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Joselyn Convery

Tammy Barense

Composition

16 January 2023

The Impact of Social Media

Social media can greatly affect one's mental health. Online therapy (2023) stated

that 51% of men and 50% of women have said that they have been depressed due to

their use of social media, and additionally, 54% of men have experienced loneliness

based on social media use, compared to only 41% of women. Even though social media

can affect people positively and give people a way to communicate and celebrate one

another there is also a negative side of social media that includes bullying, harassment,

and pure pressure.

Social media can be used as a platform for people to bully and harass others.

Kim Kardashian took advantage of the social media app Snapchat by posting an edited

video of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Following the release of this edited video, Kim

Kardashian supporters rallied to her defense and used social media platforms such as

Instagram and Twitter to flood Taylor's account with cruel comments. According to Teen

Vogue, this hatred drove Taylor to stay out of the public eye for months and to delete all

social media. Online hate doesn't only affect the big stars, it can affect anyone who is a

user of social media. As stated by Family Orbit A ten-year-old student named Ashlynn

Conner was cyberbullied so much that she begged her mother to stay home. Online she
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was called names such as fat, ugly, and slut. After cutting her hair the bullying continued

with different names such as “pretty boy”.Cyberbullying took a toll on Ashlynn and she

decided to take her own life. Typically the subjects of cyberbullying are girls but not

always. Kenneth Weishuhn is an example that cyberbullying not only happens to girls.

According to Family Orbit, Classmates created an anti-gay Facebook group and used

that to make negative comments towards Kenneth. After Kenneth came out not only the

people who were bullying him before continued bullying him but also his closest friends.

The harassment continued online but also in school and eventually Kenneth took his

own life. If you decide to be a user of social media you risk a chance of being

cyberbullied.

Seeing others on social media can make you feel pressured to have the same

things they have and do the same things they do. Scary Mommy (2023) reported that a

mother named Dayna Motyca gifted her daughter a water bottle for Christmas that was

a knockoff of the famous Stanley water bottle on the internet. The daughter was very

happy to receive this gift. After going back to school from winter break, she was bullied

about the cup because it wasn't a real Stanley. When home from school, the daughter

asked her mom for a real Stanley, which led her mom to buy her one. Northern Eastern

Global News stated that another popular Christmas gift for young girls is skincare by the

brand Drunk Elephant. This brand is not catered towards young skin and includes

anti-aging products. Young teens want these brands to fit in with their peers who have

been influenced, and because there is a rise in social media users promoting anti-aging

products and solutions. Buzzfeed News stated that many fitness influencers and
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influencers in general use filters or edit photos that they are posting online. Viewers may

not be aware that these photos have been edited, which creates an unrealistic beauty

standard for the people who are viewing them, who are most often young girls. Over

time, viewing others who are different from you could make you feel like you need to be

similar to them.

Social media can be used to connect with others and also bring people together

to advocate for causes that they believe in. People can use social media to reconnect

with friends and family members. Being able to type in someone's name gives users the

ability to connect with friends and family they might have lost touch with. Social media

users can use their platform to promote and help people in need. Prepare Center states

that social media can be used to collect funding when major catastrophes occur. The

money social media users bring together for these victims helps them out greatly since

they have mostly lost the things that they have and also their place of work. Social

media can be used to bring people together to advocate for causes they believe in.NPR

reported that global superstar Taylor Swift used the apps Instagram and Twitter to

promote voting, which led to a surge of over 35,000 new voters. She also used her

stardom to promote a petition for the Equality Act at the end of her music video, “You

Need to Calm Down." This petition got over half a million signatures.

Online platforms can be utilized for interacting with one another as well as

bringing groups together for causes they care about. Social media can have a positive

effect on people by allowing them to communicate and come together, but it also has a
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negative aspect that includes bullying and harassment. In conclusion, social media can

have a positive impact on people, but the negative effects outweigh the positive effects.

Work Cited

“6 in 10 Americans say social media negatively affects their mental health - Online

Therapy.” Online Therapy Directory, 6 June 2022,

https://www.onlinetherapy.com/6-in-10-americans-say-social-media-negatively-aff

ects-their-mental-health/. Accessed 16 January 2024.

Garrity, Katie. “This Mom Bought Her Daughter A Stanley Cup After She Was Bullied

For Her "Knock-Off.” Scary Mommy, 8 January 2024,

https://www.scarymommy.com/parenting/9-year-old-bullied-stanley-cup.

Accessed 17 January 2024.

Ingham, Alexandria. “7 Real Life Cyberbullying Horror Stories.” Family Orbit,

https://www.familyorbit.com/blog/real-life-cyberbullying-horror-stories/. Accessed

12 January 2024.

Robbins, Jessica Ports. “Social Media in Disasters - PrepareCenter.” Global Disaster

Preparedness Center, https://preparecenter.org/topic/social-media-disasters/.

Accessed 17 January 2024.

Sullivan, Becky. “A Taylor Swift Instagram post helped drive a surge in voter

registration.” NPR, 22 September 2023,

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/22/1201183160/taylor-swift-instagram-voter-registrat

ion. Accessed 17 January 2024.

Weekman, Kelsey. “Top Fitness Influencers Edit Their Photos And Videos.” BuzzFeed

News, 17 February 2023,

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kelseyweekman/fitness-influencers-editing

-photos-ethics. Accessed 17 January 2024.

“Why Taylor Swift Disappeared From the Spotlight.” Teen Vogue, 30 August 2017,

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/why-taylor-swift-disappeared-spotlight.

Accessed 16 January 2024.

Work Cited