Abstract

The adoption of social media has increased exponentially in recent years while both the popularity

and the readership of legacy media such as television and newspapers have declined significantly.

According to Olorunnisola and Douai (2013, p. 18), the consumption of television media has

declined by as much as 6%, while the readership of print newspapers has declined by 25.6% over

the last decade. An abounding 90% of teenagers and adolescents in developed countries have at

least one active social media account. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate whether this

shift in media trends has any impact or effect on the mental health of users. The study also sought

to find out whether demographic factors such as age, gender and sexual orientation have any

bearing on the variation of the effects or impact of social media on mental health. Lastly, the aim

of the study was also to investigate ways that social media can be used ethically to mitigate its

negative effects or impacts on mental health. A qualitative metasynthesis research approach was

preferred because the study aimed to identify the effects, beliefs or norms underlying a given social

problem (Smith, 2015, p. 3). In addition to this, Lachal et al. (2017, p. 6) stated that this design is

usually preferred because it provides an ideal balance between a rigorously scientific approach, an

objective framework and necessary input from the researcher's subjective views when answering

research questions. The findings of the study showed that the problematic use of social media is

associated with significant mental health disorders such as addiction, anxiety, feelings of

inferiority, decrease in sense of belonging, loneliness, low self-esteem, eating disorders, insomnia,

emotional deregulation and depression. Moreover, the study was also interested in finding out

whether some of the major mental health disorders that are induced by social media have a

comorbid relationship. In addition to this, the study wanted to investigate whether there was any

variation in the results based on the platform because consumers prefer certain. Dhir et al. (2018,
p. 143) also highlighted an interesting relationship when they pointed out that the consumption of

social media content compulsively triggered social media fatigue, which later results in elevated

anxiety and depression. The comorbid or cyclic effects are harmful to the affective well-being of

an individual because they worsen already existing or new mental health disorders. The use of

social media might worsen existing conditions such as anxiety or depression, which in turn induces

compulsive social media use leading to more anxiety and depression. These findings have

significant implications on the users of social media, policymakers and other researchers. In the

future, more resources should be allocated to studying and clarifying the association between

social media and the prevalence of mental health disorders. Additionally, this further research

should also focus on identifying ways that social media can be used to mitigate or predict the

prevalence of mental health disorders through users’ posts. It is important to apply the findings

from this study because they can be used to maximize the positive impacts of social media and to

mitigate any harmful effects.

Keywords: Social media, social networking, mental health disorders, digital population.
 CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 6

1.1 Research Question .............................................................................................................. 6

1.2 Size of the Problem ............................................................................................................. 6

1.3 Aims and Objective of the Scope of Study ..................................................................... 10

1.4 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 12

2.1 Social Media’s Role in Predicting and Preventing Mental Health Disorders ............. 12

2.2 Social Media as a Causative Factor of Mental Health Disorders ................................. 14

2.3 Theories Underpinning Social Media’s Impact on Mental Health ................................ 9

2.4 Psychological and Psychiatric Effects and Impacts of Using Social Media ................. 10

2.4.1 Addiction to Social Media. .......................................................................................... 11

2.4.2 Anxiety. ........................................................................................................................ 13

2.4.3 Feeling Inferior. ........................................................................................................ 225

2.4.4 The Sense of Belonging. ........................................................................................... 235

2.4.5 Loneliness. ................................................................................................................. 247

2.4.6 Self-Esteem. ............................................................................................................... 258

2.4.7 Eating Disorders. ...................................................................................................... 269

2.4.8 Insomnia. ................................................................................................................... 279

2.4.9 Emotional Deregulation. ............................................................................................ 20

 2.4.10 Depression. ................................................................................................................ 21

2.5 Self-Reported Perceptions of Mental Health Effects of Using Social Media ............... 24

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ...........................................Error! Bookmark not defined.7

3.1 Research Questions ..........................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.7

3.2 Conceptual Framework ...................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.8

3.3 Research Design ...............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.8

3.4 Background Beliefs and Biases .......................................Error! Bookmark not defined.9

3.5 Population, Participants, Sampling Techniques ...........Error! Bookmark not defined.9

3.6 Procedure ........................................................................................................................... 30

3.7 Data Processing ................................................................................................................. 31

3.8 Ethical Considerations ..................................................................................................... 32

3.9 Quality Assurance ............................................................................................................. 32

CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ................................................................... 34

4.1 Conceptual Schema ........................................................................................................... 34

4.2 Feelings of Inferiority, Loneliness and Sense of Belonging ........................................... 34

4.3 Self-Esteem and Eating Disorders ................................................................................... 46

4.4 Insomnia and Addiction ................................................................................................... 38

4.5 Anxiety and Depression .................................................................................................... 40

4.6 The Compounding or Cyclic Effect of Mental Health Disorders ................................. 42

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................. 45

 5.1 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 45

5.1.1 Positive Reinforcement ............................................................................................... 46

5.1.2 Limiting Exposure to Social Media .......................................................................... 558

5.1.3 Awareness and Sensitization Campaigns ................................................................. 569

5.1.4 Areas of Further Research ......................................................................................... 50

5.2 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 51

References .................................................................................................................................... 53

Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 61

Appendix A .............................................................................................................................. 61

Appendix B .............................................................................................................................. 62

Appendix C .............................................................................................................................. 63
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The prevalent use of popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram and Snapchat in the 21st century has had a profound impact on every aspect

of society over the last two decades. Specifically, these technologies have changed how

people from all over the world socialize, conduct business and interact with one another.

During this period, research into the effects of sustained exposure to social media on

mental health has also intensified. According to Andreassen et al. (2018, p. 252), this

trend in research has unearthed a positive correlation between addictive technological

behaviors and comorbid psychiatric disorders. The impacts of social media on the

mental health of users are not uniform because they vary based on factors such as age,

gender, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status. It is important to analyze the origin

of social media and why it is considered to be more harmful than legacy or traditional

media.

1.1 Research Question

Prolonged exposure to any external stimuli such as social media is likely to have

an impact on the psychological well-being of an individual. Hence, what are the effects

or impacts of using new age social media on mental health? Why are these mental health

impacts or effects not associated with traditional media? Are the trends of social media

mental health effects or impacts similar across all groups in the global digital

demographic? Does the intensity of use have a bearing on the effects and impacts of

using social media? What are the perceptions of users regarding the mental health

effects of social media?

1.2 Size of the Problem

In the last decade, the global digital population has more than doubled. The

exponential growth has been spurred by increased internet connectivity to almost all
regions of the world (See fig. 1 in Appendix) (Sooryamoorthy, 2018, p. 2). Mobile

internet connectivity has been the most significant contributor to the growth of the

global digital population. Specifically, the global digital population has increased from

about 1.6 billion people in 2009 to more than 4 billion as of 2018 (Sooryamoorthy,

2018, p. 2). It is important to study the effect of social media on mental health because

it has eclipsed traditional media in terms of popularity and growth consistently over the

last decade.

Before the invention of social media, legacy media controlled the flow and

access to information as well as public discourse in society. However, social media has

progressively eaten into the market share of television, radio and newspapers in recent

years. Olorunnisola and Douai (2013, p. 18) reported that the consumption of television

media has declined by as much as 6%, while the readership of print newspapers has

declined by 25.6% over the last decade. They attributed this reduction on the closure of

many radio stations and newspaper printers. During this period, there has been a tenfold

increase in the consumption of internet-based media such as social media all over the

world (Toseeb & Inkster, 2015, p. 1). It is important to note that the utilization rates of

social media content globally differ according to factors such as the platform, the age

of users, geographical location, gender, income and sexual orientation.

The rate at which adolescents and teenagers consume social media content

differs from that of college students and adults. Young individuals in developed

countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany exhibit the

highest rates of social media usage in the world. Toseeb and Inkster (2015, p. 1) stated

that as many as 51% of adolescents aged 13-18 years of age logged into their social

media or networking profiles at least once every day. In addition to this, 34% of this

demographic tends to log on more than 10 times every day while an estimated 22% are
likely to log on more than 10 times per day. These figures are not significantly different

to social media usage statistics in Africa, Asia and South America.

Gender is also a significant determiner of social media usage intensity and the

likelihood of addiction. The concept of technology addiction is relatively new because

it has emerged in recent years after the invention of the internet-based technologies

such as social media and online gaming. Specifically, Lin et al. (2016, p. 328)

postulated that calls for the recognition of “Internet addiction” as a distinct psychiatric

condition that is associated with comorbid disorders such as depression can be traced

back to the late 1990s when the internet use started becoming prevalent was invented.

The gender of a user of new age technology determines the type of technology addiction

that they are likely to develop due to the high intensity of use.

The second most commonly reported form of technology addiction, after social

media or social networking addiction, is gaming addiction. Generally, both young boys

and girls are likely to have high technology use intensity or addiction. However,

Andreassen et al. (2018, p. 257) reported that being male was significantly associated

with addiction to video games while being females was also strongly associated with

social media or social networking addiction. This means that the intensity of using or

playing video games is higher in boys than it is in girls. On the other hand, the intensity

of using social media platforms or services is also higher in young girls than it is in

boys.

Additionally, income is also a predictor of social media usage and the intensity

of use. There are observable differences in how low-income populations consume

social media content as compared to middle and high income earning segments of the

population. Betton et al. (2015, p. 443) pointed out that low-income earners and the
disabled are less likely to use the internet and technologies such as social media as

compared to the general population. These individuals are unlikely to afford the

relatively high internet connectivity costs or smartphones and they are also more likely

to be homeless. Consequently, they make up a small proportion of the digital

community who are active social media users.

