Kids and adults use social media every day. Social media has changed the way we communicate with our friends and family. Social media can have a negative impact on your mental health. Social media is one the biggest problems with people of all ages right now. People are very addicted, and it may be hard for them to not be addicted. Here are some ways social media affects mental health.  

     One of the biggest problems with social media is that it can be very addictive. According to Jeffersonhealth.org “Social media platforms drive surges of dopamine to the brain to keep consumers coming back over and over again.” People spend hours of their day scrolling through apps like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and many other apps. They can be doing many other things like going outside or spending time with friends. They also spend a lot of time responding to messages. All these activities can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression.  

   According to Google “Another big problem with social media is that it causes so much negativity in someone’s life. Many people post hurtful comments or engage in cyber bullying. They can also spread fake rumors around the interment. These cause frustration or stress.” They could also be more distracted in school or their extra curriculars. 

   Many people compare themselves to others on social media. They usually do this because most influencers post the best things of their life which can make others feel jealous or insecure. It can also lower their self-esteem. According to ksat.com “60% of those in the study viewed a friend as having a better life because of what they posted on social media while more than 60% of social media users feel worse after finding out someone “unfriended” them online.” This shows some people are even jealous of their own friends and family because they have a better life or have more fun in their lives than them.  

    According to google again, “It is important to think about your social media use and to protect your mental health. To protect your mental health, you can start setting limits on your screen time, unfollowing the accounts that make you feel bad about yourself, or just taking a break from all social media.” If you start to feel bad about yourself while using social media, you should stop looking at what you are looking at and look at something that makes you feel happy.  

  Overall, social media has mostly a negative influence on mental health. Being aware of the negative parts of social media and taking steps to protect yourself, you can use social media in a way that makes your life in a positive way rather than a negative way that makes your life extremely hard.