Script Mental Health concerns and Social Media
This is our position statement project and this project is just discussing our controversy which relates to social media correlating to mental health and we will be discussing how this is still a current issue. We think this is important because you hear people talk about social media all of the time. Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? A lot of adults and people from older generations have negative opinions about it. A lot of people in the younger generations defend it so we want to point out how it affects mental health and how it affects all groups of people, and not just the teenagers who are on social media everyday. First we are going to talk about why this is controversial. I think social media is controversial because it puts a lot of bad ideals into our mind. We see a lot of things that are unrealistic such as body standards. An article titled Sex Roles by R.M. Perloff, claims that “women who frequent the sites have higher levels of eating disorders and body image concerns” so I think that that is an example of why it is a controversy. I agree. I think it is also controversial because in a lot of aspects social media can be seen as a good thing. You get to share about your life, your friends, your family. They all get to see what you’re doing whether you live in the same city or halfway across the world, they get to keep up with your life. In a lot of ways this is a positive thing about social media and probably the reason a lot of people like it but at the same time I think social media has grown to be something where people only post the best parts of themselves like a picture they look the absolute best in, the video that looks like they’re having the most fun in the world, and all these things. I think that, like you said with the eating disorder thing, a lot of girls look at pictures and they’re like “Oh this girl looks so skinny, she looks so good, she looks tan, she looks this, she looks that” and then they think why don’t I look like this, she looks like this all the time why don’t I look like this. The reality is that she doesn’t look like this all the time, she just chose that picture to show the world and so I think it can affect people negatively in that way. I also think that, kind of adding on, that comparison is really heightened when it comes to social media. Not just body images but jobs and the way their livelihood is. Some people can be more successful than others and they see that through businesses and through social media which can really affect someone’s mental health by comparing themselves. They will think “Oh I’m not there yet, I’m 23, why am I not in the same position as this other 23 year old?” I think that is how it affects older people because you are always somehow trying to catch up or trying to be the most successful as you can because I feel like that is what a lot of the standards are today are to always be the most successful. I feel like that is what a lot of social media pushes, to be the most successful, to be the best version of yourself and sometimes that is just not possible. What steps can we as social media users take to make social media a safer and friendly place for its users? I feel like that is a hard topic because a lot of social media is a job. A lot of people use that to get money, some people enjoy living that kind of lifestyle. For them they have to quote on quote post whatever’s best, like when they look the best, when they’re living their best life so people can follow them. I feel like that’s harder when it comes to that concept. To present better mental health I feel like the only solution is to post more about how not everything is real ,that some things are fake, that social media isn’t the truth, and that it’s okay to be different and it’s okay to not always be in your best place in life.
When talking about mental health concerns and social media usage there are many potential steps users can take so the effects will not be as detrimental. One way to fix the concern of social media usage is honestly having face to face conversations with one another. It is so easy and convenient to get on your phone and text your loved ones and friends but that is not building heart to heart relationships, we are humans we need interactions that grow one another. Instead of getting on social media and communicating via text or comments, how about making a plan to visit with someone or get lunch. “Focus on your real friends and maintaining connections, versus voyeurism which can increase feelings of loneliness and inadequacy” (No author 2023). Another potential step is making social media a supportive platform for all users no matter what they look like or who they are. Too often people use social media as a way to hate on others because they have such low self esteem. Even on tik tok people will go out of their way to make fake accounts and hide behind a screen making hateful comments to people they do not even know. The world and even social media platforms need more positivity and awareness instead of spreading so much hate. What has worked for me and so many other people that I know was setting app time limits on your phone and turning on do not disturb. So you do not waste so much time on social media platforms. Too often you start comparing yourself to others and their lives and asking yourself why do I not look like her or why do I not get to go on those extravagant vacations. I feel that this has happened to everyone at some point in time and it honestly makes you feel unworthy. You would not believe the sense of freedom you get when turning off notifications. “One of the best things you can do for yourself is paying attention to how you feel viewing things on social platforms” (Kecmanovic, 2019). Social media platforms can be very biased and have ways to edit your photos to look tan and photoshopping to edit the way your body looks. This is definitely an issue within the younger generation because they look at these models wearing so much makeup and they believe to fit in they need to do the same. Comparison plays a huge role in our generation and it has also affected the way men view themselves as not strong enough or do not look like certain body builders. Girls are so easy to pay attention to what others are wearing or how there hair or makeup looks and men on the other hand could care less about all that and I feel like it is easier for them because they honestly do not care and i believe we as girls put to much thought into ourselves where it really makes a difference in how we feel. We as all girls believe social media definitely has more of an effect on females than males in the sense of comparison. In conclusion social media has an impact on mental health, but if we put more restrictions on it like getting off your phone, making it a more positive place for all and just living in the present enjoying life would substantially help the issue. Getting rid of social media altogether would not be good because it has positive impacts as well. Normalizing more positive comments and positivity can resolve the underlying issues.
Works Cited
Jelena Kecmanovic. “6 Ways to Protect Your Mental Health from Social Media’s Dangers.” The
Conversation, 28 May 2019,
Perloff, R.M. Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical
Perspectives and an Agenda for Research. Sex Roles 71, 363–377 (2014).
“Tips for Using Social Media for Mental Well-Being.” Psychiatry.Org - 7 Tips for Using Social
Media for Mental Well-Being, 3 Feb. 2023,
www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/7-tips-for-social-media-for-mental-well-being.
Authors note:
We decided to head into the direction of social media and its connection to mental health because it is a prominent topic in today’s society. Collectively we agreed that social media is a large factor in many people's lives, it has become incorporated into everyday life. So much so, that we depend on social media and its advantages, even so, there are negative consequences that seem to be ignored. As a group we highlighted how much social media has affected the younger generations with unrealistic expectations. Though many can argue that social media is an extension of technology which has aided in many people's lives, this does not exclude the fact that social media is also the reason for many mental health issues. As a group we discussed how by allowing young kids to utilize social media at such a young age, it normalizes this idea that social media is a necessary part of society as well as socialization. This factor then affects the way many young adults develop and how they view themselves. As we are a group of girls we also discussed how it affects all of us, especially with body image. Social media sets an impossible standard, which only further hurts the mental health of many girls.
We decided to present our “Position Statement Project” through a podcast because it allows for all our opinions and how we were presented into the world of technology be portrayed. We each experienced something different but still fairly similar which only proves our point. We agreed there have been negative factors to social media which caused ourselves to think a certain way. Which for many teens is hard to get past. When we presented in the podcast, we agreed upon just expressing ourselves to make it the most genuine as possible. This topic is a real issue that is relevant in today's time and will be relevant in the future as well. One thing we did plan was that we would all go around and make sure each of us got our time. This topic collectively affected us in different ways but we each have educated ourselves to understand the reality, which is that social media is not real. "