Furthermore, sexual orientation has also been shown to have a correlation with

social media usage. A significantly larger proportion of individuals who identify as gay,

lesbian or bisexual are active on social media as compared to those who identify as

heterosexual. According to Escobar-Viera et al. (2018, p. 1), an estimated 91% of

younger individuals who identify as LGBT have a social media profile that they used

weekly. In addition to this, 85% of older individuals who identify as LGBT have at

least one social media account. Furthermore, the authors pointed out that about 90% of

individuals who identify as heterosexual had at least one social media profile.

Social media has helped members of the LGBT community to overcome their

scrutiny or bias from people who identify as heterosexual. Unlike before, anyone can

access important health and medical information regardless of their sexual orientation.

The LGBT community still faces challenges in terms of equitable access to coverage

and issues that are important to them on mainstream media in countries such as Iran

and North Korea (Manduley et al., 2018, p. 154). Individuals who identify as LGBT

are able to now access all kinds of important information regarding issues such as

sexual health on social media from other users or experts. This free access to

information has made social media an ideal medium for awareness and sensitization

campaigns on LGBT issues.

1.3 Aims and Objective of the Study

An association between mental health disorders and the consumption of digital

or internet-based media has been established in recent years by multiple studies such as

the study by Aalbers et al. (2018, p. 4). However, these studies are relatively new and

they have not exhaustively covered how different segments of the global digital

population are affected by their use of social media. According to Woods, Scott (2016,

p. 42), the use of social media has been associated with the occurrence of serious mental

health disorders such as addiction; anxiety; feeling inferior; a sense of belonging;

loneliness; self-esteem; eating disorders; insomnia; emotional deregulation; and

depression. Hence, this paper seeks to analyze how these mental health impacts affect

different segments of the global digital population. Additionally, it also seeks to unearth

the perceptions that users such as adolescents, college students, and psychiatrists hold

regarding the mental health impacts and effects of social media.

1.4 Abbreviations

ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ASMU - Active Social Media Users

FOMO – Fear of Missing Out

LGBT - Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender

NLP – Natural Language Processing

OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Disorders

OSN - Online Social Networks

PSMU - Passive Social Media Users

SNS - Social Networking Sites

SUS - Social Update Sites

TSSM - Time Spent on Social Media

 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Prolonged exposure to any external stimuli such as social media is likely to have

an impact on the psychological well-being of an individual. Due to the popularity of

social media in recent years, billions of people all over the world own at least one social

media account. Recent studies into the impact of social media have unearthed a clear

association between mental health outcomes and sustained consumption of social media

content. According to Seabrook, Kern and Rickard (2016, p. 2), research into the

impacts and effects of social media has unearthed an association between its

consumption and the occurrence of major mental health disorders. However, they were

quick to point out that this association can be both positive and negative. Social media

has the ability to act both as a preventive factor and as a causative factor of mental

illness.

2.1 Social Media’s Role in Predicting and Preventing Mental Health Disorders

In recent years, many researchers have turned their focus towards the study of

the impact of social media as a protective factor of mental health in users. A significant

part of this research has shown that social media can be used to predict the prevalence

of mental health disorders and to prevent the occurrence of some mental health

illnesses. Gkotsis et al. (2017, p. 3) pointed out the analysis of social media posts has

shown to be more reliable in the prediction of mental health trends in the general

population when compared to conventional methods.

Moreover, the analysis of social media posts has been shown to be more reliable

because it captures subjective experiences that are not included in health records. The

application of Artificial Intelligence powered machine learning algorithms allows

health practitioners to analyze millions of social media posts almost instantaneously. In

one such study, Gkotsis et al. (2017, p. 3) reported that it is possible to automatically
recognize mental illness-related posts with an accuracy of 91.08%. The accuracy in

these statistics is impressive because they show that social media might have a

significant role to play as a protective or predictive factor of mental health. Early

detection of mental health trends is very important to researchers and health

practitioners because it can be used to implement relevant interventions proactively. In

spite of this, this feature of social media is not very useful to individual users.

Additionally, social media has effectively been used to raise awareness about

mental health to a wide global audience. Unlike traditional or legacy media, social

media has a very wide reach and almost universal acceptance across all social

demographics. Hence, social media is an ideal awareness and outreach medium because

the message can be tailor-made to suit different audiences and it can spread faster than

in traditional media at little or no cost (Rosen, Cheever & Carrier, 2015, p. 311).

Awareness and sensitization programs on social media can act as a protection

mechanism against mental health disorders caused by consuming social media content

excessively. It is important to note that the effects or impacts of social media as a

protective factor of mental health are limited. This is because social media is more

likely to cause mental health disorders rather than prevent them in users because users

are likely to fall into problematic use patterns as shown in the study by Bozoglan and

IGI Global (2018, p. 10).

In limited studies, the use of social media has been shown to act as a preventive

factor against mental health illnesses. The interactions people have online have been

shown to provide the necessary communication and social support needs that

individuals need to buffer against mental health illnesses. According to Nsizwana, Ige

and Tshabalala (2017, p. 145), these resources are part of the hierarchy of basic human

needs. Failure to attain them can affect an individual’s affective well-being. However,
the type of engagements that users have on social media determines their chances of

experiencing these benefits. People who have negative experiences such as consuming

social media passively, bullying and trolling are unlikely to experience these benefits.

2.2 Social Media as a Causative Factor of Mental Health Disorders

A significant number of studies on the effects and impacts of social media have

unearthed a positive association between social media use and mental health disorders.

Problematic social media usage, which is characterized by PSMU, compulsive use and

addiction, is the main variable that can make social media a negative factor (Bozoglan

& IGI Global, 2018, p. 10). As the subsequent discussion will show, problematic social

media use inhibits the ability of users to derive any meaningful social capital that can

be used to buffer against negative mental health effects or impacts. The mode of use

and the platforms used by social media users are closely related due to their capacity to

induce negative mental health outcomes.

One of the most important distinctions that one should make before analyzing

the impact of social media on mental health is how users consume or interact with media

on the platform. According to Aalbers et al. (2018, p. 1), users consume content on

social media in two broad ways: either actively or passively. Passive Social Media

Users (PSMU) prefer to spend a considerable part of their time scrolling through other

people’s posts and other online content like YouTube videos and alike. On the other

hand, their active counterparts Active Social Media Users (ASMU) post content on

their profiles, which they share with other users. The mental health impacts of social

media users vary based on the mode of consumption.

PSMU’s are more likely to develop negative impacts or effects from their use

of social media as compared to ASMU’s. These kinds of users scroll through their social
media news feeds without actively taking part in the discourse. Aalbers et al. (2018, p.

2) stated that passive usage of social media at high intensity has been associated with a

decrease in affective well-being of individuals in previous studies. Hence, people who

consume social media passively are more likely to develop a wide range of comorbid

mental health disorders such as depression. Passive social media consumption delegates

these users of social media as an audience, while the people they follow actively are

promoted to the main actors.

As this section of the paper will illustrate, people who consume social media

passively miss out on the potential benefits of social media. Like other forms of social

connection and interaction, social media can have positive and protective impacts on

users with mental health disorders. Toseeb and Inkster (2015, p. 2) showed that people

who consumed social media actively were less likely to develop negative mental health

effects from their use of social media as compared to those who consumed it passively

at high intensity. Passive users do not have any meaningful interactions with other users

resulting in the offset of feelings such as loneliness or low self-esteem.

Active social media users are also at risk of negative interactions such as trolling

and bullying that may induce mental health disorders. However, their active

participation mediates this threat. According to Aalbers et al. (2018, p. 5), active

participation reduces the chances of developing other mental health impacts such as

low self-esteem and low self-worth which may compound the effects of these negative

interactions. Hence, active participation may not necessarily prevent negative

interactions but it can mediate their impacts on the mental well-being of users.
2.3 Theories Underpinning Social Media’s Impact on Mental Health

Abraham Maslow’s renowned Hierarchy of Needs Theory has been applied to

studies such as investigating the impact of social media on users in the past such as the

study by Abulof (2017). Maslow hypothesized that humans have an innate need for

psychological well-being, safety, a sense of belonging, esteem and self-actualization.

Moreno and Radovic (2018, p. 69) stated that social media has limited the ability of

individuals to satisfy these needs because it has replaced person-to-person interactions

with virtual connections. When social media users spend a considerable amount of time

online, they limit the time that they have to interact with others personally in order to

meet some of these innate needs such as a sense of belonging and esteem. Hence, such

individuals may be at risk of a myriad of psychological disorders if their online

interactions do not supply the social capital or services that they need.

In addition to this, the Self-Determination Theory, which is used to explain the

rational need for individuals to feel in control over their lives, can also be used to

explain the impact of social media on users. The main premise of the theory states that

an individual’s life is shaped by intrinsic or internal motivations and extrinsic or

external motivation (Manchiraju & Sadachar, 2018, p. 128). According to Berryman,

Ferguson and Negy (2017, p. 308), social media is detrimental to the lives of users

because it emphasizes the role of extrinsic motivations over their lives. In the process,

it interferes with their psychosocial well-being because it reduces their sense of

autonomy over their lives. People who are avid social media users are prone to social

media influences, which determine how they should dress, eat or socialize.

Moreover, Social Exchange Theory, which states that stability and social

change are achieved through a process of negotiated social exchanges, is also important

to the research on the effects or impacts of social media (Israel, 1982, 69). The theory
is built upon the belief that an individual analyzes available options and chooses what

to trade in an attempt to gain a commodity that is of higher value than they are trading.

According to Israel (1982, p. 69), some of the most commonly anticipated benefits

include information, love and advice. Social media has the capacity to impact or affect

the lives of its users because of most of them, especially those who are addicted to it,

spend their time and effort consuming content on popular platforms such as Facebook.

In return, they get meager returns in the form of love or useful information and this

causes an imbalance in their lives.

2.4 Psychological and Psychiatric Effects and Impacts of Using Social Media

Social media is positively associated with significant psychological and

psychiatric disorders because social media participation is essentially a performance.

