In today’s digitalized era, social media has become an integral part of teenage lives. Social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok provide entertaining videos, distance connection, and free self-expression. Although these platforms have a considerable amount of benefits, they do more harm than good to teenagers’ mental health.
One of the major issues of social media is its effect on the right functioning of our brain. Adolescents are the most vulnerable groups to depression and anxiety since a final formation of the brain occurs in that age. A considerable amount of teenagers in today’s world experience the feelings of being left out, because of the constant scrollings in the social media platforms. The ideal life, educational achievements, young business leaders and other videos which connect them, creates the feeling of being behind, affecting their overall well-being. Ultimately, it forms the feelings of loneliness and inadequacy, leading the way to depression and constant anxiety.
Another factor to highlight is the self-worth of teenagers. Everyday millions of t ”eenagers watch dozens of different people. A significant amount of them are videos about a luxurious life-style, beauty without imperfections, pricey clothes, and other cool things which they don’t have, lowers their self-confidence. All of these factors are the perfect way to change the mind from being yourself into the one who desperately tries to change himself under the pressure of world standards. As a result, they lose their true selves, underestimate their abilities, and live without accepting the real person inside of them.
“Social media helps to keep in touch with friends from all over the world, and gives a chance to freely express yourself”, think a considerable number of people. However, not many of them reflect on the issue of real social interaction. It creates the illusion of talking with people; it creates isolation-the inability to see true emotions of people and finally the real life interaction. In order to develop communication skills it is crucial to have face to face interaction, because online communication is superficial. Generally, social media interferes with the real process of developing skills, demotivating people to do hobbies, to spend time with friends and family outside, or just doing physical activities, causing both mental and health issues.
In conclusion, while social media helps to stay connected and freely express emotions, it creates serious mental and physical problems to teenage lives. To provide the healthy development of teenagers, society should make regulations, and provide more conditions to spend time with family and friends, strengthening the relational bonds and creating a healthy life-style to teenagers.