Research Log #1 - Solutionary Project 2020 

Date: Feb. 5, 2020

Name: Dane Hansen
Essential Question: How does depression affect society?
 
Three Points to Prove: #1: Social media is a major contributor in a rise in depression.
                                        #2: The rise of technology has led to an increase in depression and
suicide, but can also be a helpful tool to counter them.
                                        #3: By feeling a real human connection, those suffering from depression
can feel reassured.
 
Point that this Source Proves:   #1: Social media is a major contributor in a rise of
depression.
 
Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove): 

“ teenage and young adult users who spend the most time on Instagram, Facebook and other
platforms were shown to have a substantially (from 13 to 66 percent) higher rate of reported
depression than those who spent the last time.”

“an increase in depression occurred in tandem with the rise in smartphone use.”

“The less you are connected with human beings in a deep, empathic way, the less you’re really
getting the benefits of a social interaction,”

“Another theory about the increase in depression is the loss of self-esteem, especially in teenage
girls, when they compare themselves negatively with artfully curated images”

“image-driven Instagram shows up in surveys as the platform that most leads young people to
report feeling anxiety, depression and worries about body image.”

“Another possible source of depression may be what teenagers are not doing during while
they’re spending time on social media, including physical activity and things that generate a
sense of accomplishment, like learning new skills and developing talents.”

“Some of the ways in which social media use impacts mood may be indirect. For instance, one of
the most common contributors to depression in teenagers is sleep deprivation”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?): 

 
The article summarizes the findings of multiple studies and introduces multiple ideas
linking social media with the rise of depression. It provides a basic stat that connects social
media with depression saying that 13-66 percent of people who spent more time on Facebook or
Instagram had a higher chance of having depression than those who spent less time on the
platforms. However, the article acknowledges that this could be a coincidence and investigates
theories which tie social media with the rise of depression.
One of the main ideas presented in the article is that social media takes away from more
face-to-face interactions. Since majority of people connect with others electronically, it takes
away from their ability to form real, meaningful, relationships. Since there are many filters on
Instagram and other forms of social media when paired with hurtful or just fake comments, it
creates a fake/superficial environment. It’s no coincidence that with the invention of the internet,
depression rates rose. Now, with almost everyone being on social media, the real connections we
make and face-to-face conversations we have are taking a big hit. When spending time with
one’s family, kids and teens are more likely to spend most of that time on their phone. This can
lead to more feelings of isolation and loneliness. However, the article brought up a good point.
For some, social media serves as the only form of real connection that individual can attain. If
someone has no family or is isolated in normal society, social media can actually benefit them. It
can give them a chance to interact with others which will give them a feeling of connection
which everyone needs.
Other than just the feeling of being alone, social media can create other bad habits. Some
of these habits introduced by the article include less healthy activity, disrupted concentration,
and sleep deprivation. All of these are a result of spending too much time on social media. To
close the article, they provided a few solutions that parents could implement to make sure their
child doesn’t become susceptible to the influences and bad habits of social media. The main
point highlighted in this section was the idea of balance between physical activities and spending
time on a piece of technology. Overall, the article linked social media with various bad behaviors
which have been paired with depression. Couple these findings with the direct relation between
the rise of social media and increase in depression victims and we can tell that social media, in
some way, is partially responsible for the increase in depression. Whether it’s because the users
feel isolated or because they compare themselves to others on the platform, social media is
having a negative effect on people’s mental wellness. To counter this, you need to find a balance
between physical activities and time on social media.

Work Cited (correct MLA format): 

 Miller, Caroline. “Does Social Media Cause Depression?” Child Mind Institute, 18 Jan. 2020,
childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/.

This is a reputable and reliable article because, after googling the author, I found she is an
author who has written six books along with being a motivational speaker having a background
in children’s phycology.
 Student Journal 1

As a group, we collaboratively created the idea to help temporarily reduce student’s stress

and hopefully depression. We want to post funny memes that are popular between teens among

the country that many of our classmates find humorous. IF the student laughs, serotonin will be

released into the brain calming and improving their mood. We are still debating whether to create

a scavenger hunt with food at the end of the tunnel by having QR codes to scan that gives a hint

to the next meme. So far, we have created both a written proposal and proposal video. The

written proposal highlights what we hope to accomplish with our project and how we aim to get

there. Since stress has become more and more common within schools especially, our idea to

post memes around school is aimed around making students laugh. In our video, we talked about

how common depression has become in our society and how we plan to combat it with laughter

within our school.

For the project so far, Micah came up with our topic and idea. I wrote majority of the

proposal; and, after finishing the proposal, I copied most of our information on to our canvas and

designed the layout. For the video we all wrote our own parts and filmed the voiceovers

separately. Easton did the editing for that. Now, we are starting on our research logs and are each

focusing on different aspects of depression. I am focusing on factors which contribute to causing

depression which include social media and the invention of the internet and some possible results

of depression which include substance abuse and higher suicide rates. As a group, I feel like we

need to manage our time better and work as a group on more things rather than doing them

individually to have a better chance of success. Since we worked individually on the video, it

didn’t come out as well as we expected. Although our individual parts were good, we didn’t
incorporate all the components we were supposed to, and the video just didn’t flow. If we can be

productive during classes and work better as a team, we will be able to finish work at a higher

level and be more successful overall for the project.