your arguments with our comprehensive argumentative essay guide. 

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How to Write an Argumentative Essay About Mental Health

Writing an essay on mental health is great to explore the different dynamics of the topic.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you go about writing this essay:   Step 1: Select a Compelling Topic

Choose a topic related to mental health that interests you and is relevant to society. 

Consider issues like the impact of social media on mental health or the importance of mental health education in schools. Do your research to come up with a topic that hasn’t been explored in-depth before. This way you can create a unique case in your essay.

Step 2: Conduct In-Depth Research

Gather credible information from reputable sources such as academic journals, government reports, and expert opinions. Collect statistics, case studies, and examples that support your arguments.

Step 3: Structure Your Essay Effectively

Organize your essay into an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. In the introduction, provide background information on the topic and present a clear thesis statement that states your main argument. 

In the body paragraphs, present your arguments, supporting evidence, and counterarguments. 

Finally, to end your essay , summarize your key points and restate your thesis while leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

Step 4: Use Persuasive Techniques

Use persuasive writing techniques to make your arguments more compelling. Appeal to logic by presenting facts and logical reasoning. 

Appeal to emotions by sharing personal stories of people with mental disorders. Use strong and concise language to convey your message effectively.

Gain all the insight you need to construct a convincing argumentative essay by watching this video!

Examples of Argumentative Essay about Mental Health

Example essays can help you a great deal when getting started with writing an essay about mental health problems. Here are a few examples of argumentative essays on mental health:

Here are some example essays that can help you get started

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health Awareness

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health In Schools

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health Situation In The Philippines

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health Of Students

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health Care

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health Issues

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health Introduction

Argumentative Essay About Mental Health And Physical Health

Struggling to find the inspiration you need to craft your essay? Explore our argumentative essay examples blog!

Argumentative Essay Topics About Mental Health

When it comes to writing an argumentative essay about mental health, choosing a thought-provoking topic is crucial. Here are some compelling topics that provide opportunities for strong arguments:

• The Role of Social Media in Shaping Perceptions of Mental Health
• The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Mental Health in Adulthood
• Exploring the Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness in Society
• The Importance of Mental Health Education in Schools
• The Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Mental Well-being
• Analyzing the Link Between Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders
• Addressing the Mental Health Needs of LGBTQ+ Individuals
• Examining the Overprescription of Psychotropic Medications for Mental Health
• The Role of Cultural Factors in Understanding and Treating Mental Health Issues
• Promoting Mental Health Support and Resources in Underserved Communities

Don’t see a topic you like? Check out our extensive list of argumentative essay topics and choose one that interests you!

Still, think you need more help? 

Hire our essay writing service to get the work done for you. 

With the help of MyPerfectPaper.net, you can craft a well-written argumentative paper about mental health without any effort.

Our argumentative essay writing service offers quality, experienced essay writers who specialize in mental health topics. 

Our argumentative essay writer will be sure to provide you with an essay that meets your expectations. With our guidance, you can be confident that it will be of the highest quality.

So if you're looking for help with an argumentative essay, just place your ‘ write my paper ’ request at our website!

Betty is a freelance writer and researcher. She has a Masters in literature and enjoys providing writing services to her clients. Betty is an avid reader and loves learning new things. She has provided writing services to clients from all academic levels and related academic fields.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Effects of Social Media — Social Media And Mental Health: The Impacts

A Research on How Social Media Affects Mental Health of Adolescents

• Categories: Digital Communication Effects of Social Media Social Media

About this sample

Words: 1977 |

10 min read

Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 1977 | Pages: 6 | 10 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, social media and mental health: essay.

• Sadagheyani, H. E., & Tatari, F. (2021). Investigating the role of social media on mental health. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 25(1), 41-51. (https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MHSI-06-2020-0039/full/html)
• Bashir, H., & Bhat, S. A. (2017). Effects of social media on mental health: A review. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 4(3), 125-131. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323018957_Effects_of_Social_Media_on_Mental_Health_A_Review)
• Naslund, J. A., Bondre, A., Torous, J., & Aschbrenner, K. A. (2020). Social media and mental health: benefits, risks, and opportunities for research and practice. Journal of technology in behavioral science, 5, 245-257. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41347-020-00134-x)
• Skaik, R., & Inkpen, D. (2020). Using social media for mental health surveillance: a review. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 53(6), 1-31. (https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3422824)
• Sharma, M. K., John, N., & Sahu, M. (2020). Influence of social media on mental health: a systematic review. Current opinion in psychiatry, 33(5), 467-475. (https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/Abstract/2020/09000/Influence_of_social_media_on_mental_health__a.7.aspx?context=LatestArticles)

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Provides a foundational overview, outlining the historical context and introducing key information that will be further explored in the essay, setting the stage for the argument to follow.

Cornerstone of the essay, presenting the central argument that will be elaborated upon and supported with evidence and analysis throughout the rest of the paper.

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

The body of each paragraph builds an argument in support of the topic sentence, citing information from sources as evidence.

After each piece of evidence is provided, the author should explain HOW and WHY the evidence supports the claim.

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad about the topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.

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Social Media

Can social media cause mental health conditions, what is the real relationship between using social media and poor mental health.

Posted March 28, 2024 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• Understanding any link requires an understanding of what diagnosis of a mental health condition involves.
• Talk of causation can be misleading as to the nature of the needed exploration.
• It may be better to examine the relationships between the social media use behavior and behaviors that emerge.

Legitimate questions have been asked for a long period concerning whether social media use causes particular mental health conditions. Mental health conditions such as depression , anxiety , autism spectrum disorder, attention -deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder have been linked with overuse of social media. If the development of such conditions is demonstrated to be correlated with the usage of social media, then whether a causal relationship exists appears to be an important and sensible question. However, understanding any link between social media use and mental health conditions is far from straightforward and requires a subtle understanding of what the diagnosis of a mental health condition involves.

4 Possible Reasons

There are several plausible answers to the question of what underlies the correlations often seen in the literature. Firstly, it could be that social media use leads to the development of mental health conditions. This answer implies a causal relationship and suggests that something about social media use is damaging to mental health. Secondly, it could be that mental health conditions lead to social media use. This answer suggests that the presence of mental health conditions somehow makes a person use social media more often, perhaps as a coping mechanism or management strategy. Thirdly, it may be that some third variable leads to the development of mental health conditions and overuse of social media; for instance, an attachment problem may provoke mental health issues as well as using social media to gain attachment that cannot otherwise be found. Finally, it could be argued that social media use produces behaviours similar to those seen in mental health conditions but that are not really the same as a mental health condition. For example, heavy selfie-posting on social media may lead to behaviours similar to those seen with narcissism, but that are not really narcissism.

All these solutions to why a correlation exists between social media overuse and mental health problems are legitimate, in the sense that all have been posited and all fall within the realm of sensible scientific discourse. However, there is an issue that all such attempts to address this relationship must grapple with, which concerns the nature of a mental health problem. All the above solutions, although different in their particulars, share one thing in common—namely, they all assume that there is such a thing as a mental health condition that can be caused. They all assume some kind of relatively straightforward "billiard ball" model of cause and effect—that is, one thing (e.g., social media use) impacts upon another (e.g., mental health) and sets the second thing in motion.