How people present themselves and their lives on social media is different from reality.

According to Cain (2018, p. 738), people tend to present highly curated versions of

themselves and their lives on social media. The curated or superficial images that most

users post on social media have a profound impact on other users. Largely, this can be

considered as the origin of the negative impacts of social media on mental health.

The curated nature of social media content is harmful to unsuspecting users

because it can distort their perception of reality. Most users do not know that the

pseudo-realities that are posted on social media posts are not an actual representation

of the lives of the users making the posts. Rosen, Cheever and Carrier (2015, p. 311)

stated that individuals who consume social media content at high intensity are likely to

start believing that the curated version is real. This, in turn, changes how they perceive

reality paving way for a myriad of significant mental health problems. The perception

of reality of these users becomes distorted because it is based on curated performance.

 It is important to note that this effect is stronger for individuals who consume

social media content passively. PSMU are significantly more likely to be affected by

the curated image of social media posts. Unlike ASMU, PSMU rarely gets involved nor

do they have an impact on the direction of discourse on social media. Aalbers et al.

(2018, p. 5) reported that this inability to contribute meaningfully to discourse on social

media makes them primarily consumers of curated content. They are more inclined to

believe that this fictitious image is a true reflection of the lives of their fellow users.

Had they been avid or active contributors to social media discourse, they would have

had a high probability of detecting the likelihood of false representations. Hence, the

prevalence rate of mental effects and impacts of using social media are likely to be

higher among PSMU as compared to ASMU.

2.4.1 Addiction to Social Media. Prolonged exposure to social media has

been positively associated with addiction amongst users of popular social media

platforms. Addiction differs from what would be considered normal or ordinary use due

to the high intensity of use that has been observed in social media users. Bozoglan and

IGI Global (2018, p. 22) defined social media addiction as the compulsive and

excessive use of social media. Addicted users report that they think about social media

even when they are not using the app and they use it whenever they have the

opportunity. Addiction differs from obsession or the consumption of social media

content at high intensity because the withdrawal of social media is associated with

negative side effects that are similar to drug addiction.

As we saw earlier, the calls to recognize “internet addiction date back to the late

’90s when the consumption of the internet and related technologies started to spread all

over the world (Lin et al., 2016, p. 328). In recent years, these calls have been amplified

due to the surge in popularity of intent enabled technologies such as social media. Pies
(2009, p. 32) makes a compelling argument for Internet Addiction (IA) to be included

in the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

According to his article, characteristics of IA such as excessive use, negative

repercussions, tolerance and withdrawal phenomena are commonly associated with

substance use disorders or addiction to sedative hypnotic substances such as sedative

hypnotic drugs and opiates. Hence, IA deserves to be recognized as a legitimately

serious mental health disorder.

Social media addiction is a multi-faceted concept. As noted earlier, the rate and

type of addiction might differ based on gender, age or geographical location. However,

Lin et al. (2016, p. 328) showed that the mental health effects of addictive social media

usage are similar because it has been associated with the inducement of mental health

disorders in all users. Short term or infrequent usage of social media is not associated

with observable mental health impacts unlike addictive use of social media. Addiction

to social media can induce conditions such as anxiety and depression. Individuals who

are addicted to social media engage in an unbalanced trade according to the Social

Exchange Theory (Israel, 1982, p. 69). These individuals get minimal social capital in

exchange for the considerable time and effort that they spend online.

Consumption of social media content at high intensity is considered to be the

most definitive diagnosis of addiction. As noted earlier, the intensity of consumption

of social media differs by platform. In a study conducted by Guedes et al. (2016, p. 44),

to find out the prevalence of Facebook addiction, users who self-reported that they were

addicted stated that they spent a minimum of 64 to 81 minutes every day scrolling

through their timelines or other people’s profiles. In addition to this, the participants in

the study also reported that they always logged in whenever they were on the computer.
 Social media users, especially PSMU whose perception of reality has been

distorted, are likely to be addicted to social media because they prefer the alternate form

of reality where everything appears perfect. Sometimes, the act of logging off social

media is considered similar to missing out on life. Hunt et al. (2018, p. 755) noted that

this effect, which is usually called the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), has significant

mental health ramifications on social media users. The irrational fear of missing out on

life affects the mental well-being of social media users because it makes them unable

to appreciate what they already have in their life. Consequently, they tend to seek

happiness or contentment externally by envying the curated lives of others and this

decreases their life satisfaction.

2.4.2 Anxiety. Addiction or the consumption of social media content at high

intensity has been shown to lead to the development of anxiety in users. Anxiety is a

significant mental health disorder that is associated with restlessness and decreased

affective well-being. According to Seabrook, Kern and Rickard (2016, p. 2), anxiety is

very prevalent globally because it affects an estimated 7.3% of the global population.

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the prevalence of anxiety due to

the effect of social media on inducing symptoms of the condition and the rise in

popularity of social media platforms.

However, it is important to note that the type of interaction an individual has on

social media determines their level of anxiety. In a systematic review study that was

conducted to investigate the effect of social networking on anxiety and depression,

positive interactions were not associated with symptoms of the condition. The authors

of the study, Seabrook, Kern and Rickard (2016, p. 2), stated that positive interactions

on social media provided users with social support and social connectedness. Positive

interactions describe situations where users experience social support or

communication with fellow users. Users rarely get to experience these effects of

positive interaction because social media interactions are built upon the premise of

curated lives. Hence, negative interactions are more common than positive interactions.

Prolonged exposure to negative interactions, which are common on social

media, are strongly associated with the inducement of anxiety. The irrational FOMO is

an example of negative social media interaction because it reduces the level of life

satisfaction among users. In a research study by Primack et al. (2017, p. 6), they noted

that increased time spent on social media platforms and the frequent use of multiple

platforms increases the predisposition of users to symptoms of anxiety. This is because

they are exposed to a high frequency of curated media content when they access

multiple social media platforms. The FOMO is also higher among users of multiple

social media platforms because they feel like they are missing out on multiple

experiences.

In recent years, internet privacy has been associated with feelings of anxiety in

users. The vulnerability of personal information that is posted on social media to

hacking and identity theft is a common theme in digital communities all over the world.

According to Nyoni and Velempini (2018, p. 1), users personal data can be obtained by

anyone as they are publicly available on platforms such as Facebook. Increased

incidences of identity and intellectual property theft on social media have made some

users wary of posting personal information on social media. Whenever some users post

their personal content, they tend to develop an irrational fear of being hacked or their

ideas being stolen by other users (Bozoglan & IGI Global, 2018, p. 103). The Self-

Determination Theory may be used to explain the development of anxiety in such

situations because users feel like they have ceded too much control over their lives to

other social media users.

 Moreover, advances in internet-enabled technologies have allowed users to

share more personal information than ever before. This has only increased the unease

of some users who feel exposed because of the volume of their personal data that is

available online. Nyoni and Velempini (2018, p. 1) stated that it is now possible to share

sensitive data such as the live location that can be used to track the movements of users

in real time. Seabrook, Kern and Rickard (2016, p. 3) noted that anxiety levels among

social media users who post personal information are likely to be higher as compared

to reserved users.

2.4.3 Feeling Inferior. The obsession of social media users with the curated

lives of fellow users can lead to feelings of inferiority. Due to this curated effect, users

perceive the lives of others as happier than their own. According to Aalbers et al. (2018,

p. 2), PSMU are more prone to feelings of inferiority as compared to ASMU or

infrequent social media users. Such feelings exert undue stress on users who compare

their lives with those of their fellow users because the curated versions that are posted

on social media are not necessarily an indication that their lives are better. It is riskier

to consume social media passively because an individual essentially feels like an

outcast in the main story being written by fellow users.

Furthermore, the feelings of inferiority are also associated with the irrational

FOMO that most users, especially PSMU experience. Users who are addicted to social

media or those who use it at high intensity are more prone to experiencing these feelings

of inferiority. Woods and Scott (2016, p. 42) stated that adolescent users reported

feeling disconnected and symptoms of anxiety whenever they were not online in their

social media profiles. These young individuals tend to attach their feelings of self-worth

to social media, which means that they feel inferior whenever they cannot access their

online profiles or timelines. This addiction and dependency on social media has a
negative impact on the affective well-being of users. Ferguson and Negy (2017, p. 308)

stated that individuals who are highly susceptible to extrinsic motivations are likely to

develop feelings of inferiority.

2.4.4 The Sense of Belonging. The ability of social media to act both as a risk

and protective factor of mental health is evidenced when the sense of belonging of users

is analyzed. People tend to feel either like they belong or like they are outcasts

depending on the nature of their interactions on social media. According to Seabrook,

Kern and Rickard (2016, p. 2), the use of social networking sites has been associated

with greater feelings of belonging and connectedness among users who have had

positive interactions on social media. People use information that is shared by their

fellow users to develop a virtual connection, which makes them feel like they belong.

However, this is not the main effect or impact of the use of social networking sites.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory stated that a sense of belonging is one of the

innate or primal needs of an individual (Berryman, Ferguson & Negy, 2017, p. 309).

This theory provides a better explanation of the main mental health effects or impacts

of using social media.

Specifically, users who experience the FOMO at high intensity, especially

PSMU, are likely to have a diminished sense of belonging as compared to their

counterparts with positive interactions with social media. These kinds of users attach

their sense of belonging to the online community that they interact with on social media.

