Briefly discuss how you came up with the themes.

Write a narrative of what technique/s did you

employ and how did you do it?

Before identifying themes, the very first thing I did was to denote respondents and their responses
with specific codes. For example, I denoted the first respondent’s answer to the first question with
R1A, the second respondent’s answer to the first and second questions as R2A and R2B, respectively;
and so on. To narrow down the gathered data, I arranged them according to the order of the questions
and the order of respondents – data are arranged in this manner: (i) R1A, R2A,…,R5A (ii) R1B, R2B,
…,R5B; and so on. Because the data were arranged in this manner, I was able to observe repeating
ideas among the data. Using these recurring ideas, I further narrowed down my results. I then used
cutting and sorting and took note of keywords and key phrases that seemed the most relevant for the
idea and message of the questions. I classified these according to similarities in message and
implications. I also denoted the themes I have observed with T1 for the first, T2 for the second, T3 for
the third, and so on.

Below are the themes I have formulated using the techniques mentioned:

T1 Frequency of Usage

 How often the respondents use social media

T2 State and Condition

 The states and conditions of the respondents when they use social media

T3 Efficient Usage

 The positive influences of social media to the respondents

T4 Nonfulfillment

 The negative influences of social media to the respondents

T5 Content

 A factor that contributes to states of mental well-being of the respondents

This part discusses on the data and results gathered by the researcher.

Mental well-being is about a person’s thoughts and feelings, and how he or she copes with the everyday
ups and downs of life. Mental well-being is not similar with mental health although they have direct
effects on each other (CABA, n.d.). Similarly, the perception and concept of graduating senior high school
students on mental well-being is being able to cope up and deal with normal stresses and different issues.
It is the state of being productive despite the challenges encountered. Furthermore, mental well-being to
graduating senior high school students is also the psychological and mental wellness of a person that
essentially affects our mental health and the emotional and social aspects; thus, it can be good or bad.
Provided the standard definition of mental well-being, there is a certain level of awareness in graduating
senior high school students regarding the topic.
Social media is a technology that allows and generates sharing and exchanging of opinions, ideas,
thoughts, and information through posting or placing comments. It is internet based and it gives users a
quick exchange of various contents (Dollarhide, 2020). In relation to that, results of the study indicate that
social media content is the factor that influences graduating senior high school students’ mental well-
being the most. Social media content could be of a variety of subjects such as personal information and
hobbies, documents, pictures, videos, current and local news, politics, and so much more. Moreover,
Mohsin (2020) states that the social media platform that is most widely used is Facebook. In support to
Mohsin, O’Connor (2019) shows that the average time spent by Facebook users daily is 58 minutes
compared to Twitter with an average time of just 3 minutes. These studies imply that Facebook can also
be the most influential social media platform to people’s mental well-being. Contrary to that, results of
the study indicate that Twitter brings the most influence to graduating senior high school students’ mental
well-being. R5 said, “There are a lot of content on Twitter that can deliberately make anyone feel
better such as anecdotes or art. But likewise, there can also be a lot of negativity that can circulate in
that platform such as discrimination.” This statement tells us that Twitter has a wide spectrum of
content and it can circulate on both positive and negative subjects, which in turn affects our mental
well-being in both good and bad ways. Furthermore, Twitter, unlike other social media platforms like
Snapchat and Facebook, is a platform that provides natural communication. It generates an “open
forum” type of communication, and thus, it will be very easy to have many people – even if you do
not know them personally – engage and share their opinions (Vaynerchuk, 2015). Due to the openness
of this platform, it will be very easy to acquire words of encouragement from many people, at the
same time a person could also gain a handful of bashful comments in just a short span of time.

According to social media consultant O’Connor (2019), the average time spent by people using social
media on a daily basis is 2 hours and 23 minutes. Similarly, Globalwebindex (2019) as cited in Mohsin
(2020), states that people spend an average of 3 hours daily on social networks and messaging. In contrast
to that, results of the study indicate that graduating senior high school students use social media on a
range of 5 to 12 hours a day. Compared to the statistics provided, graduating senior high school students’
frequency of social media usage exceeds the average by a huge value. This may then be a contributing
factor to the states of their mental well-being. Kanyinga and Lewis (2015) as cited in Glazzard and Stones
(n.d.), states that people who use social media for more than 2 hours a day are more likely to show poor
mental health, including psychological distress. Additionally, social media is used more often when
someone feels stressed, anxious, lonely or depressed. However, using social media on a higher frequency
increases fear of missing out (FOMO), feelings of inadequacy, dissatisfaction and isolation (Robinson &
Smith, 2020). Not being able to efficiently cope up with these feelings and not being able to work
productively then leads to a poor mental well-being. Results of the study also indicate that social media
consumes graduating senior high school students’ time. Studies have been conducted to define how
social media affects students’ time management. Students lose their time as they are absorbed by
various social media platforms. This situation is shown through the results gathered. These students
spend 5 to 12 hours a day using social media because their interests are within its parameters. Social
media also provides entertainment activities for the students. However, when the use of social media
goes out of hand, students may feel out of grip and focus (James, 2019). Difficulties in staying
focused then give effects to the overall mental well-being of the student.
Several researches suggest that social media usage affects people’s mental well-being in a negative sense.
Akin and Iskender (2011) in their study Internet Addiction and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress tells us
through different analyses that (a) internet addiction and depression, anxiety, and stress are positively
related among undergraduates and (b) depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduates were
positively predicted by internet addiction. Similarly, results of the study indicate that social media usage
among graduating senior high school students causes feelings of stress and anxiety, although symptoms of
depression were not defined. R1 said, “Yes - having to open my social media accounts wherein its
loaded with school work due to the sudden shift in online learning is way too stressful for an average
student like me. I usually get anxious just by opening my messenger due to the influx of group chats,
and same with twitter because of all the terrible news found within the site. ” This statement implies
that alongside stress and anxiety, social media can also bring feelings of inner pressure and fear. These
things are the challenges that social media imposes, and if a person is not able to face this challenge,
his or her mental well-being leans toward a low or poor state. Furthermore, social media usage gives
negative impacts to a person’s confidence and self-esteem. According to Sklarov (2018), “A
Huffington Post poll found that 60% of people using social media reported that it has impacted their
self-esteem in a negative way. They also found that 51% say social media has made them feel more
self-conscious about their appearance.” Relatively, social media usage caused feelings of insecurity
among graduating senior high school students. As mentioned earlier, social media presents diversity in
its content and it includes lifestyles and images. For instance, a person might feel insecure when he or
she sees one of her friends in one of his or her social media accounts living a wealthy life. The point
of insecurity enters when this person wishes to live a life that he or she is seeing in social media. It has
also become a way for people to share their achievements and talents, which again some social media
users wish to have or achieve as well. Additionally, Sklarov also states that we are used to seeing
virtual lives online and we think and believe that those lives are perfect, while ours is not practically
the same. This somehow implies that social media became a key for competition among people.
Having a good and healthy mental well-being means having confidence in one’s self and when social
media takes that confidence away, our mental health is again leaning towards its poor state.