It may be that this sort of causal model does not capture the relationship between a particular behaviour (overuse of social media) and a set of subsequently co-occurring behaviours (the mental health condition). The first can be regarded as a single sort of thing—the use of a digital device—and this sort of thing could easily be fitted into a billiard-ball model of causation. However, the latter (the mental health condition) is not a thing in the sense that there is an "it," but rather, this is a concept, and it is far from clear that a concept is a type of thing that can be caused in a billiard ball sort of way.

There are many everyday conceptions of what a mental health condition is; often, people think of these conditions as illnesses, like a cold, that have signs and symptoms (e.g., coughs and sneezes) resulting from an underlying viral infection. In this conception, the cause-effect relationship is somewhat difficult to specify, as the virus does not cause the cold, but the virus is identical to the cold (and so cannot be its cause in any ordinary sense). The virus might possibly be said to be the cause of the signs and symptoms associated with the cold (although, this is tricky), or some event could be said to have caused the virus to act on the person. If this view of a mental health condition is to be followed, then any of the first three explanations as to the social-media-use and poor-mental-health relationship, noted above, must be examined carefully for their precise view of what is being caused by what.

However, in mental health, there is an aspect of the above cold-virus-symptoms relationship that is missing: There is no thing (like a virus) that underlies the signs and symptoms of a mental health condition. A mental health condition is defined, in all recognised diagnostic manuals, only as a cluster of signs and symptoms that, when occurring together in the appropriate numbers, are termed a "mental health condition." For example, for depression, there must exist together a minimum of five out of a possible nine behaviours; there is no depression independent of these behaviours. In this sense, social media use does not cause a mental health condition like a virus causes the signs and symptoms in a physical illness. The mental health condition does not exist beyond the signs and symptoms; it is identical with those signs and symptoms—note the contrast between the nature of the identity present in physical and mental health—and so cannot be their cause.

Looking for the Relationship Rather Than Causation

It may be more proper to look for the relationship between social media use and particular behaviours, rather than a mental health condition, per se. Once this view is taken, then the fourth view, outlined above—that social media use is related to particular behaviours that look like, but are not, particular mental health conditions—cannot be correct. If the behaviours are those that tick the boxes for a mental health condition, and they occur together in the appropriate numbers, then it is that mental health condition.

The upshot of any such analysis is that talk of causation between social media use and mental health conditions can be confusing and can be misleading as to the nature of the exploration that needs to be undertaken. It may be much more profitable to examine the functional relationships between the behaviour of social media use and the behaviours that subsequently emerge. To start searching for things that do not exist outside those behaviours can produce much wasted time and effort. It can also allow a degree of misdirection in terms of the harms that can be done by social media, by obscuring the important relationships involved.

Phil Reed, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Swansea University.

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6 Example Essays on Social Media | Advantages, Effects, and Outlines

Got an essay assignment about the effects of social media we got you covered check out our examples and outlines below.

Social media has become one of our society's most prominent ways of communication and information sharing in a very short time. It has changed how we communicate and has given us a platform to express our views and opinions and connect with others. It keeps us informed about the world around us. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have brought individuals from all over the world together, breaking down geographical borders and fostering a genuinely global community.

However, social media comes with its difficulties. With the rise of misinformation, cyberbullying, and privacy problems, it's critical to utilize these platforms properly and be aware of the risks. Students in the academic world are frequently assigned essays about the impact of social media on numerous elements of our lives, such as relationships, politics, and culture. These essays necessitate a thorough comprehension of the subject matter, critical thinking, and the ability to synthesize and convey information clearly and succinctly.

But where do you begin? It can be challenging to know where to start with so much information available. Jenni.ai comes in handy here. Jenni.ai is an AI application built exclusively for students to help them write essays more quickly and easily. Jenni.ai provides students with inspiration and assistance on how to approach their essays with its enormous database of sample essays on a variety of themes, including social media. Jenni.ai is the solution you've been looking for if you're experiencing writer's block or need assistance getting started.

So, whether you're a student looking to better your essay writing skills or want to remain up to date on the latest social media advancements, Jenni.ai is here to help. Jenni.ai is the ideal tool for helping you write your finest essay ever, thanks to its simple design, an extensive database of example essays, and cutting-edge AI technology. So, why delay? Sign up for a free trial of Jenni.ai today and begin exploring the worlds of social networking and essay writing!

Want to learn how to write an argumentative essay? Check out these inspiring examples!

We will provide various examples of social media essays so you may get a feel for the genre.

6 Examples of Social Media Essays

Here are 6 examples of Social Media Essays:

The Impact of Social Media on Relationships and Communication

Introduction:.

The way we share information and build relationships has evolved as a direct result of the prevalence of social media in our daily lives. The influence of social media on interpersonal connections and conversation is a hot topic. Although social media has many positive effects, such as bringing people together regardless of physical proximity and making communication quicker and more accessible, it also has a dark side that can affect interpersonal connections and dialogue.

Positive Effects:

Connecting People Across Distances

One of social media's most significant benefits is its ability to connect individuals across long distances. People can use social media platforms to interact and stay in touch with friends and family far away. People can now maintain intimate relationships with those they care about, even when physically separated.

Improved Communication Speed and Efficiency

Additionally, the proliferation of social media sites has accelerated and simplified communication. Thanks to instant messaging, users can have short, timely conversations rather than lengthy ones via email. Furthermore, social media facilitates group communication, such as with classmates or employees, by providing a unified forum for such activities.

Negative Effects:

Decreased Face-to-Face Communication

The decline in in-person interaction is one of social media's most pernicious consequences on interpersonal connections and dialogue. People's reliance on digital communication over in-person contact has increased along with the popularity of social media. Face-to-face interaction has suffered as a result, which has adverse effects on interpersonal relationships and the development of social skills.

Decreased Emotional Intimacy

Another adverse effect of social media on relationships and communication is decreased emotional intimacy. Digital communication lacks the nonverbal cues and facial expressions critical in building emotional connections with others. This can make it more difficult for people to develop close and meaningful relationships, leading to increased loneliness and isolation.

Increased Conflict and Miscommunication

Finally, social media can also lead to increased conflict and miscommunication. The anonymity and distance provided by digital communication can lead to misunderstandings and hurtful comments that might not have been made face-to-face. Additionally, social media can provide a platform for cyberbullying , which can have severe consequences for the victim's mental health and well-being.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the impact of social media on relationships and communication is a complex issue with both positive and negative effects. While social media platforms offer many benefits, such as connecting people across distances and enabling faster and more accessible communication, they also have a dark side that can negatively affect relationships and communication. It is up to individuals to use social media responsibly and to prioritize in-person communication in their relationships and interactions with others.

The Role of Social Media in the Spread of Misinformation and Fake News

Social media has revolutionized the way information is shared and disseminated. However, the ease and speed at which data can be spread on social media also make it a powerful tool for spreading misinformation and fake news. Misinformation and fake news can seriously affect public opinion, influence political decisions, and even cause harm to individuals and communities.

The Pervasiveness of Misinformation and Fake News on Social Media

Misinformation and fake news are prevalent on social media platforms, where they can spread quickly and reach a large audience. This is partly due to the way social media algorithms work, which prioritizes content likely to generate engagement, such as sensational or controversial stories. As a result, false information can spread rapidly and be widely shared before it is fact-checked or debunked.

