Social media is a way for people to connect. People easily talk just by clicking a follow button. Letting people share, create, and view what is going on with who they’re connected to. Social media can cause a lot of negative and positive impacts on teenagers, and can lead to issues on how people see their physical appearance. 

 

Social media itself wasn’t meant to tear down teenagers. According to Mayo Clinic Staff, social media “helps many people stay in touch with friends or connect with new ones. And that may be more important for teenagers than other age groups. Friendships help teens feel supported and play a role in forming their identities.” 

 

Social media is a big part of teenagers’ lives, and the intentions aren’t to harm their mental health. It’s meant to bring bonds to friendships and stay in touch with your close people.

Nevertheless, social media can portray photos to be better than things actually are. As a teenager, seeing influencers can bring feelings of envy and can make someone feel worthless. An article by My Social Life states, “The ways in which these filters distort the face, positioning it into the ‘golden ratio,’ enlarging the eyes, shrinking the nose, and removing every blemish and freckle, are physically impossible. It sets a standard so high that no one can reach it no matter how hard they try, and some die trying.” These beauty filters are making an impossible standard to reach as teenagers. 

 

Some teenagers are choosing social media over sleeping at night. As a human being grows and mature, they need more sleep to be able to develop. But, more and more teens are losing sleep due to doomscrolling on the internet. Some statistics from the article, “More Than Half of U.S. Teens Are Losing Critical Sleep Due to Smartphone Use After Midnight”: 

• More than half of U.S. adolescents are losing crucial sleep to smartphone use, according to a new study
• 52.1% of the participants involved in the study used their phone between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.
• The teenagers were most likely to use social media apps at night, followed by streaming platforms and games

Losing crucial sleep as a teenager can lower performance in school, harm mental health, and can increase impulsive decisions made. To have healthy growth, teenagers need at least eight to ten hours of sleep. Social media is altering kids’ social skills, focus level, etc.

On the other side of things, social media can impact teenagers’ romantic relationships. The Pew Research Center gives more statistics on how teenagers view how social media affects their relationships: 

• 59% say social media makes them feel more connected with what is going on in their significant other’s life, although just 15% indicate that it makes them feel “a lot” more connected. About one-third (35%) of these teens say social media does not make them feel more connected with their significant other.
• 47% say social media offers a place for them to show how much they care about their significant other, with 12% feeling this way “a lot”; 45% do not feel that social media offers a venue for this type of interaction with their significant other.
• 44% say social media helps them feel emotionally closer to their significant other, with 10% feeling that way “a lot.” Half (50%) do not feel that social media offers a space to feel emotionally closer.
• 27% say social media makes them feel jealous or unsure about their relationship, with 7% feeling this way “a lot.” Roughly two-thirds (68%) do not feel jealous or unsure of their relationship due to social media.

Teenagers are split in their opinion on how much they should show on social media relating to  their romantic relationships. Some like to be more private while others enjoy sharing their relationship publicly. Issues can arise when one person misunderstands posts or likes, or how much someone posts, and it creates a problem in their relationship.

Social media brings people together by just clicking a follow button. But, with following someone can show everything they do. Seeing the things people do with their family or friends can bring the fear of missing out to teenagers. The idea of “fomo” can lead to anxiety, lack of concentration, and dependence on social media to have general satisfaction. Social media gives people fear of missing out by causing someone to believe that others are having more fun or living better lives than them.

In the end, social media isn’t entirely good nor bad. Having social media can go differently for every single teenager depending on the apps they use, how much they use it, who they talk to, etc. Navigating social media as a teenager is about setting boundaries and learning how to protect their mental health while still enjoying what social media offers.