Aalbers et al. (2018 p. 5) stated that PSMU users tend to have a lower sense of

belonging, affective well-being and life satisfaction. The FOMO compounds the loss

of a sense of belonging because it introduces an irrational sense of missing out when in

essence the individual should be content with their own life instead of desiring other

people’s lives. Lack of contentment makes this type of user feel inherently inferior.
 Having a strong sense of belonging is commonly considered to be a protective

factor against mental health disorders because it decreases feelings of loneliness and

the tendency of individuals to isolate themselves (Woods & Scott, 2016, p. 42). The

desire for interconnection and interaction with other humans is so significant that it is

a part of Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs. According to Nsizwana, Ige and

Tshabalala (2017, p. 145), Maslow viewed the attainment of a sense of belonging as

only secondary to the attainment of physiological and safety needs. Failure to attain this

vital need leads to psychological and behavioral disorders in users. A low sense of

belonging creates a pathway for the development of other serious mental health

disorders such as loneliness, self-esteem issues and depression.

2.4.5 Loneliness. Social media is capable of acting as a protective factor for

mental health disorders because it can limit feelings of loneliness. The interactions that

users have on social media provides social connection and social capital that can be

used to buffer against loneliness and other more serious mental health disorders.

Aalbers et al. (2018, p. 5) who made this assertion also pointed out that PSMU or any

other social media users who are exposed to highly curated content on social media are

likely to feel more lonely than people who use social media sites actively or those who

use them infrequently. The virtual connection that social media provides between users

is similar but not comparable to real person-to-person contact because it is likely to be

superficial.

In a study conducted by Cain (2018) on 5099 graduate and professional students

across 34 schools to investigate the impact of smartphones and social media on mental

health, loneliness was a prominent theme. An estimated 51.8% of the surveyed

respondents reported that they felt very lonely while about 55.3% reported that they felt

an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Cain (2018, p. 738) reported that the results were
even more severe when undergraduate students were used as respondents. Specifically,

an estimated 52.7% and 67.3% reported that they felt very lonely and overwhelming

anxiety respectively. This suggests that age can be a predictor of loneliness in social

media users.

Consumption of social media content at high intensity is positively associated

with increased feelings of loneliness among users. In a study conducted by Hunt et al.

(2018) to investigate the impact of addiction or the consumption of social media at high

intensity on mental health, the participants were exposed to more than 30 minutes of

social media content every day for three weeks. Hunt et al. (2018 p. 758) pointed out

that a control group in the study was exposed to social media content at low intensity.

The control group reported significantly lower levels of loneliness, anxiety and FOMO

than the main study population. Hence, decreasing and limiting the exposure to social

media content to less than 30 minutes a day can lead to significant improvements in

mental health well-being.

2.4.6 Self-Esteem. The lack of a sense of belonging, anxiety and increased

feelings of inferiority have an adverse effect on the self-esteem of social media users.

Adolescent youth are more prone to the effects of low self-esteem that is associated

with social media usage. Woods and Scott (2016, p. 42) stated that receiving negative

feedback on social media lowers the perception of self-worth in an individual.

Incidences of online bullying and trolling, which are increasingly being considered

serious offences, are an example of negative feedback. Users who have experienced

significant bullying online are highly likely to develop social anxiety and engage in

self-loathing behavior. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory identified esteem as one

of the basic needs to an individual.

 Even though the impacts of low-self-esteem have been predominantly

associated with younger users, the increased consumption of social media content

among older adults has shown that this trend is shifting (Woods & Scott, 2016, p. 41).

Older adults are using new age technologies such as smartphones and popular social

media platforms such as Facebook at high intensity. Consequently, Woods and Scott’s

(2016, p. 42) findings illustrate the link between frequent use of Facebook and low self-

esteem in older adults, owing this to greater exposure of upward social comparisons.

Hence, adults are also vulnerable to the FOMO effect and anxiety that is associated

with the use of social media and the consumption of highly curated content.

2.4.7 Eating Disorders. Some of the mental health effects of using social

media such as anxiety, self-esteem and loneliness are associated with the inducement

of eating disorders. Social media users are prone to eating disorders such as anorexia,

binge eating and bulimia due to the stigma, bullying and curated versions of life that

are associated with social media use (Cusido, 2019, p. 105). According to Bozoglan,

B., & IGI Global (2018, p. 18), women are more prone to these effects due to the

patriarchal nature of social media norms. Specifically, women are subjected to

stereotypes about the ideal body size as well as body shaming from other users.

Behaviors such as binge eating are considered a coping mechanism of dealing with the

stress or anxiety of using social media.

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are associated with users who

develop low self-esteem or a negative feeling of self-worth after consuming social

media content. Social media users are likely to develop these disorders in their attempt

to attain the set beauty standards on social media. Cusido (2019, p. 104) stated that

young girls are introduced to these social stereotypes that define how attractive women

should appear. The advent of social media has enhanced body-shaming practices which
have made many users ashamed of their bodies. It is important to note that these effects

are not restricted to female social media users because men also develop these eating

disorders albeit less frequently than women.

2.4.8 Insomnia. Users who spend a significant amount of time on social media

tend to report lower sleep quality as compared to users who consume social media

content at low intensity. An integrative study was conducted to investigate how social

media can be used to predict depression and mental health illnesses among users. The

authors of the study, Guntuku et al. (2017, p. 44), stated that disturbed sleep patterns

and insomnia are so frequent among social media users that they are included in clinical

assessment manuals such as DSM-5. Users reported that their sleep was restless

whenever they tried to withdraw from social media after spending a lot of time online.

Additionally, the time of usage of social media determines its effect on the sleep

patterns of users. Most users report that the last activity that they engage in before going

to sleep is scrolling through their social media profiles passively. Cain (2018, p. 739)

reported that higher levels of smartphone and social media use at night was found to be

associated with shorter sleep patterns among teens aged 12 to 17 years old. However,

similar findings were also reported among college users because addiction to social

media makes it harder for users to log out and get quality sleep (Pies, 2009, p. 35). In

addition to this, comorbid conditions such as anxiety and decreased self-esteem are

possible contributors to insomnia among social media users.

Emotional investment in social media is associated with poor sleep quality in

users. This conclusion was reached from a study by Woods and Scott (2016, p. 42)

where 97% of the users reported that they used social media and that their sleep quality

had declined. According to Woods and Scott (2016, p. 42) digital exposure during sleep
time can directly displace sleep or interfere with the production of melatonin production

in users. This hormone regulates the rhythm of heart muscles and sleep quality.

Additionally, social media users are also exposed to numerous alerts from their phones

during the night, which leads to irregular sleep patterns.

2.4.9 Emotional Deregulation. In this state of insomnia, anxiety, low self-

esteem and loneliness users tend to have a difficult time controlling their emotional

state. Hence, social media users who have been exposed to the negative interactions on

social media use are likely to be easily irritable, experience mood swings and have a

decreased level of life satisfaction. According to Lin et al. (2016, p. 328), maladaptive

patterns of social media usage such as PSMU and addiction may be significant

contributors to mood dysregulation in users. They noted that social media use has been

positively associated with a decline in subjective mood. Hence, the effects of mood

dysregulation may vary depending on personal characteristics, values and beliefs.

PSMU is one of the most significant predictor groups of mood dysregulation

among all forms of consuming social media content (Aalbers et al., 2018, p. 5). Users

who consume social media content passively do not experience the protective effects

of social media on mental health because they do not gain social capital through

interactions with fellow users. Toseeb and Inkster (2015, p. 2) reported that longer use

of Facebook, especially passive usage, predicted lower moods in users. Factors such as

consuming curated or superficial content and the irrational FOMO reduce the ability of

social media users to be content with their own lives. Hence, they are likely to develop

self-esteem issues because they feel like their quality of life is lower as compared to

fellow users. All of these mental health effects induce one of the most significant mental

health impacts on users of social media, depression.

 2.4.10 Depression. Depression is an extremely serious mental health disorder

whose prevalence is expected to increase as social media becomes more popular among

populations all over the world as this trend is on the rise. According to Seabrook, Kern

and Rickard (2016, p. 2), the global prevalence rate of depression which currently

stands at 4.7% is likely to increase significantly in the future because the use of social

media is associated with symptoms of depression in users. Hence, as the global digital

population grows, the number of people in need of mental health interventions to treat

depression is also likely to increase in the future.

Even though social media can act as a protective factor of mental health

disorders in users, its role in inducing depression as well as other mental health

disorders outweighs these potential benefits. Depression is associated with other

comorbid condition such as anxiety disorders and the millions of people who will need

mental health interventions to treat the condition will place an undue burden on the

healthcare system. According to Lin et al. (2016, p. 324), depression costs the U.S

economy an estimated 83 billion dollars annually in terms of high medical expenses,

reduced productivity and suicide. If the current rise in the rate of consumption of social

media content increases, this cost is likely to be significantly higher in the future.

Most social media users are not restricted to one platform and this increases

their predisposition to depression. This is because increased Time Spent on Social

Media (TSSM) has been positively associated with the occurrence of anxiety and

depression symptoms. Primack et al. (2017, p. 3) added that the use of multiple social

media platforms is independently associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Mainly, users who use multiple platforms have a higher TSSM as compared to those

who use a single platform. This corroborates the correlation between using social media

at high intensity and depression that has been identified in multiple other studies.
 Moreover, comorbid symptoms such as poor sleep, anxiety and loneliness are

significant predictors of depression among social media users. General social media

usage is positively associated with the inducement of these comorbid conditions and

depression. However, Woods and Scott (2016, p. 42) added that nighttime specific

social media use is more detrimental as compared to regular daytime social media use.

This is because “it is associated with poor sleep quality, low self-esteem and higher

levels of anxiety and depression among users” (Woods and Scott, 2016, p. 42).

Prolonged episodes of experiencing these conditions either separately or together

induce depression in users.

On the same note, subjective factors such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

(OCD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and depression affect the

rate of addiction of users to social media. This is problematic because it creates a vicious

cycle of addiction and depression. Andreassen et al. (2018, p. 253) stated that the more

addicted to social media, or technology in general, a user is, the higher their chances of

developing symptoms of depression. However, the more depressed the individual is,

the higher their chances of being addicted to social media and this cycle is usually very

difficult for users to break. The symptoms of OCD are intensified as users struggle with

FOMO and keeping up with the curated version of their fellow users’ posts.