The Influence of Social Media on Public Opinion

Social media can significantly impact public opinion, as people are likelier to believe the information they see shared by their friends and followers. This can lead to a self-reinforcing cycle, where misinformation and fake news are spread and reinforced, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.

The Challenge of Correcting Misinformation and Fake News

Correcting misinformation and fake news on social media can be a challenging task. This is partly due to the speed at which false information can spread and the difficulty of reaching the same audience exposed to the wrong information in the first place. Additionally, some individuals may be resistant to accepting correction, primarily if the incorrect information supports their beliefs or biases.

In conclusion, the function of social media in disseminating misinformation and fake news is complex and urgent. While social media has revolutionized the sharing of information, it has also made it simpler for false information to propagate and be widely believed. Individuals must be accountable for the information they share and consume, and social media firms must take measures to prevent the spread of disinformation and fake news on their platforms.

The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health and Well-Being

Social media has become an integral part of modern life, with billions of people around the world using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay connected with others and access information. However, while social media has many benefits, it can also negatively affect mental health and well-being.

Comparison and Low Self-Esteem

One of the key ways that social media can affect mental health is by promoting feelings of comparison and low self-esteem. People often present a curated version of their lives on social media, highlighting their successes and hiding their struggles. This can lead others to compare themselves unfavorably, leading to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.

Cyberbullying and Online Harassment

Another way that social media can negatively impact mental health is through cyberbullying and online harassment. Social media provides a platform for anonymous individuals to harass and abuse others, leading to feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression.

Social Isolation

Despite its name, social media can also contribute to feelings of isolation. At the same time, people may have many online friends but need more meaningful in-person connections and support. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and depression.

Addiction and Overuse

Finally, social media can be addictive, leading to overuse and negatively impacting mental health and well-being. People may spend hours each day scrolling through their feeds, neglecting other important areas of their lives, such as work, family, and self-care.

In sum, social media has positive and negative consequences on one's psychological and emotional well-being. Realizing this, and taking measures like reducing one's social media use, reaching out to loved ones for help, and prioritizing one's well-being, are crucial. In addition, it's vital that social media giants take ownership of their platforms and actively encourage excellent mental health and well-being.

The Use of Social Media in Political Activism and Social Movements

Social media has recently become increasingly crucial in political action and social movements. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have given people new ways to express themselves, organize protests, and raise awareness about social and political issues.

Raising Awareness and Mobilizing Action

One of the most important uses of social media in political activity and social movements has been to raise awareness about important issues and mobilize action. Hashtags such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, for example, have brought attention to sexual harassment and racial injustice, respectively. Similarly, social media has been used to organize protests and other political actions, allowing people to band together and express themselves on a bigger scale.

Connecting with like-minded individuals

A second method in that social media has been utilized in political activity and social movements is to unite like-minded individuals. Through social media, individuals can join online groups, share knowledge and resources, and work with others to accomplish shared objectives. This has been especially significant for geographically scattered individuals or those without access to traditional means of political organizing.

Challenges and Limitations

As a vehicle for political action and social movements, social media has faced many obstacles and restrictions despite its many advantages. For instance, the propagation of misinformation and fake news on social media can impede attempts to disseminate accurate and reliable information. In addition, social media corporations have been condemned for censorship and insufficient protection of user rights.

In conclusion, social media has emerged as a potent instrument for political activism and social movements, giving voice to previously unheard communities and galvanizing support for change. Social media presents many opportunities for communication and collaboration. Still, users and institutions must be conscious of the risks and limitations of these tools to promote their responsible and productive usage.

The Potential Privacy Concerns Raised by Social Media Use and Data Collection Practices

With billions of users each day on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, social media has ingrained itself into every aspect of our lives. While these platforms offer a straightforward method to communicate with others and exchange information, they also raise significant concerns over data collecting and privacy. This article will examine the possible privacy issues posed by social media use and data-gathering techniques.

Data Collection and Sharing

The gathering and sharing of personal data are significant privacy issues brought up by social media use. Social networking sites gather user data, including details about their relationships, hobbies, and routines. This information is made available to third-party businesses for various uses, such as marketing and advertising. This can lead to serious concerns about who has access to and uses our personal information.

Lack of Control Over Personal Information

The absence of user control over personal information is a significant privacy issue brought up by social media usage. Social media makes it challenging to limit who has access to and how data is utilized once it has been posted. Sensitive information may end up being extensively disseminated and may be used maliciously as a result.

Personalized Marketing

Social media companies utilize the information they gather about users to target them with adverts relevant to their interests and usage patterns. Although this could be useful, it might also cause consumers to worry about their privacy since they might feel that their personal information is being used without their permission. Furthermore, there are issues with the integrity of the data being used to target users and the possibility of prejudice based on individual traits.

Government Surveillance

Using social media might spark worries about government surveillance. There are significant concerns regarding privacy and free expression when governments in some nations utilize social media platforms to follow and monitor residents.

In conclusion, social media use raises significant concerns regarding data collecting and privacy. While these platforms make it easy to interact with people and exchange information, they also gather a lot of personal information, which raises questions about who may access it and how it will be used. Users should be aware of these privacy issues and take precautions to safeguard their personal information, such as exercising caution when choosing what details to disclose on social media and keeping their information sharing with other firms to a minimum.

The Ethical and Privacy Concerns Surrounding Social Media Use And Data Collection

Our use of social media to communicate with loved ones, acquire information, and even conduct business has become a crucial part of our everyday lives. The extensive use of social media does, however, raise some ethical and privacy issues that must be resolved. The influence of social media use and data collecting on user rights, the accountability of social media businesses, and the need for improved regulation are all topics that will be covered in this article.

Effect on Individual Privacy:

Social networking sites gather tons of personal data from their users, including delicate information like search history, location data, and even health data. Each user's detailed profile may be created with this data and sold to advertising or used for other reasons. Concerns regarding the privacy of personal information might arise because social media businesses can use this data to target users with customized adverts.

Additionally, individuals might need to know how much their personal information is being gathered and exploited. Data breaches or the unauthorized sharing of personal information with other parties may result in instances where sensitive information is exposed. Users should be aware of the privacy rules of social media firms and take precautions to secure their data.

Responsibility of Social Media Companies:

Social media firms should ensure that they responsibly and ethically gather and use user information. This entails establishing strong security measures to safeguard sensitive information and ensuring users are informed of what information is being collected and how it is used.

Many social media businesses, nevertheless, have come under fire for not upholding these obligations. For instance, the Cambridge Analytica incident highlighted how Facebook users' personal information was exploited for political objectives without their knowledge. This demonstrates the necessity of social media corporations being held responsible for their deeds and ensuring that they are safeguarding the security and privacy of their users.

Better Regulation Is Needed

There is a need for tighter regulation in this field, given the effect, social media has on individual privacy as well as the obligations of social media firms. The creation of laws and regulations that ensure social media companies are gathering and using user information ethically and responsibly, as well as making sure users are aware of their rights and have the ability to control the information that is being collected about them, are all part of this.

Additionally, legislation should ensure that social media businesses are held responsible for their behavior, for example, by levying fines for data breaches or the unauthorized use of personal data. This will provide social media businesses with a significant incentive to prioritize their users' privacy and security and ensure they are upholding their obligations.

