Legally Reviewed
This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy and clarity by Tort Defenders’ writers and staff and is as accurate as possible. This content should not be taken as legal advice from an attorney.
Social media platforms are already extremely popular and are only growing in popularity — 4.8 billion people use social media worldwide. Each month, people use an average of 6.6 different social networks. They also spend an average of two hours and twenty-four minutes on social media daily.
This time spent on social media means that it has a growing influence on our lives, including our mental health. The effects that social media has on mental health can be positive and negative, but ultimately vary depending on the type and amount of social media usage. We can also adjust these impacts by being more intentional and mindful of how we use social media.
Negative Effects of Social Media on Mental Health
There are many potential negative effects that social media can have on your mental health. Further, several variables can affect how much and in what way social media negatively affects your mental health, such as time spent on social media, online behaviors, and existing mental health conditions.
Social Comparison
One of the main ways that social media can negatively impact your mental health is by allowing you to more easily compare yourself to others. This can involve comparing your looks, activities, and achievements to others. If you perceive someone as being more beautiful, fun, or successful than you, it could make you feel less than by comparison. These negative comparisons can be worsened by features such as image filters that can further help portray an idealized life or body. This can harm self-esteem and general mental well-being and even contribute to depression.
Cyberbullying
Social media has spawned new types of bullying that can also follow you anywhere that you have internet access. Cyberbullying can take many forms but includes things such as:
- Sending abusive or threatening messages;
- Sharing or creating embarrassing or incriminating images;
- Sharing private information
- Sharing revenge pornography;
- Excluding people from online activities;
- Sharing evidence of exclusion from in-person activities;
- Encouraging self-harm.
Cyberbullying is particularly common among teenagers and young adults, but it can affect anyone. It can also have more significant effects on teenagers and young adults as they’re in a crucial stage of identity and cognitive development and are more susceptible to peer influence. Additionally, cyberbullying can also be part of larger harassment campaigns such as stalking.
Addictions
It’s also possible to become addicted to social media or devices such as smartphones. This is caused by the same biological mechanism as any addiction: dopamine release and development of dopamine tolerance. Dopamine is released during the activity and over time your body develops a tolerance to it, requiring greater hits of dopamine to get the same effect.
Social media is addictive for many reasons, but most notably the opportunities for entertainment, attention, and interaction — all further amplified by triggers like notification alerts. The anticipation of notification alerts and the instant feeling of reward they bring provides a rush of dopamine.
Benefits of Social Media Use for Mental Health
That said, social media can also offer many benefits for mental health, especially when it’s used moderately and responsibly. It can offer opportunities for socialization, as well as more convenient ways to access beneficial communities and organizations.
Building Support Networks
Social media can facilitate connections between people anywhere in the world and allow them to more easily access support networks. These support networks may be informal such as open forums or messaging apps or structured organizations built to offer services, such as various mental health programs. These resources can be invaluable for people who feel very isolated and are lacking real-world social support or may otherwise have limited access to in-person support.
Creating Communities
Social media can also help you start and build your own communities according to your personal needs and interests. Creating your own community can help you develop spaces that serve specific social needs and do so in a way that allows for safe expression.
It also can be an opportunity to create a somewhat private community, depending on what platform you’re using and how you set up the community. Online communities can also be used to help people find and access real-world support and services they need.
Mindful Approaches to Social Media Use
One of the best ways to cultivate a healthy relationship with social media is to be mindful of how you use it. There are a few ways that you can accomplish this, such as:
- Set limits on your daily screen time.
- Unfollow hateful or otherwise negative accounts, as well as accounts that make you feel bad.
- Actively choose positive content to follow and interact with.
- Regularly balance your screen time by spending time outdoors, engaging in hobbies, and connecting with others in person.
- Be aware of how your activities on social media are affecting you emotionally.
- Maintain active hobbies and interests.
- Don’t use social media before bed.
Giving yourself boundaries and parameters for social media use can drastically reduce negative health impacts, as well as maximize its positive effects.
Social Media and Mental Health: The Legal Implications
In some serious situations, there may be legal routes for recourse for hateful, exploitative, or dangerous online discourse and activities. Scenarios where this may be the case include:
- Harassment;
- Threats;
- Cyberstalking;
- Fraud and identity theft;
- Use of copyrighted materials;
- Exploitation;
- Access or dissemination of illegal materials.
The laws relating to such activities will vary depending on the area, so it’s important to understand which of these are illegal and under what circumstances. If you feel that you may have a case, consider consulting a legal professional to gain further guidance.