Effects of Social Media on the Mental Health of the Youth

EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE YOUTH
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EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE YOUTH1
Literature Review
Youth Activism through Social Media
A way by which the young population of the world connects with each other is through
the use of social media. In today’s digital era, the only form of human contact is through the use
of social media. Social media has turned out to be a major way through which the youth
campaigns for their rights. From the very popular social media campaign ‘Me Too’, this was
against the sexual assault on women to promoting the U.S. presidential candidates on social
media; the virtual world has been in the center all debates in the center of all debates (Enli,
2017). There were various social media campaigns in the United States that were in the center of
a lot of debates. There was a movement named ‘Occupy the Wall Street’ which were promoted
by innumerable internet users all across the United States (Gerbaudo, & Treré, 2015). All these
means bring about the collective sense of self among the youth of today. These social media
campaigns in a way shape up the identity of the individual. The things that they believe in and
support in the virtual world reveals their choices and preferences as an individual, these beliefs
reveal their behavioral pattern (DiGrazia et al., 2013). Although many have criticized the fact
that the activism that these young people show in the virtual world, does not translate to concrete
actions in the real world (Loader, Vromen, & Xenos, 2014).
Effect of Social Media on the Mental Health of the Individual
The use of social media not only promotes activism and starts the conversation regarding
different subjects like sexual assault and same sex marriage but also sometimes have an adverse
effect on the mental health of the youth. There are debates regarding the factor that social media
creates a negative body image in the minds of the young girls and boys (Ferguson et al., 2014).