In conclusion, social media has fundamentally changed how we engage and communicate with one another, but this increased convenience also raises several ethical and privacy issues. Essential concerns that need to be addressed include the effect of social media on individual privacy, the accountability of social media businesses, and the requirement for greater regulation to safeguard user rights. We can make everyone's online experience safer and more secure by looking more closely at these issues.

In conclusion, social media is a complex and multifaceted topic that has recently captured the world's attention. With its ever-growing influence on our lives, it's no surprise that it has become a popular subject for students to explore in their writing. Whether you are writing an argumentative essay on the impact of social media on privacy, a persuasive essay on the role of social media in politics, or a descriptive essay on the changes social media has brought to the way we communicate, there are countless angles to approach this subject.

However, writing a comprehensive and well-researched essay on social media can be daunting. It requires a thorough understanding of the topic and the ability to articulate your ideas clearly and concisely. This is where Jenni.ai comes in. Our AI-powered tool is designed to help students like you save time and energy and focus on what truly matters - your education. With Jenni.ai , you'll have access to a wealth of examples and receive personalized writing suggestions and feedback.

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Student Opinion

310 Prompts for Argumentative Writing

Questions on everything from mental health and sports to video games and dating. Which ones inspire you to take a stand?

By Natalie Proulx

Does social media harm young people’s mental health? Do video games deserve the bad rap they often get? Should parents track their children? Who is the greatest athlete of all time?

Every school day, we publish new questions for students based on the news of the day, including prompts, like these, that inspire persuasive writing.

Below, we’ve rounded up over 300 of those argumentative prompts, organized by topic, all in one place. They cover everything from parenting and schools to music and social media. Each one, drawn from our Student Opinion column , links to a free New York Times article as well as additional subquestions that can help you think more deeply about it.

You can use these prompts however you like, whether to inspire an entry for our new Open Letter Contest , to hone your persuasive writing skills or simply to share your opinions on the issues of today. So scroll through the list below and see which ones inspire you to take a stand.

If you enjoy these questions, know that you can find all of our argumentative writing prompts, as they publish, here . Students 13 and up from anywhere in the world are invited to comment.

Argumentative Prompt Topics

Technology and social media, college, work and money, health and relationships, gender and race, arts and entertainment, parenting and childhood, government and politics, animals, science and time.

Social Media

1. Does Social Media Harm Young People’s Mental Health? 2. How Much Should Speech Be Moderated on Social Media? 3. Should the United States Ban TikTok? 4. How Young Is Too Young to Use Social Media? 5. Should Kids Be Social Media Influencers? 6. What Should Be Done to Protect Children Online? 7. Should There Be Separate Social Media Apps for Children? 8. Are You a Fan of ‘School Accounts’ on Social Media? 9. Will Social Media Help or Hurt Your College and Career Goals? 10. Is It Ever OK to Use Strangers as Content for Social Media?

Phones and Devices

11. Should More Teenagers Ditch Their Smartphones? 12. Should the Adults in Your Life Be Worried by How Much You Use Your Phone? 13. Should Phones Ever Be a Part of Family or Holiday Gatherings? 14. What Are Your Texting Dos and Don’ts? 15. Does Grammar Still Matter in the Age of Twitter? 16. Is Your Phone Love Hurting Your Relationships? 17. Should Texting While Driving Be Treated Like Drunken Driving? 18. How Young Is Too Young for an Apple Watch?

The Internet

19. Do Memes Make the Internet a Better Place? 20. How Excited Are You About the Metaverse? 21. Should Websites Force Users to Prove How Old They Are? 22. What Is the Best Way to Stop Abusive Language Online? 23. How Do You Feel About Cancel Culture? 24. Does Online Public Shaming Prevent Us From Being Able to Grow and Change? 25. Do You Think Online Conspiracy Theories Can Be Dangerous? 26. Does Technology Make Us More Alone?

School Discipline and Attendance

27. Should Schools Ban Cellphones? 28. How Should Schools Hold Students Accountable for Hurting Others? 29. What Are Your Thoughts on Uniforms and Strict Dress Codes? 30. Should Schools Test Their Students for Nicotine and Drug Use? 31. How Can Schools Engage Students Who Are at Risk of Dropping Out? 32. Should Students Be Allowed to Miss School for Mental Health Reasons? 33. Should Your School Day Start Later? 34. Should There Still Be Snow Days? 35. Do Kids Need Recess? 36. Should Students Be Punished for Not Having Lunch Money?

School Quality and Effectiveness

37. How Do You Think American Education Could Be Improved? 38. Do Schools Need to Do More to Hold Students Accountable? 39. Are Straight A’s Always a Good Thing? 40. Should Students Have the Same Teachers Year After Year? 41. Do Teachers Assign Too Much Homework? 42. Should We Get Rid of Homework? 43. Should We Eliminate Gifted and Talented Programs? 44. Is It Time to Get Rid of Timed Tests? 45. What Role Should Textbooks Play in Education? 46. How Should Senior Year in High School Be Spent? 47. Does Your School Need More Money? 48. Do School Employees Deserve More Respect — and Pay? 49. Should Public Preschool Be a Right for All Children?

Teaching and Learning

50. Do You Think We Need to Change the Way Math Is Taught? 51. Should Financial Literacy Be a Required Course in School? 52. Should Schools Teach Students Kitchen and Household Skills? 53. Do We Need Better Music Education? 54. What Are the Most Important Things Students Should Learn in School? 55. What Is the Purpose of Teaching U.S. History? 56. Do Schools Need to Do More to Support Visual Thinkers? 57. Is School a Place for Self-Expression? 58. Should Media Literacy Be a Required Course in School? 59. Can Empathy Be Taught? Should Schools Try to Help Us Feel One Another’s Pain? 60. Should Schools Teach You How to Be Happy? 61. Should All Schools Teach Cursive? 62. Should Kids Still Learn to Tell Time? 63. How Important Is Knowing a Foreign Language

Technology in School

64. How Should Schools Respond to ChatGPT? 65. Does Learning to Be a Good Writer Still Matter in the Age of A.I.? 66. Is Online Learning Effective? 67. Should Students Be Monitored When Taking Online Tests? 68. Should Schools Be Able to Discipline Students for What They Say on Social Media? 69. Can Social Media Be a Tool for Learning and Growth in Schools? 70. Should Facial Recognition Technology Be Used in Schools? 71. Is Live-Streaming Classrooms a Good Idea? 72. Should Teachers and Professors Ban Student Use of Laptops in Class? 73. Are the Web Filters at Your School Too Restrictive?

Education Politics

74. Do You Feel Your School and Teachers Welcome Both Conservative and Liberal Points of View? 75. Should Students Learn About Climate Change in School? 76. Should Teachers Provide Trigger Warnings for ‘Traumatic Content’? 77. Should Teachers Be Allowed to Wear Political Symbols? 78. What Do You Think About Efforts to Ban Books From School Libraries? 79. What Is Your Reaction to the Growing Fight Over What Young People Can Read? 80. What Do You Think About the Controversy Surrounding the New A.P. Course on African American Studies? 81. Should Schools or Employers Be Allowed to Tell People How They Should Wear Their Hair? 82. Does Prayer Have Any Place in Public Schools? 83. Should Schools Be Allowed to Censor Student Newspapers?

