Exploratory Essay Final Draft - Aidan Ellis

The idea that social media is making us miserable is not far-fetched, however the
actual practice of believing in such things is not common. Social media can influence
people in ways that they do not expect whether it be daily life or larger life choices. Some
people tend to let social media influence their entire life, whether they are the
‘influencers’ or everyone else, they can end up having their lives revolve around social
media. The belief that someone else has it better than you on the basis based on their
amount of internet friends or followers can very easily negatively impact mental health. I
personally find the effect that social media has on mental health interesting as I tend not
to use social media or ignore it entirely for the most part, possibly due to these reasons.
Social media can influence people in ways that they might not have thought about
before. The idea that social media brings us together is understandable and somewhat
true, however it usually means the opposite. For example, instagram is marketed as a
lifestyle website. Someone may see a picture that someone else posts to show off or brag
about their ‘perfect life’ and everyone who sees that will compare themselves to it. Along
with instagram, facebook is a popular social media website that can be used to show
someone else’s perfect or extravagant lifestyle; or people might see a fake news article
which could bring unnecessary stress from a false story. Markham Heid in his article You
asked: Is Social Media Making Me Miserable? Social media platforms like instagram and
facebook have been strongly linked to anxiety and stress, to the point that quitting social
media has been shown to improve mood. It has also been shown that spending time on
multiple social medias can be especially problematic. That being said, social media taken
within moderation can be alright.

Spending time on a phone seeing nothing but the perfectly framed and edited
version of someone else’s life could lead people to believe that they are not as good as
that person. Seeing this and believing that can greatly affect mental health negatively.
Seeing the best version of someone else’s life is all social media seems to be used for
bragging or actively attacking others online. Along with attacking others directly,
someone could attack others indirectly by putting something showing only the best part
of their life so that others will compare themselves to it. Heid Stated that Adolescents
have been shown to be more affected by social media overload in the article You asked:
Is Social Media Making Me Miserable?. Someone can be imprinted with one idea while
they were young and it can influence their decisions for the rest of their life.
The fact of the matter is that if someone is growing up and spending all of their
time on social media then they are experiencing, in some cases, some very negative
undertones; and for a teenager or younger that is very harmful to their self image and
their mental health. As the source states, “a 10-year-old or 12-year-old probably has
healthier things to do with his time than stare at a screen” showing someone else’s
‘perfect’ life. Social media overload is bad but moderating social media use and intake
can be beneficial in the sense that some social media is good social media. If you can
ignore the negative aspects of social media and focus on the good, social media can be
used as a tool to connect with friends or as a means of communication. The defense for
most social media is that it is used as a tool for connecting with people whether be it
personal or professional.
In the end social media can have a very negative effect on someone’s life or it can
do a little good. From a personal view, social media does more bad than good, along with
social media overload being easy to reach with little effort. The influence of social media
on people’s lives can be harmful to their social life or their mental state. Social media can
be harmful just from a personal health standpoint, Someone who is more anxious tends to
use social media more which only serves to cause more anxiety and negative
comparisons of themselves with other people. After all this, people still feel the need to
use social media almost constantly, not only creating, but also feeding into an insecurity
of most people no matter the age. The belief that social media impacts us in a negative
way is not uncommon, so why do people still cling to social media the way they do?
I hope to find a source showcasing the human need for companionship that makes people
hold onto social media as a whole despite all of the terrible things that you can find on
any given social media.

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The idea that social media is making us miserable is not far-fetched, however the

within moderation can be alright.

any given social media.

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