Social Media: Effects on the Mental Health of

Teenagers
Marc Gonzalez

INTRODUCTION

As my next venture in my academic research, I hope to evaluate the effects of technology on

society, specifically adolescents, but I’m in need of funding to make this research possible. In

this research, I plan to investigate the link between the use of social media amongst teenagers,

and mental health conditions such as depression. I have formulated the following research

question as a guideline in this investigation: Does the frequent use of social media cause mental

health issues, such as depression, amongst teenagers? This topic is sociologically interesting

because it helps us to understand how a huge aspect of our everyday lives, something that is

present in some form in almost everything we do, influences our lives. Nowadays, we are

surrounded by technology in almost every place that we go. It is very important for us to know

how it truly affects our actions, emotions, and thoughts. Many technologies such as phones,

computers and video games (those technologies which are the most prominent in the everyday

lives of teenagers) have been criticized as of late. The possible negative effects of technology on

our health, especially the health of youth and adolescents, has been a hot topic in the media.

Investigating the truth behind these claims may help us to prevent the consequences and may

also lead to improvements in technology that may eliminate these risks.

BACKGROUND
Many teenagers struggle with mental health issues, lack of confidence, and social challenges.

Perhaps social media may play a role in the cause of these issues, or their intensity amongst

teenagers. Over the last decade or so, the presence of technology in the lives of teenagers has

significantly increased. Similarly, the presence of mental health issues amongst the teenage/

adolescent population has increased as well. To date, there have been several different studies

which have explored the influence of social media platforms on the mental health of teenagers.

Additionally, there have been several studies that have investigated the effects of other possible

causes of mental health conditions, such as status anxiety, and lack of time on adults. These

studies are useful references for the possible results we may find on teenagers but there is a

possibility that the results may differ.

A previous study that investigated the effects of Instagram on the mental health of

teenagers found the social media platform to have some influence on mental health conditions.

The study utilized two different time periods, those of which were 7 months apart, with a total of

1,840 participants filling out questionnaires. The study came to find that those teenagers who

claimed to be browsing on Instagram in the first round of the study, were found to have a greater

depressed mood in the second round. While the study also investigated the influence of posting

and liking on Instagram as an influence on mental health conditions, the only action on

Instagram found to have an influence on teenage depression was that of browsing. The results of

the study state “ in line with our expectations, Instagram browsing is related to increases in

adolescents’ depressed mood.” The study also suggested that this depressed mood may be due to

a large number of strangers that adolescents follow on the site (Frison 2017:605-606).
 Several other studies have been conducted on adults, on possible causes of mental health

issues, such as depression, which may be presented on social media platforms. Although the

results of these studies pertain to adults, we can determine similar influences in the lives of

teenagers to those which cause mental health issues for adults. One study by Richard Layte

suggested that status anxiety, or the fear of being lower down on the social hierarchy compared

to others, is one cause of mental health issues amongst adults (Layte 2011). In relation to status

anxiety, another study found that people were less happy in a society with “uneven income

distribution,” and other financial inequalities (Delhey 2014:157) These influences on mental

health issues may also be present in social media due to the tendency for many to show off, or

brag about the materialistic things they have.

While the studies mentioned either investigate one popular social media platform or

possible causes of depression that may be present on social media platforms, my investigation

aims at looking into these causes on all popular forms of social media amongst teenagers.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Socialization

Socialization is one concept that will help guide my study into the relationship between the use

of social media platforms and mental health issues amongst teenagers. Socialization is the

process of adopting the behaviors, meanings, and responses of a social group into which a person

has entered (Becker 1953). Socialization will help to guide the study because this sociological

theory provides reasoning for possible results to the study. Social media platforms may

contribute to the cause of mental health issues due to their tendency to reinforce differences in

socialization by pointing out differences in accepted behaviors. When teenagers are exposed to

behaviors, meanings, and responses which they are unfamiliar with, but seem to be accepted by
the majority, the possibility for them to become depressed increases. Similarly, when teenagers

feel as if they don’t belong in a group, the possibility that they become depressed is much greater

due to the exclusion they experience from what may be seen as normal amongst others.

