This is how social media impacts teen minds

Parents, teachers and even counsellors often suggest that social media is increasing the risk of suicide among teenagers. But given that social media itself is a relatively new phenomenon, it was difficult to get valid data on its long-term effects on mental health.  

A team of current and former Brigham Young University (BYU) professors and students conducted the longest study to date on social media use and suicidal tendencies. They published their research in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence in early 2021, and the findings are still being discussed. Here’s a summary of the key points of the research.   

Young teenage girls are more open to social media evils 
The researchers surveyed 500 teens between 2009 to 2019. They found that while social media use did not push boys to death, it had a massive effect on girls. The most susceptible were girls who begun using social media for two to three hours daily at age 13, and then greatly increased these hours over time. Digging deeper, the research team realised that teen girls lay a lot of importance to relationships and interpersonal stress factors.  

Susceptibility to cyber bullying increases with more hours  
As teenagers spent more time on social media platforms, they open themselves to multiple threats from bullying peers and older users, including stalkers and cyber predators. Cyber bullying has caused several suicides among 13- and 14-year-old girls, where they were shamed and ostracized by their ‘group’.   

Teenagers are affected by FOMO on social media  
Fear Of Missing Out or FOMO works on multiple levels of teen psychology. The researchers noticed that 13 and 14 were the most dangerous ages. Younger teens lack the mental resilience of late teens. Despite the hours they spend on social media, they are beset by the fear that they may be missing out on a comment, reaction, new post or some social media update. They also feel they are missing out on social activities of their peers if they are not constantly tuned in on social media platforms used by everyone in the group. So many of them put in those hours just to stem their insecurities and convince their friends that they belong.