Mental Health Issues

The plethora of information and images on social media platforms makes teens more prone to
anxiety and depression. Studies have shown that teens who use social media frequently are
more likely to feel lonely and upset. The reason for this is that teens tend to compare their
lives to the "perfect" lives that others display on social media. This comparison is often
unrealistic because most people only show the best aspects of their lives on social media,
ignoring the difficulties. Such unrealistic comparisons can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction
with one's own life, which in turn can lead to a decrease in self-esteem and an increase in low
self-esteem.

Second, the phenomenon of cyberbullying on social media has a serious impact on

adolescents' mental health. Teenagers are easy targets of cyberbullying on social media and
suffer insults, ridicule, or rejection from their peers. Cyberbullying is more insidious and
persistent than traditional schoolyard bullying because it can occur at any time, in any place,
and is difficult for victims to escape. This constant psychological pressure can cause serious
damage to a teenager's mental health and may trigger anxiety, depression and even suicide.

In addition, social media use is closely linked to sleep problems. Many teens are accustomed
to browsing social media before bedtime, which not only takes up their sleep time, but also
makes it difficult to fall asleep because of the exciting or disturbing messages they see.
Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to emotional instability, lack of concentration and reduced
learning efficiency in adolescents, which in turn affects their mental health.

Lastly, social media may cause teens to develop a dependency, or even an addiction, to the
online world. This dependence makes adolescents tend to escape when facing problems in
real life and lack the ability and courage to cope with real problems. In the long run,
teenagers' mental capacity will be reduced, and they are more likely to feel helpless and
desperate when facing pressure and setbacks.

Degradation of social skills

First, over-reliance on social media for communication weakens adolescents' ability to

communicate face-to-face. Traditional interpersonal interactions require interpreting non-
verbal cues such as facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language, all of which are
important components of social skills. However, communication on social media relies
heavily on text, pictures, and videos, forms that do not provide enough nonverbal information,
leading to a decline in adolescents' real-life social skills.

Second, social media tends to lead adolescents to form shallow social relationships.
Friendships on online platforms often lack depth and authenticity because most of these
relationships are based on virtual interactions rather than real-life shared experiences and
emotional connections. Not only do such shallow social relationships fail to provide genuine
emotional support, but they may also lead to adolescents feeling isolated when facing real-life
interpersonal problems. Studies have shown that adolescents have many friends on social
media but feel lonely in real life, a phenomenon that reflects the limitations of virtual
socialization.

In addition, the immediacy of social media makes adolescents accustomed to instant

gratification and lack patience and long-term commitment. In traditional social interactions, it
takes time and effort to build and maintain relationships, which helps to develop adolescents'
patience and sense of responsibility. However, communication on social media tends to be
instantaneous; teens can send messages anytime, anywhere and expect a quick response. This
immediacy diminishes their ability to deal with complex relationships in real life and makes it
difficult for them to deal with relationships that require long-term commitment.

In addition, the anonymity and virtual nature of social media may lead teens to exhibit
different behavioral patterns online than they do in real life. In the virtual world, adolescents
may be more inclined to exhibit risky, impulsive, or even aggressive behaviors because they
feel they do not have to suffer the consequences of the real world. This change in behavioral
patterns may further impair their social skills, as they may not be able to properly assess and
control their behavior in real life.

Distortion of cultural and social values

Content on social media platforms often tends to showcase figurative and consumerist
lifestyles. Such displays not only influence adolescents' perceptions of consumption, but also
lead to the development of an excessive preoccupation with material possessions and outward
appearances. Studies have shown that adolescents who are frequently exposed to such content
are more likely to develop materialistic values, believing that an individual's value is mainly
reflected in the material wealth and external image that they possess, while neglecting the
importance of inner qualities and personal efforts.
Secondly, information on social media spreads quickly and widely, but the authenticity and
reliability of such information often cannot be effectively guaranteed. Adolescents are
exposed to a large amount of unverified information on social media, including fake news,
false historical narratives, and distorted cultural representations. Such information may be
misleading to adolescents' cognitive development and lead them to develop a false perception
of the world. Particularly on political and social issues, adolescents are easily influenced by
one-sided and extreme views, forming prejudices and narrow perspectives that make it
difficult for them to develop the ability to think independently and analyze critically.

In addition, cultural representations on social media tend to favor pop culture and
entertainment content, while neglecting the dissemination of traditional and academic culture.
This bias leads to a lack of awareness of local culture and history and a weak sense of cultural
identity among adolescents. In the long run, adolescents may gradually lose their interest in
and identification with traditional culture, leading to a break in cultural heritage and a
decrease in cultural diversity.

On social media platforms, certain undesirable and unethical behaviors are sometimes
glorified or spread in a misleading manner, and adolescents may imitate these behaviors in the
absence of judgment. For example, certain social media content may glorify violence,
bullying or irresponsible behaviors, and adolescents, subconsciously influenced, may exhibit
similar behavioral patterns in real life, leading to a diminished sense of social responsibility
and moral awareness.