People who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) are

more prone to depression as compared to the general heterosexual population. This is

because they are likely to be subjected to discrimination and abusive stereotypes or

trolls by insensitive users. According to Escobar-Viera et al. (2018, p. 2), the rate of

depression among these minority groups is estimated to be about 1.5 to 2 times fold the

rate of their heterosexual counterparts. They added that these groups are more likely to

develop depression from social media because they are more active than heterosexuals
on social media. Additionally, they are also likely to lack access to relevant mental

health information. The development of depression can be explained using the three

main theories underpinning this study.

Specifically, depressed individuals tend to lack one or more of the basic needs

that were identified by Maslow. The provision of basic needs such as esteem and a

sense of belonging is imperative for an individual to reach a level of self-actualization.

According to Moreno and Radovic (2018, p. 69), failure to reach the apex of the

Hierarchy of Needs in Maslow’s Theory induces feelings of anxiety and depression. In

addition to this, people who are addicted to the curated version of social media become

less susceptible to intrinsic motivations and more prone to extrinsic motivations as they

are defined in the Self-Determination theory. In the process, Berryman, Ferguson and

Negy (2017, p. 308) showed that their mental well-being is affected because their sense

of autonomy is lost. Moreover, having an unbalanced trade based on the Social

Exchange Theory also leaves an individual with no buffer against mental health

disorders. Their affective well-being deteriorates every time they spend a lot of time on

social media.

2.5 Self-Reported Perceptions of Mental Health Effects of Using Social Media

Even though the link between social media and comorbid mental health

conditions has been established in multiple studies, the self-reported perception of the

users varies significantly. Adolescents, who form the bulk of social media users, have

been the focus of multiple studies attempting to investigate their self-reported

perceptions in regards to mental health effects and impacts of social media. In one such

study, O’Reilly et al. (2018, p. 601) reported that adolescents generally perceive social

media as a threat to their mental well-being. Some of the users in the study believed

that their use of social media was responsible for mood and anxiety disorders while
others viewed it as a platform for cyber-bullying. Hence, this shows that younger users

know that their use of social media might be detrimental, even though they continue to

use popular social media platforms at high intensity.

However, these findings are not uniform and the persistent use of social media

among the youth can be attributed to some users who do not view social media as a

negative influence over their lives. A study conducted on 1435 students from South

Africa who were avid social media users contradicted the self-reported perceptions of

students in the aforementioned study. According to Shava and Chinyamurindi (2018,

p. 5), only 10% of the surveyed respondents considered social media to be a constant

problem that had a negative effect on their academic achievement. This shows that most

of the other respondents had a favorable view of the impact of social media on their

studies.

The most important self-reported perceptions are those of psychiatrists because

they know the adverse effects of social media on mental health. In one such study,

psychiatrists were asked about their perception of social media and their rate of using

social media platforms. According to the authors of the study, Lis et al. (2015, p. 599),

about one-third of the surveyed respondents stated that they had never used Social

Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook or Social Update Sites (SUS) such as

Instagram and even fewer stated that they use them currently. This is very significant

considering that the rate of using social media ranges from 80% to 90% in the general

population depending on age and socioeconomic status.

Additionally, psychiatrists are more likely than the general population to believe

that there is a positive association between social media usage and psychopathology.

Due to their years of clinical experience, most psychiatrists have been exposed to first-
hand experiences of the impact of social media on mental health. However, only 37%

actually believed that there is an association between SNSs or SUSs and

psychopathology (Lis et al., 2015, p. 598). This rate is significantly higher than the self-

reported perception of other groups such as adolescents. One could argue that this rate

could be even higher as psychiatrics are exposed to a wide body of literature regarding

the ethical and medicolegal issues associated with social media.

Even though the self-reported perceptions of social media users on the mental

health effects of using social media vary significantly, research has shown that using

social media can lead to negative mental health outcomes. Since the rate of

consumption and the popularity of social media are expected to increase in the future,

this association is likely to develop into a significant problem. According to

(Sooryamoorthy, 2018, p. 10), innovative solutions will be needed to maximize the

benefits of social media to users and to limit the negative side effects of consuming

social media content. Particularly vulnerable groups such as adolescents, who are also

the most popular users of social media, will need special attention because they are

likely to bear the heaviest brunt of the mental health impacts or effects of using social

media.
 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides information on the method used to conduct the study as

well as a justification for choosing the said method, a qualitative approach, over other

methods. In addition to this, information about the various stages of the research

process, the participants, the data collection tools and the data analysis techniques that

are used in the study are also provided in this chapter. This section of the paper

concludes with a brief description of the ethical considerations taken into account in

the study, any bias or beliefs that might influence the findings of the study and the

validity of the study.

3.1 Research Questions

The study sought to address the following specific research questions:

1. What are the effects or impacts of using social media on mental health?

2. Is there a causal relationship between the use of social media and mental health

disorders such as anxiety and depression?

3. Does the intensity of consuming social media content affect an individual’s

predisposition to negative mental health impacts or effects?

4. Is there a particular population demographic that is more prone to negative

mental health effects or impacts?

5. How can social media be consumed ethically to mitigate negative mental health

effects or impacts that are associated with its use?

3.2 Conceptual Framework

 The conceptualized framework (See fig. 2 in Appendix), represents a visual

structure of the important variables, themes or similarities that were considered in the

study. As shown in the conceptual framework, the mode of consumption of social media

content has a significant impact on the outcomes in users.

3.3 Research Design

The study was based on a qualitative methodology because it is appropriate for

the intended purpose of the research. A quantitative methodology was overlooked

because the purpose of the study was to investigate the subjective experiences of social

media users, which is the main premise of a qualitative approach. According to Smith

(2015, p. 3), a qualitative study methodology is ideal when the intended goal of a

research study is to investigate the underlying reasons, beliefs, attitudes, opinions,

effects or motivations underlying a given social issue. Hence, the chosen methodology

was influenced by the fact that the mental health effects and impacts of using social

media are social issues. A qualitative study was then conducted systematically

Additionally, the research is based on a qualitative metasynthesis design. In this

kind of study, multiple secondary studies that are relevant to the topic or social issue

being investigated are usually collected. The secondary sources of data are then

reviewed systematically and any generalizations, themes or similarities are integrated

to explain the findings of the study. Lachal et al. (2017, p. 6) stated that this design is

usually preferred because it provides an ideal balance between a rigorously scientific

approach, an objective framework and necessary input from the researcher's

subjectivity when answering research questions. Due to the impact of personal or

subjective views in this approach, it is important to analyze any underlying beliefs or

biases that were present prior to conducting the study.

3.4 Background Beliefs and Biases

The study was conducted by an avid social media user with a belief that social

media has an impact on the mental wellbeing of users. In any research study, it is

important to consider personal beliefs or biases that can affect the integrity of the

outcome. According to Brooks and King (2017, p. 160), the point of a research study

should be to integrate personal critical reflection in the research process. Even though

they encouraged the use of subjective or personal reflection in a research study, they

warned that it should not be considered as a license for self-indulgence in the research.

Their recommendation was applied to this study because even though the research is

guided by subjective or personal views, the findings are informed by the data instead

of personal perspectives.

3.5 Population, Participants, Sampling Techniques

Social media has increased the rate of globalization because of its ability to

create social connections across national, regional and continental borders.

Consequently, the study area for the research was not limited to a particular

geographical area. Andreassen et al. (2018, p. 256) stated that social media has become

popular all over the world amongst individuals of all ages and gender groups. However,

the paper chose to focus more on research studies conducted in developed countries in

North America and Europe. This is because data on social media consumption rates and

the prevalence rates of mental health disorders are readily available and reliable in these

countries.

The study had no direct interactions with human participants because it relied

solely on secondary sources of data. The data sources, which were mainly scholarly and

peer-reviewed journals, were chosen based on their relevance to the goals of the
intended study. The sampling process was random because relevant keywords were

entered into popular search engines such as Google (www.google.com), Google

Scholar (www.scholar.google.com) and a select number of sources were used.

Additionally, the study also utilized popular academic databases such as ScienceDirect

(www.sciencedirect.com), ProQuest (www.proquest.com/), JStor (www.jstor.org) and

EBSCOHost (https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/academic-search)

to collect data.

3.6 Procedure

During the sampling process, relevant keywords were entered into each of the

search engines and academic databases. Some of the keywords or the search string that

were used included “social media and mental health”, “social media anxiety” and

“social media depression”. The search process returned thousands and sometimes

millions of results. Hence, the “filter” feature on all platforms was used to eliminate

studies or include studies based on a stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria. A

random sampling strategy was used because it prevents biased or pre-concluded

findings (Brooks & King, 2017, p. 116). The process of choosing data sources involved

reading the abstract, methodology and concluding statements from each study before

determining their appropriateness to the proposed study. A total of 20 studies were

selected for evaluation from this exercise.

The main inclusion criteria that were used admitted studies that are relevant to

the topic. Any studies that were closely related to the research topic but had conflicting

scopes or research areas were rejected. According to Smith (2015, p. 239), having a

criteria for selecting participants or data sources is important because it protects the

reliability and integrity of a study by preventing a researcher from being tempted into
including everything or everyone in a research study. Hence, the study had stringent

inclusion criteria that also advocated for the inclusion of sources that were published

within the last five years only. The sources that were admitted were mostly conducted

in developed countries due to the availability of reliable mental health and social media

use statistics in such countries. Contrastingly, the exclusion criteria rejected irrelevant

studies that were older than five years.

