The selected contemporary psychological issue that is prevalent today is depression and social media use. The popular source states that “people who limit their time on social media tend to be happier than those who don’t … this indicates a relationship between lower social media use and emotional wellbeing” (Nittle, 2021, para. 8). However, a peer-reviewed study on which the previous article was based states that “throughout the four-week intervention, subjects in both groups also showed a significant decline in both fear of missing out and anxiety” (Hunt et al., 2018, p. 763). In addition, it points out that “our subjects did not show any improvement in social support, self-esteem, or psychological well-being” (Hunt et al., 2018, p. 764). Although both sources report on the possible existence of a connection between social media use and depression, the conclusions derived are clearly different.
The popular source does not provide a specific detail that the subjects’ psychological well-being did not improve, but instead, it claims that it did. Not only the popular source lacks important elements of the direct observational results from the peer-reviewed article, but it additionally makes wrongful assumptions. The true finding is the fact that students experienced lowered fear and anxiety from missing out, not an improvement in happiness or emotional well-being. The popular source inappropriately addresses the vital components of the selected topic in psychology for a general population. Such information can be harmful to readers since they will assume that social media directly causes depression, which was not proven nor argued. The damage can come in the form of misinformation, which can result in an unjustified and unnecessary self-restriction of social media. In addition, truly depressed individuals might use it as a self-treatment instead of seeking professional help.
References
Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751–768. Web.
Nittle, N. (2021). How does social media play a role in depression? Very Well Mind. Web.