Shasta Strong
Shasta Strong Week 1 Journal: Research Topic Selection Social media has a big impact on teenage life and can have both positive and negative effects on mental health. Positively, it gives them the opportunity to express themselves, interact with their friends, and obtain important information, such as services for mental health. Particularly for people who might feel excluded in their offline contexts, it might help them develop a feeling of identity and belonging. Active use of social media, whether for communication or creation, can promote emotional health and social development. However, there is mounting evidence that excessive or passive social media use is associated with higher rates of anxiety, sadness, low self-esteem, and sleep disturbances. Fear of missing out (FOMO), unfavorable social comparison, and even cyberbullying can result from frequent exposure to idealized pictures and the urge to be online. Adolescents’ experiences can vary depending on personal characteristics such as age, gender, and underlying mental health issues. All things considered, social media can be a useful tool, but how, when, and why it is utilized greatly affects how it affects mental health. In psychology, the research of social media’s effects on teenage mental health is crucial because it tackles a quickly changing facet of human behavior that has a direct impact on psychological development, particularly at a vulnerable stage of life. Online interactions now have a significant impact on identity formation, emotional regulation, and social connection during adolescence. Psychologists are in a unique position to investigate how adolescents’ self-concept, mood, and conduct are shaped by their continuous exposure to carefully chosen content, peer criticism, and online comparison. Additionally, this subject expands knowledge in several subfields of psychology, such as social, developmental, and clinical psychology. In addition to helping to improve theoretical frameworks like cognitive-behavioral models and ecological systems theory, it offers insights into new trends in mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, and poor self-esteem. Practically speaking, the study can guide evidence-based treatments, digital literacy initiatives, and therapeutic philosophies that are adapted to the digital world that today’s adolescents must navigate. This study closes the gap between psychological science and the everyday experiences of teenagers in a digital world by tackling a contemporary and extremely pertinent subject.