By Andrew Brock
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and other social media are everywhere, drawing the everlasting attention of their users, especially college students. According to the Pew Research Center, 98% of these students spend approximately on social media at some point each day, leading to the question if this impacts student mental health.
Much research has been done on this topic recently, and many different conclusions have been drawn. There is evidence to say that social media use can negatively impact one’s mental health. One survey done by YouGov, which looked at how much adults think teenagers’ depression was caused by social media use, found that 86% of those adults said social media was at least somewhat responsible for the depression occurring. And although it might not be the sole reason why these students’ mental health is being negatively impacted, it could undoubtedly be worsening things for these students. As Towson University psychology professor Jonathan Mattanah says, “It could be that a student who is isolated and lonely and depressed turns to social media, and so the social media is not causing their loneliness, or their isolation, or their depression, but I think that it could exacerbate it.”
Nearly half (46%) of students reported in a 2022 study that social media positively impacted their lives, with some of the most common answers being that social media allowed them to connect to other people. That is how Gladis Santos-Felix, a Sophomore at Howard Community College, feels. Santos-Felix, 19, is on two social media platforms and said, “I use social media to communicate with my friends, post updates about my life, or to find random trendy items that I want to try out.” As far as how that use of social media affects her mental health, Santos-Felix says, “For the most part, it (social media) doesn’t have too much of an impact on my mental health, but there are times where social media prevents me from getting things done.” So, for her, there is a positive and negative side to her use of social media, something that Senior Towson University student Cam Kenneth, 22, relates to. Kenneth shared, “Social media impacts my life positively and negatively. It’s positive for me because I get to see calm and relaxing stuff on these social media apps, and it’s negative because, for example, right now I’m banned on TikTok for about a month or so just because I argue with people online.”
Although there has been so much research and so many studies done to see if social media really is a definite negative medium for college students to use, it is clear that there is a positive and negative side to it, just like many things in life. With a mindful balance on how often you’re on social media as well as a concerted effort to still be active off-screen, it is safe to say that college students might not see as many of those negative effects as they do the positive ones.
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