3.7 Data Processing

After completing the sampling process successfully, a rigorous data processing

or analysis exercise was conducted in the study. The first step of the data analysis

exercise involved a critical review of the selected sources. According to Lachal et al.

(2017, p. 6), the data processing stage of a metasynthesis study requires a researcher to

use their judgment and insight to identify any similarities, themes, generalizations or

relationships in the collected data. The literature review stage unearthed many

important issues or themes such as anxiety, loneliness, addiction and depression that

were particularly useful to this process. The selected sources were reviewed and the

already identified themes, as well as any new similarities or generalizations that were

observed, were noted down.

Colour schemes were assigned to each theme and a highlighting pen was used

to mark any instances where the identified themes appeared in the selected data sources.

The results were then tabulated systematically according to the source they appeared in

and the frequency of occurrence. Smith (2015, p. 143) stated that a color-coding

thematic analysis is beneficial because it expresses the significance of the themes being

investigated at a glance. It also makes it easy to investigate related themes or concepts

based on how frequently they appear in data sources. Important ethical considerations

were also taken into account when conducting the study.

3.8 Ethical Considerations

The nature of the study makes it inherently susceptible to ethical violations due

to its dependency on secondary sources of data. Even though the current research took

every possible measure to safeguard against ethical violations, any unethical behavior

in the secondary data sources cannot be mitigated. According to Brooks and King

(2017, p. 164), any bias or unethical behavior that was used to conduct a study in a

secondary data source is transmitted to other studies that utilize the findings from the

unethical study. Hence, the research only admitted studies that were conducted based

on the principles of ethics. Any studies that were suspected to have been conducted

unethically or using vulnerable populations such as minors, disabled persons or the

elderly were excluded from the study.

3.9 Quality Assurance

The main quality assurance strategy that has been utilized through the course of

this study is transparency. Every step of the research process, all instruments that have

been used and any personal biases that the author might have were openly stated or

explained. According to Brooks and King (2017, p 164), transparency enhances the

validity of a study and it ensures that the findings are transferrable to similar studies in

the future. They define validity as the extent to which the analysis or findings from a

study can be shown to corresponaaad to the experiences, views or behaviors of

participants as captured in the data. A transparent process is easy to replicate and audit.

Additionally, the study was conducted in a personally reflective mood to avoid any

unforeseen bias.
 CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

After the sources of data were collected and analyzed, the emerging themes

were identified and classified according to their mental health effects or impacts. The

results from the data analysis process indicated an association between mental health

disorders and the use of social media. This finding answered the main question of the

study by confirming that social media is associated with negative mental health effects

or impacts on users. Additionally, the findings showed that there is a variation in the

mental effects or impacts of social media based on factors such as age, gender, income

or geographical location and sexual orientation.

4.1 Conceptual Schema

The data analysis and evaluation stage revealed interesting relationships

between themes or concepts that had already been highlighted in the literature review

section. Specifically, themes or mental health disorders such as self-esteem and eating

disorders as well as anxiety and depression frequently occurred together in the data that

was analyzed. In addition to this, the analysis also showed that some of the themes have

a cyclic or causal relationship between them as this chapter will show (See fig. 3 in

Appendix). The data showed that compulsive use of social media or addiction leads to

social fatigue anxiety and depression. This is an example of the relationships between

the main themes that were unearthed in the data. The conceptual framework below

represents a summary of the main associations between the identified mental health

themes and social media.

The data revealed close associations between themes such as Feelings of

Inferiority, Loneliness and Sense of Belonging because they frequently occurred

together in the analyzed data. A similar association was also found between Self-

Esteem or an individual’s perception of self-worth and Eating Disorders. In addition to

this, insomnia and addiction, as well as anxiety and depression, were also found to have

a comorbid disorder because they were frequently identified in similar documents

during the analysis stage.

4.2 Feelings of Inferiority, Loneliness and Sense of Belonging

The findings of the study showed that feelings of inferiority were commonly

associated with a diminished sense of belonging and loneliness. The individuals who

felt inferior to their social peers were likely to develop social anxiety and feel lonelier

than their offline peers. According to the study by Seabrook, Kern and Rickard (2016,

p. 11), online interactions on social media are deficient of social reassurance or a sense

of belonging as compared to face-to-face interactions. In his Hierarchy of Needs theory,

Maslow hypothesized that individuals need to develop a sense of belonging to maintain

their psychosocial well-being. Social media users with low self-regulation are likely to

need to develop problematic SNS use behaviors to compensate for this deficiency. In

the long-term, this may induce social anxiety.

Social media tends to have negative impacts on the mental health of users when

they allow it to determine their moods or perceptions of their happiness. In one study,

failure to get a message or interaction on social media negatively affected the moods of

the participants. According to the authors of the study, Mierzwa and Jurjewicz (2016,

p. 143), active participation on social media plays a key role in the development of a

sense of belonging among users on Facebook because it becomes a key part of their

identity development process. Users who had few online engagements are likely to

develop mental health disorders if they associate their online popularity with their self-

worth. PSMU’s are likely to have feelings of loneliness, inferiority and a decreased

sense of belonging because they lack an online identity that they can use to relate to

their fellow users.

 Individuals with a low sense of belonging in online communities are likely to

envy their fellow users on social media and to develop irrational FOMO. One of the

sources that were analyzed in the study evaluated the role of Online Social Networks

(OSN) in facilitating social contact that individuals require to fulfill their innate need

to belong. The authors of the study, James et al. (2017, p. 582), stated that OSN

belongingness is associated with a slight increase in the likelihood of OSN-induced

FOMO. However, it can also decrease the likelihood of OSN-induced anxiety and envy.

This finding shows that, in some instances, social media has the potential to cause and

mitigate mental health disorders such as FOMO in users by boosting their sense of

belonging.

4.3 Self-Esteem and Eating Disorders

During the data analysis stage, a clear association between self-esteem and

eating disorders was identified. Social media was shown to have an impact on the self-

perceptions of users who tend to compare themselves with personalities in both

mainstream and social media. According to a study by Sonmez and Turanci (2017, p.

6), both male and female social media users were found to be susceptible to

comparisons with media personalities which led them to negative perceptions about

their bodies. These users were likely to try and emulate the looks of other people in the

media due to the development of negative attitudes about their body. Unhealthy

comparisons in online communities act as a pathway to serious mental health disorders

because they cause body dissatisfaction.

In the same study, the increase of negative attitudes was associated with a

decline in self-esteem users and an increase in workout tendencies. Users who

developed low self-esteem were likely to have low self-worth due to constant

comparisons with others on social media who they considered an ideal representation
of ideal body or beauty standards. Sonmez and Turanci (2017, p. 7) pointed out that a

decline in self-esteem is likely to induce body-related decisions such as going on a diet

or working out. The authors noted that women are more susceptible to these effects

even though both genders are affected. This impact is also likely to induce eating

disorders as the individuals try to maintain or achieve the ideal beauty standards that

they have seen on the media.

The effects of social media on self-esteem and mental health disorders differ

based on the platform. In an alternative study to the one conducted by Sonmez and

Turanci (2017 p. 7), the intensity of consuming content on Instagram was found to be

negatively associated with self-esteem. According to the authors of the alternative

study, Stapleton et al. (2017, p. 145), social comparison on Instagram is responsible for

the mediation of the relationship between contingent self-esteem and self-worth.

Individual users were likely to base their self-worth based on the approval they received

from other users on social media. The innate need for esteem that Maslow hypothesized

is responsible for the constant need for validation by social media users from their

fellow users.

Additionally, higher prevalence of social media-induced body dissatisfaction

among females has been confirmed in other studies that were analyzed in this study. As

Stapleton et al. (2017) p.145 ), showed, image-centric platforms such as Instagram are

more likely to induce body dissatisfaction and eating disorders when compared to

Twitter or similar platforms. According to Griffiths et al. (2018, p. 149) who reaffirmed

these findings, the prevalence of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms

have been associated with social media use among young women and adolescent girls.

In their study, they noted that image-centric platforms such as Instagram have a stronger
effect on self-perception and eating disorders than non-image centric platforms such as

WordPress.

Social media was shown to have a positive association with eating disorders in

a study that was conducted by Sidani et al (2016) to investigate the association between

social media and eating concerns among U.S youth. The study also wanted to

investigate whether the frequency of using social media had any impact on the

prevalence of these eating disorders. The authors of the study, Sidani et al. (2016, p.

1470), stated that they discovered a strong and consistent association between eating

concerns and social media use among the sample of youths aged between 19 to 32 years

who participated in their research. The study also revealed that the higher the volume

or frequency of use, the higher the odds of developing eating disorders.

The propensity to develop body dissatisfaction and eating disorders is

determined by the level of investment by an individual in online validation. One of the

studies that was evaluated wanted to investigate the impacts of popular social media

platforms on well-being and self-esteem. According to the authors of the study,

Mierzwa and Jurjewicz (2016, p. 149), the participants who were strongly attached to

their real life friends instead of depending on “likes” for validation had a significantly

high sense of self-esteem. Hence, this study showed that seeking validation from

strangers online was highly likely to lead to eating disorders and body dissatisfaction.

The curated nature of online relationships and interactions does not provide meaningful

social support or capital that can be used to mitigate negative mental health impacts or

effects.
4.4 Insomnia and Addiction

The data analysis stage showed that social media users who are addicted to their

favorite platforms are likely to have difficulties sleeping. Even though multiple factors

such as diet and ill health may contribute to irregular sleep patterns, social media use is

increasingly being associated with sleeplessness. According to a study by Levenson et

al. (2016, p. 38), social media use was shown to have a strong association with sleep

disturbance or sleep deprivation. The authors noted that this association has significant

clinical implications for the well-being and the health of young adults who were the

primary focus of the study. Users who are addicted to social media were found to be

more susceptible to irregular or disturbed sleep patterns when compared to those who

use social media infrequently.

