Social Media: Mental Health's Battle Between Empowerment and Exploitation

At its founding, social media was a platform that connected individuals around the world. A website or app that would instantly share content at the press of a button so that friends, families, and those you have yet to meet could see. While social media may connect, empower, and inform, it also has the power to manipulate, divide, and sell you as the product, leaving both positive and negative impacts on one's mental health.

The concept of social media started with a company many people probably don't know, especially less known amongst the evolving younger generations of social media enthusiasts, called Six Degrees. It was created for the purpose of connecting people near and far. You could create profiles and post writing, photo, and video content. This platform grew in popularity, reaching around 3 million individuals. It was regarded as “ahead of its time” because it brought everyone to one screen where they could connect in meaningful ways. People who felt lonely could reach out, view people's posts, and share what they were going through, which positively impacted many people's mental health. They could now talk with family and friends when needed. They could view content that makes them laugh or help them to escape realities. It was an outlet. Help Guide states “while virtual interaction on social media doesn't have the same psychological benefits as face-to-face contact, there are still many positive ways in which it can help you stay connected and support your wellbeing” which correlates well with another study done by Alverdia Health in which they found that, “social media users were 63% less likely to experience mental health crises, such as anxiety and depression.” Now I am not saying that social media is a doer of all good, because it isn’t, but to many it is empowering. It is a way for them to share their life experiences and it is a way for them to gain knowledge of others and the world around them.

The issue that comes with social media is that while it may provide short term benefits, it is an engineered addiction. More modern forms of social media like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok are designed to create addictive behaviors and are meant to keep their victims hooked. While scrolling mindlessly on your phone, you are releasing short bursts of dopamine, the “feel good chemical”, directly into your brain. When you are scrolling it is often relaxing, entertaining, and makes you feel good, but when you stop, your body will begin to crave it. This negatively impacts your mental health by depleting dopamine levels within your brain. Which can result in more complicated issues such as Parkinson's, restless leg syndrome, and depression. In several studies, teenage and young adult users who spend the most time on Instagram, Facebook and other platforms were shown to have a “substantially (from 13 to 66 percent) higher rate of reported depression than those who spent the least time”. This wouldn’t all be so bad if you limited the time spent on these platforms, but “Social connection has become druggified by social-media apps, making us vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.” The content we watch is methodically placed to keep us scrolling. Algorithms like TikToks’ have raised concerns because of the addictive nature and a darker, more serious matter, the collection of our personal data. They know more about us than we probably do of ourselves. They know our names, age, where we live, what we watch, what we like to buy, what foods we eat, where we eat, where we shop, and much more. These companies gather mass amounts of data on each of us. Which in our minds doesn’t process as true because we are the consumers, but in their minds, we are the product. They do not care about the long-term damage they may cause, but rather only about their own short-term benefits. They care more about pushing content and making money than the negative mental health effects that these platforms have been proven to cause.

While social media has a dual nature of being good while simultaneously having a grave undertone, it is important to remember that despite external influences, we must rely on ourselves, family and friends, and professionals for our own mental wellbeing. It is important to maximize the positives that come with social media. It is important to set healthy boundaries and limit when and what you consume. It is also important to seek professional help when needed. Ultimately, our mental well-being is shaped not purely by the platforms we use, but by the conscious choices we make in how we engage with them.