A team of experts from the Royal Society of Public Health and the Youth Health Movement (UK) has carried out a survey of 1,479 young people between 14 and 25 years of age to see the echo of popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube in anxiety, loneliness, depression, bullying, body image or fear of missing something, better known as FOMO ( fear of missing out , in English).
The survey was completed with a larger report that investigated the impact of social networks on people of that age group, the so-called ‘ digital natives’, who have never lived in a world without the internet.
The results showed that the social network Instagram was ranked as the worst social media platform for youth mental health.
Despite the negative effects, the report also explored potential benefits for teens, such as gaining a better sense of community and self-identity. Thus, YouTube was the social network with the most positive impact on young people and, as we have seen, the photo exchange platform, the most negative.
The worst social networks for mental well-being
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Instagram
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Snapchat
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Facebook
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Twitter
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Youtube
Across the five social media platforms, the biggest negative impact was around sleepiness, harassment, and ‘fear of missing something’.
The greatest positive impact revolved around the expression of one ‘s own identity and the construction of the community.
Despite the conclusions, the study has some limitations, as the researchers measured the possible positive and negative effects of the different social networks by asking young people to answer whether they felt better or worse when using them, so it cannot be said that the networks are directly responsible for the rising rates of depression and anxiety.
The authors recommend greater education in digital security and providing more help to protect the mental well-being of young people.
Reference: Royal Society for Public Health. #StatusOfMind – Social media and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. May 2017
