Social media can have a good effect on our mental health if we use it in a different way than it is set up to be used. 

According to an article published by Our World in Data, Social media became very popular in the mid 2000s when MySpace took over the internet. It attracted many young adults because they could form connections with people across the country from their computer. 

MySpace ended up dying down, but then Facebook became very popular. According to Statista, Facebook is the largest social media platform and has 2.8 billion users world-wide. People use Facebook and other social media sites for many different reasons including sharing photos, life updates, memes, etc. 

Around when Facebook became popular, so did smartphones. These smartphones introduced the idea of having immediate internet access in your pocket. The world went crazy over this idea. Following Facebook, most social media sites became downloadable apps on smart phone devices. To this day, people spend hours on end scrolling through status updates from friends, complete strangers, their favorite celebrities and businesses they like. 

Since people spend so much time logged into their social media accounts, it has become as addictive as a drug. The common opinion is that social media has a negative impact on our mental health. Teenagers are strongly impacted by social media because their brains are still growing, and they strive for attention from those they are connected with online. While this is a popular issue with teenagers, we can see it is an issue with people of all ages.

When you post something online, it does not have to be correct. You can post anything you want on your social media as long as it follows the company’s guidelines, and it will be on the internet forever. The battle of likes, comments and views is a huge problem and can impact someone’s mental health negatively or positively. 

Social media causes the user to isolate and compare themselves to those they see online. This can lead to severe mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. According to an article from Forbes, “We fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others as we scroll through our feeds, and make judgements about how we measure up.” Comparing ourselves in a negative light can also feed into mental health issues. 

If used in a way where we stop comparing ourselves to one another, where we take advantage of the platform that social media is, society can then realize that there is a huge upside to being active on social media. I truly believe that this upside makes social media good for our mental health. The issue isn’t the platform, it is the way it is used. Social media can allow quick connections to almost anywhere in the world, this helps with school, work, fun and so much more. 

COVID-19 has led our state government and many others to mandate a socially distanced society. We are having to isolate ourselves from face-to-face contact. Social media has been a great way for people to stay connected and interact with one another. We can all share our stories and stay up to date on what is happening out in the world surrounding us. 

While social media plays a big role in one’s mental health, it is also important for spreading knowledge of mental health issues. Social media users often use their platform to share resources for mental health issues in case someone is not aware of them. Some people do not have immediate access to these resources but with social media accounts they do. 

Social media has proven to benefit us during the Black Lives Matter movement, as we can share our stories, our truths and our opinions. We have seen social media give everyone a voice and a platform to show their views and experiences. This is important. Social media directs us to the next protest, helps us come up with money to bail out our brothers and sisters who are arrested for exercising their right to protest and helps us expose police officers and government officials for the mistreatment of people. 

Social media is set up to hook the user in, it is a drug. If we learn to use it for the right reason and we learn to limit our screen time each day, social media will prove to be good for our mental health. Anything that is abused has the ability to become detrimental to ourselves and those around us. We can take a lot more out of social media than society usually admits. 

Use social media to update your family on your life, they miss you. Use social media to help one another out, spread love. Remember to log off and enjoy the people around you, these are some of the hardest times most of us have seen in our lives.