College Admissions

84. Should Colleges Consider Standardized Tests in Admissions? 85. Should Students Let ChatGPT Help Them Write Their College Essays? 86. What Is Your Reaction to the End of Race-Based Affirmative Action in College Admissions? 87. Are Early-Decision Programs Unfair? Should Colleges Do Away With Them? 88. Is the College Admissions Process Fair? 89. How Much Do You Think It Matters Where You Go to College? 90. Should Everyone Go to College? 91. Should College Be Free? 92. Is Student Debt Worth It? 93. Should High Schools Post Their Annual College Lists?

Campus Life

94. What Should Free Speech Look Like on Campus? 95. Should Greek Life on College Campuses Come to an End? 96. Should Universities Work to Curtail Student Drinking? 97. How Should the Problem of Sexual Assault on Campuses Be Addressed? 98. Are Lavish Amenities on College Campuses Useful or Frivolous? 99. Should ‘Despised Dissenters’ Be Allowed to Speak on College Campuses? 100. Should Emotional Support Animals Be Allowed on College Campuses?

Jobs and Careers

101. Is High School a Good Time to Train for a Career? 102. Is There Such a Thing as a ‘Useless’ College Major? 103. Should All High School Students Have Part-Time Jobs? 104. Should National Service Be Required for All Young Americans? 105. Is It OK to Use Family Connections to Get a Job?

Money and Business

106. Do You Think the American Dream Is Real? 107. Should All Young People Learn How to Invest in the Stock Market? 108. Should We All Go Cashless? 109. When Should You Tip? 110. Should We End the Practice of Tipping? 111. Are You a Crypto Optimist or Skeptic? 112. Do Celebrities and Influencers Make You Want to Buy What They’re Selling? 113. Is $1 Billion Too Much Money for Any One Person to Have? 114. Are C.E.O.s Paid Too Much? 115. Is It Immoral to Increase the Price of Goods During a Crisis? 116. What Should Stores Do With Unsold Goods? 117. Is There a ‘Right Way’ to Be a Tourist? 118. Who Should We Honor on Our Money?

Mental Health

119. Is Teen Mental Health in a State of Crisis? 120. ‘Love-Bombing.’ ‘Gaslighting.’ ‘Victim.’ Is ‘Trauma Talk’ Overused? 121. Does Achieving Success Always Include Being Happy? 122. Is Struggle Essential to Happiness? 123. Should Schools Teach Mindfulness? 124. How Can We Bring an End to the ‘Epidemic of Loneliness’? 125. Does Every Country Need a ‘Loneliness Minister’? 126. What Ideas Do You Have to Bring Your Community Closer Together? 127. Are Emotional-Support Animals a Scam? 128. Is It OK to Laugh During Dark Times?

Dating and Relationships

129. Who Should Pay for Dates? 130. Do Marriage Proposals Still Have a Place in Today’s Society? 131. Should Your Significant Other Be Your Best Friend? 132. How Do You Think Technology Affects Dating?

Physical Health

133. Should Governments Do More to Discourage People From Smoking and Vaping? 134. How Should Adults Talk to Kids About Drugs? 135. Can Laziness Be a Good Thing? 136. Should There Be Requirements for Teens Who Want to Ride E-Bikes? 137. What Advice Should Parents and Counselors Give Teenagers About Sexting? 138. Should All Children Be Vaccinated? 139. Do We Worry Too Much About Germs?

140. Is It Becoming More Acceptable for Men and Boys to Cry? 141. Is It Harder for Men and Boys to Make and Keep Friends? 142. Should Award Shows Eliminate Gendered Categories? 143. Should There Be More Gender Options on Identification Documents? 144. Justice Ginsburg Fought for Gender Equality. How Close Are We to Achieving That Goal? 145. What Should #MeToo Mean for Teenage Boys? 146. What Is Hard About Being a Boy? 147. Should There Be More Boy Dolls? 148. Is Single-Sex Education Still Useful? 149. Are Beauty Pageants Still Relevant? 150. Should Period Products Be Free? 151. What Are Your Thoughts on Last Names? 152. What Rules Should Apply to Transgender Athletes When They Compete? 153. What Is Your Reaction to the Recent Wave of Legislation That Seeks to Regulate the Lives of Transgender Youths? 154. What Do You Wish Lawmakers Knew About How Anti-L.G.B.T.Q. Legislation Affects Teenagers?

Identity, Race and Ethnicity

155. How Should Schools Respond to Racist Jokes? 156. How Should Parents Teach Their Children About Race and Racism? 157. What Is Your Reaction to Efforts to Limit Teaching on Race in Schools? 158. How Should Racial Slurs in Literature Be Handled in the Classroom? 159. Should Confederate Statues Be Removed or Remain in Place? 160. Should We Rename Schools Named for Historical Figures With Ties to Racism, Sexism or Slavery? 161. How Should We Remember the Problematic Actions of the Nation’s Founders? 162. Does the United States Owe Reparations to the Descendants of Enslaved People? 163. What Can History Teach Us About Resilience? 164. Should All Americans Receive Anti-Bias Education? 165. Is Fear of ‘The Other’ Poisoning Public Life? 166. What Stereotypical Characters Make You Cringe? 167. When Talking About Identity, How Much Do Words Matter? 168. How Useful Is It to Be Multilingual?

TV and Movies

169. Is True Crime As a Form of Entertainment Ethical? 170. Should Old TV Shows Be Brought Back? 171. Does Reality TV Deserve Its Bad Rap? 172. How Closely Should Actors’ Identities Reflect the Roles They Play? 173. In the Age of Digital Streaming, Are Movie Theaters Still Relevant? 174. Do We Need More Female Superheroes? 175. Is Hollywood Becoming More Diverse? 176. When Does Lying in Comedy Cross a Line? 177. How Do You Feel About ‘Nepotism Babies’?

Music and Video Games

178. Will A.I. Replace Pop Stars? 179. If Two Songs Sound Alike, Is It Stealing? 180. Should Musicians Be Allowed to Copy or Borrow From Other Artists? 181. How Do You Feel About Censored Music? 182. What Are the Greatest Songs of All Time? 183. Do Video Games Deserve the Bad Rap They Often Get? 184. Should There Be Limits on How Much Time Young People Spend Playing Video Games? 185. Should More Parents Play Video Games With Their Kids?

186. Are A.I.-Generated Pictures Art? 187. What Work of Art Should Your Friends Fall in Love With? 188. If Artwork Offends People, Should It Be Removed? 189. Should Museums Return Looted Artifacts to Their Countries of Origin? 190. Should Art Come With Trigger Warnings? 191. Is the Digital Era Improving or Ruining the Experience of Art? 192. Are Museums Still Important in the Digital Age? 193. Can You Separate Art From the Artist? 194. Are There Subjects That Should Be Off-Limits to Artists, or to Certain Artists in Particular? 195. Should Graffiti Be Protected?

Books and Literature

196. Is Listening to a Book Just as Good as Reading It? 197. Should Classic Children’s Books Be Updated for Today’s Young Readers? 198. Should White Writers Translate a Black Author’s Work? 199. Is There Any Benefit to Reading Books You Hate? 200. Should Libraries Get Rid of Late Fees?

