Topic: Effects of Social Media on Public Health

Research Purpose: To inform the reader the possible risks of using social media
Main Research Question: How do people perceive the changes brought about by social
media in their lives?

Social Media and Society’s Health

According to Internet World Stats, about 54% of the world population has access to
the internet, meaning almost 4.2 billion internet users in 2017. One of the biggest segments of
the Internet, Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube has also recently begun
their rise in prominence. A decade ago, these sites were only just starting to be known within
the internet communities; whereas today, it’s nearly impossible to find a news site which
doesn’t have a “share on social media” button. The likes of Facebook and Google have also
integrated themselves into many other smaller by virtue of account-linking. At this point,
social media is nearly unavoidable. But this bears the question, should we be concerned by its
integration into our lives? With the ubiquity of the Internet, social media has entered the
cycle of people’s lives and has brought about changes in both mental health and public
knowledge on health.

Social media has long been associated with mental health issues, as many studies have
found in the past. However, as stated by Dr, Igor Pantic, “Although several studies have
made the connection between computer-mediated communication and signs and symptoms of
depression, this issue remains controversial in current psychiatry research” (652-657). While
the general consensus on the effect of social media on mental health may not be clear cut,
many connections have been made for both its hindrance and benefit to mental issues.

For example, according to Woods and Scott, social media use at night was found to
contribute to levels of anxiety and low self-esteem as well as poorer sleep quality (47). This
anxiety was most likely caused by a “Perceived Social Isolation” which was found among
young adults in a study conducted by Primack et al. (5). This feeling of lacking social
belonging could eventually lead to actually isolating oneself from others. Concurrently, sleep
quality is also disrupted due to the fact that social media use is common during the night,
where nowadays the youth would be on social media rather than sleeping (Woods Scott, 46).
That is social media use eats up much time which could be spent otherwise on addressing
basic needs, such as sleep. Using social media in this time frame disrupts the normal sleep
cycle, which is critical to development especially among youths. Furthermore, this disruption
could spill to being tired during the day, leading to decreased performance in work or school.
As it is, social media is already commonly viewed as mindless, especially by older
generations. It often receives criticism for its watered-down social interaction, with many
people pining for the “good ol’ days” of face-to-face conversations.

On the other hand, despite being linked to negatively affecting mental health, social
media was also found to be both an outlet and a useful detector of mental issues. According
to Lachmar et al., the use of Twitter allowed users with depression to express themselves and
remove a long-standing stigma surrounding the discussion of mental health. The users under
study used social media as an outlet of expression which is beneficial to improving one’s
mental state. Furthermore, with mental health being somewhat of a taboo topic to discuss,
using social media may be one of the only ways some people can talk about their issues. In
addition, social media allows people facing mental issues find people who are in similar
circumstances or who are willing to give them support. Next, abnormal behavior on social
media could be used to detect users who may be experiencing mental health issues before a
proper diagnosis can be made. This pseudo-“early warning system” could help catch people
who aren’t able to seek proper medical attention for their mental issues. Due to the
aforementioned taboo of mental health, not everyone who needs the help can actually seek it
out. Although in certain cases, the mental issue itself is what prevents people from seeking
help because they aren’t able to recognize their mental state.

Aside from the direct effects it has on our mental health, an equally important aspect
that social media has changed has been the propagation of information. Evidently, how the
internet and especially social media have connected us has also allowed information between
people to be exchanged much faster than ever before. However, what must be taken into
account is whether this information is trustworthy and reliable. This is important, especially
when it comes to information about health, which is prevalent among people who have
chronic conditions or who can’t afford the costs of professional consultations (Bundorf et al.).
In this regard, information on the Internet can be trusted, depending on how it’s utilized by
groups and organizations.

To illustrate, cardiac patients were found to use social media in support groups where
peer support and expert involvement helped improve secondary prevention and rehabilitation.
(Partridge et al., Abstract) In this case, social media was used to propagate support
information and advisories from professionals, allowing users with cardiac issues to acquire
reliable and useful information. Users were able to share their own experiences and learn
from one another’s experience with cardiac disease. To ensure that these groups would be
reliable, Proper moderation of these groups allowed only well-informed information to be
posted, whether from second-hand advice from professionals or directly from the experts
themselves (Partridge et al.). This is a case wherein properly educated and sourced
information was able to be disseminated among users of social media.

On the other hand, the quick spread of information may end up being a hindrance,
such as in the case of the anti-vaccination movement. That is, the anti-vaccination movement,
despite starting from a rumor, has spread its influence through social media channels
(Wilson, Keelan). This belief can be dangerous, as many of the people who participate in the
movement are parents who choose not to vaccinate their children when they could be
vulnerable to these diseases. This is due to the fact that social media has created a quasi-
“echo chamber” as these like-minded users only have civil discussion with those who agree
with them and give very little time to those who refute their ideas (Wilson, Keelan). This lack
of open discussion makes it difficult for misinformation to be refuted in these communities.
In a similar case, pro-anorexia was found to be favored in YouTube videos regarding the
topic. Among a sample of anorexia related YouTube videos, while being a minority, the
higher rated videos were those that were pro-anorexia (Syed-Abdul et al.). The reason for this
could be that users who share this view only watch and like videos which support their ideas.
With many of the viewers of these misleading videos being minors, precautions must be
taken to assure that they can discern which videos can be trusted (Syed-Abdul et al.).

On the whole, the changes that social media has brought to our lives shouldn’t be
ignored. Social media, while it can be beneficial, still poses a risk to certain people. These
risks, however, can be mitigated by proper safety precautions (Richards et al. 1155). Since
social media is here to stay, we should always stay aware of the fact that it can affect our
mental health and the spread of health information. Social media and the Internet as a whole
is not a complete danger to everyone, but proper precaution and mindful use are a great help
to utilizing the Internet to its fullest potential.

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 WORKS CITED:
Pantic, Igor. “Online Social Networking and Mental Health.” Cyberpsychology,
Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 17, no. 10, 1 Oct. 2014, pp. 652–657.,
doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0070.
Woods, Heather Cleland, and Holly Scott. “#Sleepyteens: Social Media Use in
Adolescence Is Associated with Poor Sleep Quality, Anxiety, Depression and Low Self-
Esteem.” Journal of Adolescence, vol. 51, Aug. 2016, pp. 41–49.,
doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.05.008.
Syed-Abdul, Shabbir, et al. “Misleading Health-Related Information Promoted
Through Video-Based Social Media: Anorexia on YouTube.” Journal of Medical Internet
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Medical Internet Research, vol. 15, no. 5, 28 May 2013, doi:10.2196/jmir.2409.
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