Socialization becomes an even more likely cause of depression when teenagers feel as if they

don’t identify with the behaviors, meanings, and responses of their friends (Becker 1953).

Status Inequality

Status inequality is another sociological concept that may help to guide this study. Status, or the

“social estimation of honor,” may be another influence of mental health issues on teenagers

through social media. Status inequality is present on social media, in the most common form

when common people and celebrities alike display their materialistic property on social media.

This causes feelings of inferiority amongst those who are unable to afford an equal standard of

living, especially amongst teenagers. When teenagers are exposed to celebrities’ luxury homes

and cars via social media platforms or the extravagant vacations that they experience, their

jealousy causes them to experience ‘FOMO,” or the fear of missing out. Similar feelings can

certainly be caused by friends of higher status as well. When teenagers compare their lives to

those of their friends who are more fortunate, and thus able to afford materialistic items, those

who cannot afford them may become depressed. Additionally, due to the idea that status is

marked by a certain lifestyle or certain patterns of consumption, those who don’t seem to adhere

to that lifestyle on their social media page are seen as inferior (Weber 1922/1946).

Communist Manifesto: Class Opposition

Marx’s Communist Manifesto is an additional concept that may guide this study. The

Communist manifesto states that classes are opposed to each other. Opposition of classes is

mainly caused by their differences in morals, values, and patterns of behaviors. This concept will
be a good reference for the investigation into social media’s influence on the mental health of

teenagers because of the huge role which the display of differences in class has on social media.

Throughout the study, we can use this concept to help us in evaluating the emotions which the

differences in social class may intrigue and their contributions to mental health disorders such as

depression (Marx 1848/1978).

METHODS

To answer the question this study is centered around, I will be using a survey. I believe this will

be a good method to use because it will allow me to collect lots of data quickly. Besides the

quick and easy collection of data, another advantage of a survey is its ability to collect data on

people’s behaviors. Other important advantages of surveys include anonymity, which helps to

ensure the validity of the data, easily comparable results, their affordability, and the fact that they

are more easily correctable than other forms of data collection commonly used for studies

(Schuman 2002).

In using a survey as your investigative method, it is important to have a representative

sample. In this investigation into the influence of social media platforms on the mental health of

teenagers, the sample, or the group of people which I will survey, will be made up of about 1,000

teenagers ranging from ages 13 to 18. The survey will ask them the following questions:

- How old are you?

- Are you a male or female?

- About how often do you use social media platforms? (# of hours per day)

- Please list all forms of social media which you use.

- Do you follow a lot of celebrities/ social media influencers?

- How do you feel when you see celebrities display their wealth on social media?
 - Have you ever worried about the number of likes on a post?

- Which of the following would you say you do most often on social media? Posting,

browsing, or liking?

- How often do you post on social media?

- Which social media platform do you use the most?

- What is the main purpose for which you use social media?

- How often do you experience feelings of depression?

- Have you ever noticed negative effects on your mood due to social media? If so, please

list these effects.

This survey will be conducted in both public and private universities across the nation, as well as

within public and private high schools and middle schools. These questions will allow for the

answers received from the participants to be split up by age and gender. Similarly, the results can

be further split up into those who are avid users of social media and those who barely use or do

not use social media at all. Once these groups have been established, we can analyze the

responses to the survey questions that evaluate possible causes of depression to examine the

emotions of those teenagers who use social media platforms, compared to those who do not. This

will also allow us to evaluate the different possible causes of depression present on social media

to determine which have the most influence, if any, on the mental health of teenagers. These

questions may also help to discover different factors that may influence mental health issues

amongst teenagers such as a specific platform that may have a greater influence, the influence of

celebrities on social media, the teen’s social media use patterns (posting, liking, and browsing),

and much more.