201. What’s the Best — and Worst — Part of Being a Sports Fan? 202. Who Is the GOAT? 203. Do Women’s Sports Deserve More Attention? 204. What Should Be Done About the Gender Pay Gap in Sports? 205. Should Girls and Boys Sports Teams Compete in the Same League? 206. Should More Sports Be Coed? 207. College Athletes Can Now Be Paid. But Not All of Them Are Seeing Money. Is That Fair? 208. Should High School-Age Basketball Players Be Able to Get Paid? 209. Are Some Youth Sports Too Intense? 210. Are Youth Sports Too Competitive? 211. Is It Bad Sportsmanship to Run Up the Score in Youth Sports? 212. Is It Ethical to Be a Football Fan? 213. Does the N.F.L. Have a Race Problem? 214. What New Rules Would Improve Your Favorite Sport? 215. What Sports Deserve More Hype? 216. How Should We Punish Sports Cheaters? 217. Should Technology in Sports Be Limited? 218. Does Better Sports Equipment Unfairly Improve Athletic Ability? 219. Is It Offensive for Sports Teams and Their Fans to Use Native American Names, Imagery and Gestures? 220. Is It Selfish to Pursue Risky Sports Like Extreme Mountain Climbing? 221. Should Cheerleading Be an Olympic Sport?

Related Writing Prompt

222. Should Parents Ever Be Held Responsible for the Harmful Actions of Their Children? 223. Where Is the Line Between Helping a Child Become More Resilient and Pushing Them Too Hard? 224. Should Parents Give Children More Responsibility at Younger Ages? 225. Should Parents Tell Children the Truth About Santa? 226. Should Parents Weigh in on Their Kids’ Dating Lives? 227. Should Parents Track Their Children? 228. How Should Parents Support a Student Who Has Fallen Behind in School? 229. Do Parents Ever Cross a Line by Helping Too Much With Schoolwork? 230. What’s the Best Way to Discipline Children? 231. What Are Your Thoughts on ‘Snowplow Parents’? 232. Should Stay-at-Home Parents Be Paid? 233. Should Parents Bribe Their Children?

Childhood and Growing Up

234. Is It Harder to Grow Up in the 21st Century Than It Was in the Past? 235. Is Childhood Today Over-Supervised? 236. When Do You Become an Adult? 237. Who Should Decide Whether a Teenager Can Get a Tattoo or Piercing? 238. Do We Give Children Too Many Trophies? 239. What Can Older Generations Learn From Gen Z? 240. What Is the Worst Toy Ever?

Legislation and Policy

241. Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished? 242. Should Marijuana Be Legal? 243. Should the United States Decriminalize the Possession of Drugs? 244. What Is Your Reaction to the State of Abortion Rights? 245. Should the Government Cancel Student Debt? 246. Should Public Transit Be Free? 247. Should There Be More Public Restrooms? 248. Should the U.S. Be Doing More to Prevent Child Poverty? 249. Should the Government Provide a Guaranteed Income for Families With Children? 250. Should Law Enforcement Be Able to Use DNA Data From Genealogy Websites for Criminal Investigations?

Gun Violence

251. Are You Concerned About Violence in America? 252. How Should Americans Deal With the Problem of Gun Violence? 253. What Should Lawmakers Do About Guns and Gun Violence? 254. Should the U.S. Ban Military-Style Semiautomatic Weapons? 255. Should Teachers Be Armed With Guns?

Voting and Elections

256. How Much Faith Do You Have in the U.S. Political System? 257. Is the Electoral College a Problem? Does It Need to Be Fixed? 258. Does Everyone Have a Responsibility to Vote? 259. Should We All Be Able to Vote by Mail? 260. Should There Be a Minimum Voting Age? 261. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? 262. Should Ex-Felons Have the Right to Vote? 263. Are Presidential Debates Helpful to Voters? Or Should They Be Scrapped?

Freedoms and Rights

264. How Important Is Freedom of the Press? 265. Why Does the Right to Protest Matter? 266. Does the U.S. Constitution Need an Equal Rights Amendment? 267. Do You Care Who Sits on the Supreme Court? Should We Care? 268. Should You Have a Right to Be Rude? 269. Should Prisons Offer Incarcerated People Education Opportunities?

Civic Participation

270. Are You Optimistic About the State of the World? 271. If You Could Take On One Problem Facing Our World, What Would It Be? 272. If You Were Mayor, What Problems Facing Your Community Would You Tackle? 273. Do You Think Teenagers Can Make a Difference in the World? 274. Do You Think It Is Important for Teenagers to Participate in Political Activism? 275. Is Your Generation Doing Its Part to Strengthen Our Democracy? 276. How Is Your Generation Changing Politics? 277. Why Is It Important for People With Different Political Beliefs to Talk to Each Other? 278. Are We Being Bad Citizens If We Don’t Keep Up With the News? 279. Why Do Bystanders Sometimes Fail to Help When They See Someone in Danger? 280. When Is It OK to Be a Snitch? 281. Should Reporters Ever Help the People They Are Covering? 282. Should Celebrities Weigh In on Politics? 283. Should Athletes Speak Out On Social and Political Issues? 284. Should Corporations Take Political Stands? 285. What Do You Think the Role of the First Lady — or First Spouse — Should Be Today?

286. Is Animal Testing Ever Justified? 287. What Is Our Responsibility to Lab Animals? 288. What Are Your Thoughts About Hunting Animals? 289. Should We Be Concerned With Where We Get Our Pets? 290. What Do You Think of Pet Weddings? 291. Is It Wrong to Focus on Animal Welfare When Humans Are Suffering? 292. Should We Bring Back Animals From Extinction? 293. Are Zoos Immoral? 294. Do Bugs Deserve More Respect?

Environment and Science

295. What Role Should Young People Play in the Fight Against Climate Change? 296. Should We Be More Optimistic About Efforts to Combat Climate Change? 297. How Far Is Too Far in the Fight Against Climate Change? 298. Should Plastic Bags Be Banned Everywhere? 299. Is It Ethical to Create Genetically Edited Humans? 300. Should We Still Be Sending Astronauts to Space? 301. Do You Think Pluto Should Be a Planet? 302. Should We Treat Robots Like People?

Time and Seasons

303. What Is the Best Month of the Year? What Is the Worst? 304. Would Life Be Better Without Time Zones? 305. Do You Think It Is Time to Get Rid of Daylight Saving Time? 306. When Do Holiday Decorations Go From Festive to Excessive? 307. Should We Rethink Thanksgiving? 308. When Does a Halloween Costume Cross the Line? 309. Should School Be a Place to Celebrate Halloween? 310. Should the Week Be Four Days Instead of Five?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Natalie Proulx joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2017 after working as an English language arts teacher and curriculum writer. More about Natalie Proulx

Students Think Social Media Is Fine, But Teachers See a Mental Health Minefield

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Many adults—from teachers to the U.S. surgeon general —will tell you that social media has the potential to dangerously erode K-12 students’ mental health.

School districts and lawmakers alike have responded to the growing chorus of concern. More than 200 districts (and counting) have sued major social media companies while lawmakers at the federal and state levels have been crafting legislation that would greatly curtail youth access to social media .

But there’s one constituency that policymakers, educators, and parents may not be listening to enough: students.

Nearly three quarters of high school students say that social media either has no impact or a positive impact on their mental health and well-being, according to a new EdWeek Research Center survey. Students who responded to the survey also point to many benefits arising from their social media use, such as making new friends, promoting creativity, and learning about other cultures and people.