Additionally, the data that was selected for analysis showed that social media

addiction is a multi-dimensional social issue. A study conducted to investigate the role

of social networking sites on internet addiction showed that addiction to smartphones,

social media platforms and irrational FOMO are closely related. According to the

authors of the study, Kuss & Griffiths (2017, p. 4), the perceived need of users to stay

online to avoid missing out on important social events or information induces

compulsive use of social networking sites. The symptoms and impacts of addiction to

SNSs were shown to be comparable to substance-abuse addictions. Further analysis of

the data showed that addiction might be related to the self-esteem of users. These

themes commonly occurred together in the analyzed data.

Specifically, users with low self-esteem were found to be highly susceptible to

developing social media addiction. This association was also unearthed in a study that

was meant to investigate the impact of social comparisons on the patterns of consuming

social media content. According to Stapleton et al. (2017, p. 147), who conducted the
study, users who based their self-esteem on the online approval by others were likely

to have a higher intensity of use of social media platforms such as Instagram. The users

who seek validation from other users were also highly likely to have a high intensity of

social comparisons with their fellow users. Since these users have attached their sense

of esteem to social media, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory states that they are

likely to spend a considerable amount of resources to satisfy the innate need for esteem

on social media.

The negative impacts of social media use on sleep quality and self-esteem was

positively associated with the need to seek external validation online. Users were found

to be highly likely to spend a considerable amount of time online seeking validation

from their fellow users including the time that they should be sleeping. According to a

study by Han et al. (2018, p. 96), social media addiction was found to be highly

prevalent among members of the LGBT community in China. These users are

susceptible to the negative mental health impacts of social media due to the significant

role played by the extrinsic motivations of the self-determination theory on their self-

esteem (Legault, 2017, p. 2). Hence, they associate their well-being with the amount of

time they spend online responding to external stimuli from other users.

Social media users who consumed online content at high frequencies to satisfy

their need for validation and low self-esteem were likely to be addicted and have poor

sleep patterns. This association between social media use, addiction and sleep disorders

was found to be stronger among young social media users especially those who

identified as female. According to Kaimal, Sajja and Sasangohar (2017, p. 1329), an

association between sustained social media use and lower sleep quality was unearthed

in their study although it was not statistically significant. Trading sleeping time for

social media use led to a decline in affective well-being of users because they were
likely to develop addiction in their quest to satisfy psychological needs such as

autonomy, competence and relatedness (Manchiraju & Sadachar, 2018, p. 132). This

trade-off and the associated negative impacts are consistent with the tenets of the social

exchange theory.

4.5 Anxiety and Depression

The accumulation of the effects of social media such as insomnia, FOMO, low

self-esteem, mood deregulation, addiction and low self-esteem were associated with the

development of anxiety and depression in users. In the colour-coding analysis, these

themes frequently occurred together. These findings were confirmed in a study that was

conducted to investigate the impact of satisfying innate needs through social media.

According to Casale and Fioravanti, (2015, p. 35), individuals who reported high levels

of social anxiety and a high frequency of consuming social media content were also

likely to develop lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety and

depression. They noted that these findings are an indication of the attempts by social

media users to compensate for social inadequacies in offline environments.

Lack of adequate or quality sleep has been associated with negative outcomes

such as serious mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. Users who are

active on social media during sleep hours tend to have a higher propensity of developing

these negative effect or impacts. McIver et al. (2015, p. 9) showed that sleep issues such

as insomnia increase the risk of developing depression and obesity. The prevalence of

obesity among social media users with poor sleep patterns may be attributed to the

development of eating disorders among such users. Based on the tenets of the social

exchange theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory, individuals are likely to

substitute the lack of social comfort by seeking comfort in food through behaviors such

as binge eating.
 The analysis of the collected data also showed that the impact of social media

in lowering the self-esteem of users was responsible for the inducement of depression

symptoms. A study that was conducted to investigate the impact of Facebook on the

affective well-being of users showed that having high comparison standards on the

platform made users envious of their more attractive or successful peers. The authors

of the study, Appel, Crusius and Gerlach (2015, p. 284), showed that envy on social

media was associated with higher levels of self-reported inferiority which correlated

negatively with self-esteem. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory showed that esteem

is an innate need and any significant decrease in the levels of esteem acts as a pathway

to serious mental health disorders such as depression.

Members of the LGBT were found to be highly susceptible to these negative

effects such as low-self-esteem, anxiety and depression. These findings were consistent

with the views of Escobar-Viera et al. (2018, p. 2) who reported that members of the

LGBT community are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression as compared

to the general population. According to Han et al. (2018, p. 96), members of the LGBT

community in China with lower levels of self-identification and higher levels of

depression are more likely to be engaged on social media. This tendency is thought to

lead to higher levels of perceived online social support. Consequently, this explains

why members of the LBGT community are highly likely to be avid users of popular

social media platforms.

Addiction and negative experiences online have been shown to induce

depression and lead to adverse outcomes such as eating disorders and suicides. Online

abuse and associated depression tend to have significant impacts on the members of the

LGBT community because they have lower levels of offline social support as compared

to the general population. According to Norton (2016, p. 15), LGBT youth have been
harassed based on their sexual orientation and this cyber-victimization has led some to

commit suicide. In her study, she blamed the lack of accountability of the owners and

administrators of online platforms for the prevalence of abuse against members of the

LGBT community and the prevalence of depression.

4.6 The Compounding or Cyclic Effect of Mental Health Disorders

One of the most significant revelations that emerged from the analysis of the

data collected was the cyclic relationship between some of the key themes or

relationships being investigated. In the study, social media-induced insomnia was

shown to be a gateway to addiction and higher levels of insomnia. According to

Levenson et al. (2016, p. 38), initial sleep difficulties may induce increased or higher

frequency of using social media, which in turn induces more sleeping problems. This

is problematic because Kuss & Griffiths (2017, p. 4) stated that social media addiction

is comparable to substance addition in terms of its effects or impacts on an individuals’

affective wellbeing. Hence, insomnia induced addiction may lead to the development

of more serious mental health impacts or effects on social media users such as chronic

insomnia.

Additionally, individuals who suffer from anxiety, especially social anxiety, are

highly likely to develop addiction to social media and depression. This is mainly

because they are likely to try and compensate for their social inadequacies with an

increased online presence. According to Casale and Fioravanti, (2015, p. 36), socially

anxious males and females use their online interaction opportunities to be more

assertive because social media provides an avenue for self-presentation purposes.

However, failure to obtain a favorable equilibrium or balance in this trade-off between

online and offline interactions as stipulated in the Social Exchange Theory leads to

serious mental health impacts such as depression. This is because social anxiety is likely
to increase rather than decrease amongst users who spend more time online and those

who avoid person-to-person interactions.

Moreover, the use of image-centric platforms such as Instagram is associated

with a decrease in self-esteem and increase in addiction, eating disorders and

depression. This is because of the higher levels of comparisons among users on such

platforms. According to Griffiths et al. (2018, p. 156), greater frequency of consuming

content from image-centric platforms such as Instagram is associated with a decline in

body satisfaction which induces symptoms of eating disorders and depression. The

occurrence of these symptoms makes users spend more time online making

comparisons with users who they perceive as more attractive or successful in an effort

to offset the decreased levels of body satisfaction. The resulting cyclic dependency

decreases the affective well-being of users by creating a negative feedback loop.

Furthermore, having negative interactions on social media such as obsessive

comparisons was found to induce depression in users, which in turn induced a higher

intensity of using social media. According to Scherr and Brunet (2017, p. 11), an

increase in the depressive symptoms was found to be associated with an increased

frequency of posting on social media updates. This compulsive use of social media

acted as a gateway to more serious mental health impacts. According to a study by Dhir

et al. (2018, p. 143), the consumption of social media content compulsively triggered

social media fatigue, which later results in elevated anxiety and depression. In their

study, they noted that FOMO indirectly predicted social media fatigue because it acted

as a mediation factor of compulsive social media use.

 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The review of relevant literature and the analysis of the selected data sources

unearthed positive associations between social media use and serious mental health

impacts or effects. Specifically, social media was found to be associated with impacts

or effects such as low self-esteem, loneliness, eating disorders, insomnia, mood

deregulation, anxiety and depression. These effects or impacts were also shown to have

compounding or cyclic effects that negatively alter the affective well-being of social

media users by creating a negative feedback loop. However, there are interventions that

can be implemented to limit or mitigate these negative effects of using social media on

users. Specifically, the use of positive reinforcement, limiting exposure to social media,

conducting awareness and sensitization campaigns and using the predictive ability of

social media ought to be considered and implemented.

5.1 Recommendations

In recent years, the popularity and consumption rates of social media content on

all major platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have increased

significantly. This is a worrying trend because the findings from this study have shown

that the frequent use of social media is associated with significant mental health effects

or impacts. Consequently, it is important to implement policies and strategies to

mitigate the negative mental health effects that are associated with the consumption of

social media content. Some of the key recommendations that can be used to address the

findings from this study include the use of positive reinforcement, limiting exposure to

social media, conducting awareness and sensitization campaigns and conducting further

research on the effects or impacts of social media.

5.1.1 Positive Reinforcement

The tendency of social media users to compare themselves with other users

online creates pathways that lead to the development of low self-esteem, FOMO and

anxiety among other mental health disorders. Unhealthy online comparisons are

detrimental to the health and well-being of users because they reinforce negative

feelings or insecurities. Bozoglan and IGI Global (2018, p. 10) stated that problematic

internet use such as passive social media content consumption worsens social fear and

avoidance tendencies that may already exist in face-to-face interactions. When

individuals have been exposed to these negative reinforcements for prolonged periods,

they change their perspectives on life by adopting a negative outlook on events and

their physical attributes. Consequently, this is a justification for the use of positive

reinforcements to treat existing social media-induced mental health disorders.

