Miriam Mendez

Writing for the Sciences

Informative Report

Draft
Social media has been around for almost two decades; MySpace was first introduced in

2004. Ever since then, the social media spectrum has expanded and more and more social media apps have been coming out. From MySpace, to Facebook, to Instagram, to Snapchat, to Musically, which is now known as TikTok, social media has been wired into our everyday lives and routines. At least most not all usually spend their free time laughing at the hilarious TikToks. As well as, finding out what the newest obsession on Twitter has tweeted. It is all just fun dance routines or funny memes but what most don’t know is the mental, physical and emotional toll it can have on society today.

Scrolling through Instagram and seeing a beautiful, skinny, perfectly fit model flaughting at a beach in Hawaii can be tough for most people who see that “perfect” model as a threat. Most even feel insecure, questioning themselves and hating the way their body looks because it does not look like the “perfect” girl in the picture. Why am I putting, perfect, in quotations? You’ll find out soon enough. There are different components as to how social media can affect those mentally. One of the aspects are, filters. Yes, taking selfies with the filters can be fun but it can also alter someone’s image and make them feel less of themselves and will make one doubt their own beauty; thus creating a false illusion. For example, a filter can make someone’s nose look a different way or change the color of someone’s eyes. Seeing the “perfect” picture on the screen can make others feel insecure and think that they have to look this way to feel beautiful. In reality, everyone is beautiful in their own way. FOMO or fear of missing out is another way social media can affect someone menatlly. Fear of missing out can be defined as seeing your friend doing a tik tok dance video with one of your mutual friends and thinking to yourself that you might have missed out on an inside joke or even doubt the friendship the both of you have. One little video on social media can make a person overthink, bigtime. Constant scrolling and going in between apps can lead to the decline of the studies and school work. While you’re scrolling through instagram, your deadline on a paper due at 11:59pm is getting closer and you have nothing to write. The distraction can lead to major procrastination, less retention of information (less grasp on information), and higher levels of stress. Other feelings that can occur are exclusion, anxiety, and loneliness; this ties back to the FOMO aspect of social media affecting society mentally. Apps, such as instagram, facebook, and twitter can have a negative effect on confidence and self esteem. For instance, whether it’s posting a picture, tweeting, or uploading a status, you’d think you would get loads of likes, comments or shares. However, what happens when you don’t get as much as you thought you would? That can lower your self esteem and can leave you feeling depressed or have anxiety about why your posts aren’t doing well as the next. It is all about competition, the game of getting more likes than the next person. Life should not be about whose content can gain more popularity. Some are even driven to post prerogative pictures because that’s what they see is getting the most attention. The “perfect”

model you see on instagram can be suffering from a sort of mental illness so she can stay the size she is. The insecure girl sitting behind her phone sulking on the fact that she does not look like the picture perfect girl can also gain a mental illness driving her to force herself not to eat. Not only can social media bring out the worst in somebody mentally, but also can harm someone physically. (Stabler)

Social media use has been linked to poor health among society since the early 2000s. A study was made on college students at the University at Buffalo. Study shows that participants who excessively use social media were found to have higher C-reactive protein. C-reactive protein or CRP is a biological marker of chronic inflammation that predicts illnesses like diabetes, certain cancers, and other cardiovascular diseases. (Gambini). In simpler words, students who were using social media ridiculously showed signs that they had CRP which can predict some illnesses that can harm the body in many ways. Other ways social media can be detrimental is it can lead to headaches, back and chest pains, as well as frequent visits to the doctors and health centers for treatments. (Gambini).