The EdWeek Research Center surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,056 high school students in February and March.

That doesn’t mean all teens are having a positive experience—29 percent of high schoolers said social media has a negative impact.

Explore the Survey Results

Whatever adults may think of how kids view social media, experts say it’s important to understand teens’ perspectives in order to teach students the social-emotional and digital- and media-literacy skills they need to use these platforms in a productive and healthy way.

“Often the question [adults are always asking] is, ‘What is technology doing to young people?’” said Ioana Literat, an associate professor at Columbia University, Teachers College, and the associate director of the school’s Media and Social Change Lab. “I like to ask, ‘What are young people doing with technology?’”

The answer: Teenagers say they are doing a lot. Forty-one percent said they have used social media to make new friends or build positive friendships, according to EdWeek’s survey. Around a quarter have used social media to develop a hobby, acquire knowledge or skills related to what they’re studying in school, and gain a better understanding of what they want to pursue after high school.

‘Peer connection or peer support on social media’

Teens also say they have connected with mentors and developed their communication and entrepreneurial skills through social media.

Nearly 1 in 3 high schoolers in the EdWeek survey said that social media has made them feel less alone.

Social media can especially be a lifeline for certain groups of students, said Chelsea Olson, a research scientist in the University of Wisconsin—Madison’s pediatrics department and a member of the university’s Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team. LGBTQ+ youth, for example, are more likely to be bullied and struggle with depression and anxiety.

“And so, social media is a way that they can find community, they can connect with others, they can learn about themselves, they can seek resources online,” she said. “It could also be youth with chronic illnesses, especially illnesses that are rare or complicated. They might be able to go find others who are experiencing the same thing, getting that peer connection or peer support on social media, joining support groups, accessing information about their illness that they may not be able to find elsewhere.”

Even youth who are socially anxious can benefit from social media, Olson said, using it as a lower-stakes venue to practice social skills.

That’s not to say that teenagers’ social media experiences are all rosy. Nearly a quarter of high schoolers reported believing fake information they saw on social media and not getting enough sleep—the two most common answers when students were asked in the EdWeek Research Center survey about the negative consequences of their social media use.

Building a rapport with students to discuss the potential harm of social media

Understanding teens’ complicated relationship with social media is an important step to building a rapport with them that will allow educators to discuss the harm social media can cause, said Merve Lapus, the vice president of education outreach and engagement for Common Sense Media, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that provides curricula and ratings on technology and media.

“The more we try to push our perspective without trying to take theirs into account, the more you build a rift between you as an educator and the students,” he said. “As a teacher, if I can’t try to authentically connect with how my kids are thinking, then there’s no way I’m going to be able to get them to connect to the way I’m thinking.”

And educators’ thoughts on the issue are decidedly more negative than teens’. The overwhelming majority of educators in a separate EdWeek Research Center survey said that social media has had a negative impact on students’ mental health and self-esteem. The nationally representative survey polled 595 teachers, school leaders, and district leaders and was conducted Dec. 2023 to Jan. 2024.

Ninety-one percent of educators said social media has had a negative impact on how students treat people in real life.

Educators are also far more concerned than teenagers about how the content that high schoolers post on social media today could jeopardize their future employment. Eight in 10 educators are very or somewhat concerned while only 4 in 10 teens are.

A quarter of educators indicated in the survey that they could not think of any positive outcomes their students experienced as a result of using social media, compared with 14 percent of students in the student survey.

“The biggest challenge here is that young people, especially those in middle and high school, need both autonomy and guidance,” said Heather Schwartz, a practice specialist at the Collaborative for Social Emotional Learning, or CASEL, in an email interview. “They are more expert in social media than many of their teachers, and they do not respond well when they feel they are being talked down to.”

‘It’s just another day in 8th grade’

The fact that educators see social media as such a threat to students’ mental health fits historical trends, said Columbia’s Literat.

“Whenever there is a communications technology that has a huge social impact, there is a tendency to panic. Often when we see these moral panics, the objects of the panic are young people and women,” she said, while acknowledging that the enormous scope of social media means that any negative impact from its use will be far reaching for all ages and genders.

All of this isn’t to say that educators’ opinions on how social media affects kids are wrong, said Lapus. Teens may not fully understand how social media might be impacting their mental health and well-being.

“In general, [teens] don’t have a comparison,” he said. “Educators, parents, you know a time of what school was like [before social media] when all the same dramas occurred, but they didn’t follow you home in the same capacity they do now. That has major effects on your mental health. We can see that, but for them, it’s just another day in 8th grade.”

Where there is more agreement among educators and students on the issue of social media and mental health and well-being is educators’ roles in helping students learn to navigate the challenges. Majorities of both groups—65 percent of educators and 75 percent of students—think that teachers should be responsible for helping students learn how to use social media in ways that will support students’ mental health and well-being.

But only a little more than half the students reported in the survey that a teacher has ever discussed the topic with them.

One simple step to make things better

One simple step that educators—and all adults—can take to help promote healthier social media habits among the young people they interact with is to model good behavior, experts say. That means showing respect to others on social media, not using their cellphones during class, and not posting photos or information about students without their permission (or their parents’ permission).

But to really help students reap the benefits of social media while minimizing the harm, schools need to teach digital-literacy skills—such as understanding the addictive design features of social media—paired with social-emotional skills such as self-regulation, self-awareness, empathy, and relationship-building skills.

“Self-awareness includes understanding our own identities,” Schwartz said in an email interview. “Self-management includes agency, or a sense that what we do makes a difference. This also means understanding when something is getting under their skin, and pausing before responding.”

Just as students’ views on social media are nuanced, so, too, should educators’ approaches to discussing the platforms that have become an indispensable venue for teens’ communication, socialization, and identity-formation, experts emphasize.

For example, while it’s important for schools to teach social-emotional skills, educators should acknowledge that it’s not always easy for students to apply them in real life. Social media often creates a tension with the explicit SEL skills schools are teaching, said Emily Weinstein, the executive director of the Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard University.

“It gets complicated when kids want to disconnect, but they have a friend who needs to talk: Their self-regulation and need for sleep, if it’s late at night, is pitted against their empathy,” said Weinstein. “It can be hard to figure this out in a world where you’re connected 24/7.”

The message educators should be driving home, said Lapus of Common Sense Media, is this: Yes, social media can be a positive force in students’ lives. But these platforms are also designed to override many of the social-emotional skills that help students protect their well-being, he said.

For instance, social media features such as the “like” button make it hard for users to exercise self-control, said Lapus, because they’re designed to keep users engaged on the app. “You see the number of likes and see people commenting, the impulse to not feel left out is real, and the ease of responding is built in by design.”

Teachers, he said, should encourage students to examine what’s important to them and how social media can help support those values. (For example, if family is important to a student, social media can help them stay connected with relatives who live far away.)

The goal, Lapus said, is to help students identify when social media isn’t serving their interests. “It’s up to you to be able to continue the cycle that’s helpful or break the cycle because it’s not giving you what you hope to get out of it,” he said.

Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.