All social media users, especially adolescents, minors and members of the

LGBT community who are highly susceptible to the negative mental health impacts of

social media should be provided with constant positive reinforcement. This

reinforcement can come from family members, friends or volunteers. According to

Baek, Ko and Marsh (2014, p. 101), combining positive reinforcement and mindfulness

therapy interventions have been shown to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and

depression in individuals who are addicted to social media and video games. This type

of reinforcement increases the resilience of social media users and allows them to cope

with negative interactions such as trolling and cyber-bullying.

Additionally, positive reinforcement can increase the self-esteem and sense of

belonging of social media users. A decline in these mental states is detrimental because

they have a positive moderating influence on the affective well-being of an individual.

Bozoglan and IGI Global (2018, p. 54) stated that positive reinforcement decreases the
chances that an individual will feel lonely, excluded or alienated from social circles in

an online environment. It makes individuals feel like they are an important part of an

online community. This is crucial to the well-being of an individual because Maslow’s

Hierarchy of Needs Theory listed esteem and sense of belonging as some of the basic

human needs.

Moreover, positive reinforcement can also be used to enhance self-acceptance

by increasing an individual’s perception of self-worth. Sending positive messages of

reassurance to let individuals know that they are important and that they matter can

significantly increase how they feel about their bodies and how satisfied they are with

their appearance. According to Cusido (2019, p. 48), positive reinforcement can

empower social media users to identify stressors that are responsible for the

development of negative self-perceptions such as trolling. In the process, it empowers

the individual to cope with such stressors more effectively in the future. The tendency

of engaging in unhealthy online comparisons can also be mitigated using positive

reinforcement.

Using positive reinforcement to prevent serious conditions such as loneliness,

low self-esteem and eating disorders can help prevent the onset of anxiety and

depression symptoms. Griffiths et al. (2018, p. 156) confirmed that these conditions

create a negative feedback loop that leads to the development and sustenance of anxiety

and depression. However, Dhir et al. (2018, p. 149) stated that encouraging social media

users to think thoughts of well-being can help them to overcome the irrational FOMO

and addiction which are responsible for fatigue. They associated social media-induced

fatigue to the development of anxiety and fatigue. Hence, positive reinforcement can

be an effective therapeutic intervention because it encourages users to apply the tenets

of the Social Exchange Theory to justify limiting exposure to social media.

5.1.2 Limiting Exposure to Social Media

The amount of time that users, especially young users, spend online should be

limited because reducing the time spent online is an effective mitigation factor of social

media-induced mental health disorders. Individuals with problematic social media use

patterns such as obsessive-compulsive use and addiction tendencies spend about 64 to

81 minutes per day scrolling through social media (Guedes et al., 2016, p. 44).

However, the findings from a study by Hunt et al. (2018, p. 758) showed that using

social media at a low intensity by limiting exposure to about 30 minutes per day is

associated with lower levels of loneliness and increased levels of self-esteem. Mental

health conditions that have been caused by addiction to social media can be treated by

limiting exposure to social platforms.

Social media users are now at and advantage because smartphones, and some

social media platforms, come embedded with a feature that allows them to track the

total screen-time per app that they spend on their phones. The screen-time feature on

the iPhone prompts users to take a break whenever they exceed the recommended time

that they ought to spend on an app or on their phones. According to Tangermann (2019,

par. 6), the feature is unlikely to be helpful for most users because they can easily ignore

the prompts to limit their screen-time. Instagram has the same feature which allows

users to set a reminder for when they need to take breaks. However, the article by

Tangermann (2019, par 10) showed that social media users should to have self-

regulation capabilities for them to use these screen-time monitoring features

effectively.

Reducing screen-time or the time spent on social media can disrupt the negative

feedback loop that exists between anxiety, depression and social media addiction.

Griffiths et al. (2018, p. 156) stated that using social media at high intensity exposes
users to a higher level of social addiction which induces addiction. In the long-term, the

addicted individual develops depression and a tendency to spend a considerable amount

of time trying to offset the impacts of this depression. Cain (2018, p. 739) stated that

decreasing the time spent on smartphones and social media is associated with an

improvement of the sleep quality of previously heavy users. Low sleep quality leads to

mood deregulation, which in turn increases the chances of developing social anxiety

and depression.

Furthermore, users should be encouraged to limit their exposure to social media

because it increases the chances of abandoning the use of social media completely. The

findings from this study have demonstrated that the use of social media has the ability

to induce major psychological disorders such as depression in users. In the study

conducted by Hunt et al. (2018, p. 764), some of the frequent social media users who

participated in their study stated they develop better self-monitoring capabilities by

liming the time they spent on social media. One participant stated that they abandoned

their use of the popular social media platform Snapchat after limiting the time they

spent on the platform. These effects are likely to be replicated in a larger population if

the same intervention is applied.

5.1.3 Awareness and Sensitization Campaigns

The public should be made aware of the findings from this, and other studies,

which have demonstrated that problematic social media use is associated with a wide

range of mental health disorders. Specifically, these campaigns should focus on

providing information about how users can avoid detrimental behaviors such as

unhealthy comparisons and addiction. According to Allen et al. (2014, p. 24), the

positive attributes of social media such as its ability to facilitate the creation of online

groups or communities can be harnessed to mitigate against its negative effects or

impacts. They suggested that users should be provided with means of constructing,

mediating or improving their identities online. Users should be provided freely with

information about how the time they spend online could be affecting their affective

overall well-being.

Mainly, users should be provided with information on how to avoid unhealthy

comparisons, envy and cyber-bullying online. These are the main threats to the healthy

construction, maintenance and accentuation of online identities. Lin et al. (2016, p. 328)

stated that most users are unaware of the subtle or subconscious impacts that social

media tends to have on their mental well-being. Therefore, providing users with

information about these effects or impacts can enable them to monitor their usage and

mitigate against any mental health disorders that are associated with the use of social

media. Both the government and relevant members of the private sector should play a

hand in providing the necessary resources to facilitate these campaigns.

Social media is a highly effective communication channel that can be used to

reach a wide target audience with sensitization and awareness messages on the danger

it poses to the mental health of users. Unlike traditional media, the popularity of social

media has surged in recent years with more than 90% of adults in developed countries

having at least one social media platforms. According to Olorunnisola and Douai (2013,

p. 18), social media and smartphones have revolutionized communication due to their

ability to instantaneously transmit messages to almost any region of the world. This

means that awareness and sensitization messages on the impact of social media can

reach a wider audience on social networks than on traditional media.

5.1.4 Areas of Further Research

The use of social media has been shown to have a causal relationship with the

prevalence of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. However, it is

still not clear how or why social media induces mental health disorders in some users

while it provides useful social capital to other users. Aalbers et al. (2018, p. 5) stated

that online interactions provide similar but not equal social capital to face-to-face

interactions. Hence, more research is required to show how the social capital that is

provided in online interactions is inadequate and why it induces mental health disorders

such as anxiety and depression. This information can be used to improve mitigation

measures against social media-induced psychological disorders.

Moreover, recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language

Processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms have enhanced the ability of social

media to be used to predict mental health disorders. Current applications of this

technology have been used to analyze millions or billions of users posts in search of

mental health trends or data. According to McIver et al. (2015, p. 4), social media has

successfully been used to characterize sleep disorders in users tweets with moderately

high accuracy. In the future, more resources should be allocated to improve this and

similar technologies. One area that future studies should focus on is improving the

relevancy of keywords that are used in NLP units to identify patterns or relationships

in data.

5.2 Conclusion

In summary, the study sought to find out whether the use of social media is

associated with any mental health effects or impacts. The study also sought to find out

whether demographic factors such as age, gender and sexual orientation have any

impact on the variation of the effects or impact of social media on mental health. A
qualitative metasynthesis research approach was preferred because the study aimed to

identify the effects, beliefs or norms underlying a given social problem. The study relied

on relevant scholarly and peer-reviewed secondary sources of data to collect

information that could be used to answer the research questions.

The findings of the study showed that the problematic use of social media is

associated with significant mental health disorders such as insomnia, low self-esteem,

decreases the sense of belonging, addiction, eating disorders, anxiety and depression.

Additionally, the youth was found to be more susceptible to these mental health effects

or impacts because of their tendency to consume social media content at higher

frequencies than older populations. Female users were also found to be more

susceptible than male users to online comparisons and social media addiction. The

results also showed that members of the LGBT community are more susceptible to

depression than the general population.

Therefore, the findings of this study have significant implications on the users

of social media, policymakers and other researchers. Uses of popular social media

platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook can use the findings of this today

to mitigate against mental health disorders that are caused by using social media. On

the other hand, policymakers can use these findings to formulate and implement useful

strategies to mitigate the prevalence of mental health disorders among the public. Other

researchers can also use the gaps identified in this study to conduct further studies on

the relationship between social media and mental health disorders. Social media is a

significant part of modern day life and it is important to mitigate the negative impacts

that are associated with its use.

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Appendices

Appendix A
Figure 1. Figure 1: Growth Trend of Internet Users from 1996 – 2018

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage#/media/File:Internet_users_per_

100_inhabitants_ITU.svg

Appendix B
Figure 2. A Conceptual Framework of the Impacts and Effects of Social Media on

Mental Health
Appendix C

Feelings of
Low self- Inferiority,
regulation and Loneliness, eating
envy disorders & Low
Self-esteem Negative feedback
loop
Mood
dysregulation

PSMU or
addiction
Social Media Anxiety and
Depression

FOMO FOMO
Negative feed
Insomnia and Negative feedback
Negative feedback
Addiction loop
loop

Figure 3. Conceptual Schema of the Impacts and Effects of Social Media on Mental

Health