Although several studies have deliberately defined the negative influence of social media to one’s
mental wellness, there are positive impacts that social media gives to one’s mental well-being. In fact,
results of the study show that social media has influenced graduating senior high school students’
mental well-being on a more positive note. According to Buechel and Berger (2017) as cited in
Bennett (2017), the study Microblogging and the Value of Undirected Communication suggests that
interactions and communication through social media can help lessen negative emotions and boost our
wellness. Relatively, results of this study tell us that the social media groups we belong to and the
interactions among these groups give a significant effect on our mental well-being. In a group where
strangers and social media users lift each other up, individuals within this group are most likely
feeling a sense of satisfaction. Moreover, interactions and exchanged information within these groups
also develop a stronger foundation of our beliefs and viewpoints. This foundation helps boost our self-
esteem and develop our purpose in life – these are some of the factors that define a good state of
mental well-being. Apart from the interactions, social media also served as an entertainment platform
and coping mechanism for graduating senior high school students. According to Gooden Center (n.d.),
social media platforms like YouTube and Tumblr have much positive effects on their users because
people can speak and open up about their shared experiences. Users are able to connect with each
other while they discuss similar experiences under significant issues like emotional and mental health.
In this sense, members and users are able to build good and healthy relationships and they are also
able to feel confident knowing that there are people who have same experiences with them; thus, their
mental well-being leans toward a good state. Other positive influences of social media to graduating
senior high school students’ mental well-being are senses of good vibes and being updated.
Supplementary to what has been discussed, results of the study show that social media contributed
positive and negative influences on graduating senior high school students’ mental well-being during
the quarantine. Students used social media to enhance their beliefs and viewpoints and to entertain
themselves despite the alarming health problem. This gave way for the students being able to cope up
and not feel stressed in the middle of a difficult time. Likewise, social media gave way for negative
influences such as stress and anxiety due to the change in learning system, and feelings of fear and
panic because of the alarming number of cases of COVID-19. These results imply that graduating
senior high school students experienced a change – whether positive or negative – in the states of their
mental well-being during the quarantine.

Generally, mental well-being is the ability to cope up and deal with the challenges that we encounter.
It is also staying focused, having confidence, building good and healthy relationships, and developing
a sense of purpose in life. The use of social media has positive and negative influences on the mental
well-being of graduating senior high school students. It has the role of leaning their mental well-being
towards either a good or poor state. Students’ state of mental well-being will depend upon the social
media content that they choose to view and the interactions they commit within social media groups.
Finally, students will be able to achieve a good state of mental well-being if they know when and how
to utilize social media in an efficient manner. Otherwise, there will be a sense of nonfulfillment,
leading them to a poor state of mental well-being.

REFERENCES

Akin, A. & Iskender, M. (2011). Internet addiction and depression, anxiety, and stress. International
Online Journal Of Educational Sciences, 3(1), 138-148. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264550590_Internet_addiction_and_depression_anxiety
_and_stress

Bennett, T. (2017, December 13). Contrary to popular belief, social media can have positive effects on
our mental health. Thriveworks. https://thriveworks.com/blog/social-media-positive-effects-
mental-health/

CABA. (n.d.). What is mental wellbeing? https://www.caba.org.uk/help-and-guides/information/what-

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Dollarhide, M.E. (2020, September 6). Social media definition. Investopedia.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-media.asp

Glazzard, J. & Stones, S. (2019). Social media and young people’s mental health. IntechOpen.
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Gooden Center. (n.d.) Can social media ever be a positive coping mechanism?
https://www.goodencenter.org/can-social-media-ever-be-a-positive-coping-mechanism/

James, C. (2019). How social media affects students time management. NewsAnyway.
https://www.newsanyway.com/2019/10/08/how-social-media-affects-students-time-management/

Mohsin, M. (2020, August 7). 10 social media statistics you need to know in 2020 [Infographic]. Oberlo.
https://www.oberlo.com.ph/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics
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Robinson, L. & Smith, M. (2020). Social media and mental health. HelpGuide.
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Sklarov, S. (2018, October 23). Social media is feeding your insecurities. The Forest Scout.
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