A version of this article appeared in the April 03, 2024 edition of Education Week as Kids Think Social Media Is Fine, But Teachers See a Mental Health Minefield

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Matt Reynolds

Screen Time for Kids Is Fine! Unless It's Not

The anti-smartphone movement is having a moment. On March 25, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning children under 14 from social media platforms. In February, the UK government backed tighter guidance to keep children from using their smartphones at school. In the past year, grassroots organizations like Smartphone Free Childhood have risen to national prominence as parents fret about the damage that screens and social media might be causing to young people’s mental health.

Beneath all this worry is a fiendishly difficult question: What impact are smartphones having on our mental health? The answer depends on who you ask. For some, the evidence that smartphones are eroding our well-being is overwhelming. Others counter that it isn’t all that strong . There are blogs , then counter-blogs , each often pointing to the same scientific papers and drawing opposing conclusions.

Into this maelstrom we can now add two books, published within a week of each other, that sit squarely in opposite corners in the fight. In The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness , social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt lays out his argument that smartphones and social media are the key driver of the decline in youth mental health seen in many countries since the early 2010s.

The early 2010s were crucial, Haidt argues, because that was when smartphones really began to transform childhood into something unrecognizable. In June 2010, Apple introduced its first front-facing camera, and a few months later Instagram launched on the App Store. For Haidt, this was a fateful combination. Children were suddenly always online, always on display, and connected in ways that were often detrimental to their well-being. The result was a “tidal wave” of anxiety, depression, and self-harm, mostly affecting young girls.

In Haidt’s telling, though, smartphones are only part of the problem. He thinks that children in the West are prevented from developing healthily thanks to a culture of “safetyism” that keeps children indoors, shelters them from risks, and replaces rough-and-tumble free play with adult-directed organized sports or—even worse—video games. For evidence of safetyism in action, Haidt contrasts a picture of a 1970s playground merry-go-round, (“the greatest piece of playground equipment ever invented”) with a modern set of play equipment designed with safety in mind and, thus, giving children less opportunity to learn from risky play.

This is Haidt’s Great Rewiring in a nutshell: Childhood has switched from being predominantly play-based to being phone-based, and as a result, young people are less happy as children and less competent as adults. They are also, Haidt seems to argue, more boring . US high school seniors today are less likely to have drunk alcohol, had sex, have a driving license, or worked than their predecessors. Wrapped in cotton wool by their parents and absorbed by their online lives, young people aren’t transitioning into adulthood in a healthy way, Haidt argues.

These arguments are familiar from Haidt’s 2018 book, The Coddling of the American Mind , coauthored with journalist and activist Greg Lukianoff. It’s not just that American children are experiencing worse mental health than before, Haidt suggests, but that their transition to adulthood is now stymied by modern parenting and technology. “Once we had a new generation hooked on smartphones before the start of puberty, there was little space left in the stream of information entering their eyes and ears for guidance from mentors in their real-world communities during puberty,” Haidt writes in his latest work.

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It’s an argument that goes beyond the thin slices of plastic and metal that fill so much of our days. Haidt’s anxiety is not just about children—the portion on smartphones and mental health makes up only about half of the book—but about a society of diminished grown-ups, zombified by screens and sheltered from the rough-and-tumble reality that makes them into functioning adults.

Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time (and How to Spend It Better) by British psychologist Pete Etchells is much more modest in scope. While Haidt closes his book with strong recommendations (limit social media accounts to over-16s, encourage phone-free schools, strictly limit at-home screen time), Etchells is much more circumspect in his conclusions. His default stance is the scientist’s catechism: More research is needed.

Or, to be more precise, better research is needed. As Etchells describes, it can be hard to wring much sense out of the scientific literature examining screen time and its effect on mental health, sleep, and so on. These studies constantly run into a myriad of problems: What kind of screen time should we be measuring? Are Zoom calls the same as social media? How do we tease out the possible impact of screen time from the other factors that can influence mental health?

The most compelling response is to look at charts that measure rates of anxiety and depression, self-harm, or suicide among teenagers . Often these charts have a shaded portion from 2010 to mark the start of the smartphone era, and then a sharp upturn (or downturn) that shows how bad things have grown. No other factor can explain this dramatic shift, Haidt argues, other than smartphones.

But that doesn’t explain the question of why smartphones are having this impact, if indeed they are. In his book, Etchells picks through much of the literature on screen time, including studies from Haidt and his sometime collaborator, psychologist Jean Twenge, whose work on the link between smartphones and mental health in young people has been extremely influential.

Sometimes, scientists looking at the same data draw opposite conclusions. In 2019, two researchers from the University of Oxford pooled data on digital technology use and well-being in adolescents and concluded that screens do have a slight negative impact on well-being, but that the effect was very small. A few years later Twenge, Haidt, and colleagues ran a different analysis on the same datasets and instead concluded that social media did have a big negative impact on girls in particular—stronger than binge drinking, sexual assault, or hard drug use .

Etchells argues that the Haidt and Twenge paper ran a more restricted analysis than the earlier study—not exactly refuting the previous findings but looking in a slightly different place and finding quite different results. “The result was a study that was simply a rehash of previous relationship analyses but under a different name, with the associated claim that it was therefore more rigorous. In reality it just added noise to an already chaotic literature,” Etchells writes.

Throughout his book, Etchells weaves his own personal experience to offer a counter to the argument that screens are necessarily damaging to our lives. His previous book, Lost in a Good Game , describes how video games helped him cope with the death of his father when he was aged 14. In Unlocked he rediscovers his blogs on LiveJournal from his late teens—the writings of a depressed teenager working through his feelings in public and searching for connection with other people.

A tour through the online traces of our teenage selves is a toe-curling experience, but Etchells is making a point about how cause and effect get muddled when we think about our screen times. Was LiveJournal making him depressed, or was it simply where he went to process those feelings? Lying awake in bed at night thinking about this piece, I reach for my smartphone—is the device contributing to my sleeplessness, or is it simply another symptom of it?

Both books end with a series of recommendations—Etchells’ are much more modest than Haidt’s. He implores us to be more thoughtful in how we talk about (and research) screen time, to reflect more on our habits and tweak the ones that aren’t working for us, and to be more critical of what we’re told about our devices.

While Etchells is asking for a more reflective relationship with our screens, Haidt implores governments—and parents—to tear up our current approaches and start afresh. In his book, screens are both a cause and a symptom of a society that is careening off the rails, and nothing less than a reboot will get things back on track.

It is hard to ignore in Haidt’s book a desire to roll back the clock to a simpler time: One where kids could play out late unsupervised and whirl on the playground roundabout until they were sick. But the line between wanting them to have happier, healthier lives and wanting them to have the lives that kids used to have is very different. Does it really matter if young people today are drinking less, having sex later, or learning to drive later? What is it about their lives that we are trying to fix?

Etchells implores us to be more thoughtful readers about technology. “Rather than take a knee-jerk antagonistic approach to sensationalism about screens, then, we need to approach it with a sense of cautious curiosity. If you find yourself questioning a new study about digital technology that doesn’t fit with your worldview, then of course investigate, dig deeper—but do so with an open mind, and the aim of understanding.”

The answer might lay somewhere between these two books. It might be a mistake to throw phones out altogether, but we should think carefully about how we make sure our devices are enriching the lives of young people rather than the opposite. We should address the problems of screen time, without ignoring the other myriad things that erode the well-being of young people. And rather than looking through the lens of our own experience as adults, we should center the experience of children and ask them what would make them happier.

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