How Beneficial Social Media Can Be on Mental Health

Someone holding their phone, Together Well

Has anyone ever said that they think social media is bad or that it only promotes bad habits? Or have you said that to your child or even a grandchild? Well you’re not fully wrong when talking or thinking about social media, there are bad parts of it but along with that there is just as much good. Social Media can have many benefits especially towards mental health. Though those benefits are not as actively talked about as all the disadvantages that social media gives to mental health happen to be. There can be many benefits and great things about social media that could help with mental health or make you feel better.

Since there are so many ways of making your own experience and curating social media for yourself and your children. But the main ways of how it is beneficial and how to curate those experiences are included in this article. 

Starting with how it is possible to get to know people more than it would be possible by going outside though yes it is possible to meet new people everyday but it is different with social media. You can be able to consistently talk to new people without needing to travel the world. It could be possible to keep connecting with those people instead of just passing them on the street and saying hi. With social media it would even be possible to interact with people across the globe and continuously talk to them.

Even if you don’t know how to talk to people online or in person that would be okay too. While using social media you can start conversations or say something to people without being scared of what you are doing in person. In a way it can be a confidence booster because while using social media it is possible to get more used to talking to people so then you can be less scared to actually interact with people. 

With social media it would also be possible to talk to people who are long distance and have not seen each other in a while. Or find someone who you have known before and just found them again. In general it is easier to connect to family members or friends since sometimes you cannot see them due to any circumstances. 

Though social media has lots to do with relationships there is so much more that social media does. With it people would be able to learn about new things and be able to teach others something that they may not have known. According to the National Library of Medicine, “The positive impacts of social media are attributed to increased access to social capital and useful information that present various easy modes of social support in a virtual world” so by using social media you can gain new insights to the world than you would have with no social media.

The insights could be a multitude of things, especially information regarding mental health. But it can also show different histories throughout the world. Since history is normally taught throughout schools it does not always show everything. Social media helps to give those other views of history and shows what is happening in different countries. All of this is incredibly important and can be shown from the different social media platforms.

These platforms can also become safe places people would be able to go to whenever needed. If they need just a break or if they need more reassurance and they cannot get it in real life they could use social media. Which is where and how curating your social media experience could be necessary.

With curating platforms of social media for yourself there are simply so many things that are possible. Sometimes it can be as simple as to block accounts that you don’t want to see or mute them or even blocking and muting words or notifications that could harm yourself. Follow people who post things that are related to your own hobbies and likes. Also don’t follow people who don’t post things you enjoy or who only post harmful things. It is even possible to limit the amount of time on apps or social media and be able to go out and do something else.

Many things can be done to change your experience of social media. It also depends on the app or platform which is used. Since they all have something different that they do when it comes to making your experience on the internet the best it can be.

In general, social media can have so many benefits. But it also depends on how people make their time on them. So, it is best to curate your social media to reflect on what it is you would want to see or watch. Although there happens to be some drawbacks to social media and mental health.

How social media affects mental health is still under research especially with how it positively affects mental health. There happens to not be a lot of research on how it negatively affects mental health. Here in this section of this journal by the National Library of Medicine it says, “A recently proposed multidimensional model of social media use (MMSMU) explains the role of social media in relation to both beneficial and adverse effects on youth mental health but emphasizes the need for furthering research into its complex psychological implications.” It exactly tells how there still needs to be research done with social media and how it affects the mind.

Further onto the drawbacks of social media, it can badly affect mental illnesses or make them progressively worse. In this article on Help Guide it talks about it, “The more you prioritize social media interaction over in-person relationships, the more you’re at risk for developing or exacerbating mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.” Social media can definitely worsen already predisposed mental illnesses people may have. Even if you did not think you had anxiety or depression it can make symptoms way worse than they could have been.

Though this article also speaks on how if you only prioritize social media over in-person relationships it can also affect you. Which contradicts how you can find new people especially if you're not confident but while doing that it could also cause harm. Social Media should not be the dominating way you interact with people otherwise it can harm mental health.

Along with that social media could make people feel isolated which would further along symptoms of depression and anxiety. It would also be easier that people would be affected by things like bullying. Overall, it can really affect how you see yourself and everyone around you. Social media can harm the perspectives that you have for the world.  

The internet could also easily spread misinformation as well so it can affect what you could learn online. Which can also negatively affect mental health but also it can worsen stigmas and hate towards people. Social Media does not help with that because so many people spread things by retweeting or posting something they may think as fact or what their own personal beliefs are on a topic. It can be so easy for anyone to take advantage of the fact that they are behind a screen instead of face to face. That means it can make your bad day even worse or harm your mental health that has already been affected from all the negativity. 

When it comes down to social media there are benefits when it comes to mental health and how it can be positively affected. But there are also so many ways in which social media can have drawbacks with mental health. It depends on how you curate your experiences on the internet and what you decide on what you want to see on these social media platforms. It all depends on what you want to see and it should only depend on you to make changes that would make you feel safe on the internet. But also how it would affect your mental health in either good or bad ways.

Just find how you want everything to be like and go with that. Find the positivity where you want to and go to it.