 I believe that not only the use of a survey for this study but the specific questions I have

formulated will be an effective method to evaluate the effects of the use of social media on the

mental health of teenagers. In the case of this study, the use of a survey has many benefits aside

from those general benefits of surveys which I’ve previously mentioned. This survey,

specifically, will allow me to approach the findings of the study in many ways to analyze the

results from a number of different standpoints. A survey also seems like the most realistic way to

collect the amount of data necessary to conduct this study as there will be an overwhelming

amount of data that goes into evaluating the research question.

PROJECTED FINDINGS

I believe the results of this study will find that social media certainly does have a negative

influence on the mental health of teenagers. Based on a previously conducted study on the

influence of Instagram on the mental health of teenagers, which I have previously mentioned, I

believe the results will be similar across all social media platforms. This study found that

Instagram did play a role in the influence of mental health conditions such as depression on teens

who used the social media platform (Frison 2017:605-606). Upon further investigation, I believe

my study will conclude that status inequality/ anxiety, and the lack of time due to

responsibilities, are two very big influences on the declining mental health of many teens on

social media. I believe these assumptions would be found as results of the study due to the

previous studies which I have referenced about the effects of status inequality/ anxiety, and lack

of time on adults. Although these studies had no relation to social media and were conducted on

adults, they are good sources of reference as we can connect them to possible obstacles that

teenagers may face in their lives, which prevent them from living the same lifestyles which

celebrities display on social media. Although it is possible that the results may differ due to age
differences, and other differences in the details of the studies, I suspect that the influences of

depression on teenagers and adults will be the same, and if not very similar, whether they’re

presented on social media or in person like the studies investigated (Layte 2011, Schieman

2009). Additionally, the concept of status presented through Marx’s Communist Manifesto

provides further support for the possible results this study may reveal. Due to the frequent

display of individual class on social media and the idea that differing classes oppose one another,

I can infer that the ideas presented in the Communist Manifesto will play a role in social media’s

cause of mental health conditions on teenagers and adolescence (Marx 1848/1978).

CONCLUSION

After hearing the future plans and goals I have for my next research venture, I hope you are

intrigued to grant me the funds to make this study possible. Social media plays such a prominent

role in the lives of so many people worldwide, especially teenagers nowadays. The investigation

into the health effects of these social media platforms is necessary to assess the possible

negative, and less obvious, impacts which they may be causing. As technology advances and

new forms of social media emerge, it is crucial for us to have an understanding of the

consequences of these sites so we can work to prevent them in the future.

Work Cited

Becker, Howard S. 1953. “Becoming a Marihuana User.” American Journal of Sociology,

59(3):235-242
Delhey, Jan., Georgi Dragolov. 2014. “Why Inequality Makes Europeans Less Happy: The Role
of Distrust, Status Anxiety and Perceived Conflict.” European Sociological Review 30 (2) 151-
165
Frison, Eline. 2017. “Browsing, Posting and Liking on Instagram: The Reciprocal Relationships
Between Different Types of Instagram Use and Adolescents’ Depressed Mood.”
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 20 (10) 603-609
Layte, Richard. 2011. “The Association Between Income Inequality and Mental Health: Testing
Status Anxiety, Social Capital and Neo-Materialist Explanations.” European Sociological
Review 28 (4) 498-511
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. 1848/1978. “Manifesto of the Communist Party.” Pp. 473-500
in The Marx-Engels Reader, Second Edition. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York: W. W.
Norton.
Schieman, Scott., Paul Glavin, Melissa A. Milkie. 2009. “When Work Interferes With Life:
Work-Nonwork Interference and the Influence of Work-Related Demands and Resources.”
American Sociological Review 74 (6) 966-988
Schuman, Howard. 2002. “Sense and Nonsense about Surveys.” Contexts,1(3):40-47
Weber, Max. 1922/1946. “Class, Status, Party.” Pp. 180-195 in From Max Weber: Essays in
Sociology. Edited by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University Press