Introduction
Social media in the past few decades has become a huge influence on people’s lives. Studies show that a regular person spends from 3 to 6 hours on social media, which is becoming a form of addiction for many users Naslund et al. (2020). Nevertheless, social media is proven to be a source of emotional support for some users. Such counterintuitive data makes it hard to form a unanimous opinion on the matter, of whether the influence of social media is harmful or harmless. In this research by reviewing the scholarly article of Sadagheyani and Tatari (2021), the positive and negative effects of social media on mental health will be described.
Article Summary
In order to advocate the influence of social media platforms, the statistics of the social media users should be presented. According to Sadagheyani and Tatari (2021), there are 4,5 billion active internet users, and 88-90% percent of young people use social media, spending there approximately 9-12 hours a day. These statistics show the importance of social networks, which assist almost every person throughout the day.
In the chosen article, the key point is that social media has not only negative but also positive influences on the mental health of social media users, thus the author presents the main negative and positive effects. Sadagheyani and Tatari (2021) present anxiety, depression, loneliness, suicidal thoughts, cyberbullying, and poor quality of sleep as negative outcomes of social media usage. In its turn, among positive effects, the author lists entertainment, the possibility of self-expression, emotional support, and establishing and maintaining a relationship.
Moreover, the author explains every effect, supporting his opinion with credible scientific resources. One of the key points presented is the difference between passive usage which is viewing posts of other users without having a conversation and active social media usage which is frequent communication with others. It is mentioned that active usage presupposes positive effects, such as entertainment, emotional support, and establishing relationships, while passive usage can cause anxiety increase depression and loneliness. Thus, Sadagheyani and Tatari (2021) describe social media as a “double-edged sword” as it has a positive and negative influence.
The main basis for Sadagheyani and Tatari’s (2021) research is fifty scientific articles closely related to the interlinkage between social media and mental health. The evidence presented in the article can help to consider social media usage as a criterion while evaluating the mental health of the person, finding a better approach for the patients and fulfilling all their needs as well as taking better care of them.
Article Critique
The article has academic value, as it is based on credible evidence. The author named and described the positive and negative effects produced by social media on mental health, giving each point an explanation. Moreover, the findings and results are backed up by the studies of Naslund et al. (2020), which findings about positive and negative effects correspond to the results of the article.
The main weakness of the article is the absence of the factor of the initial predisposition of a person towards listed mental health issues. According to the research of Coyne et al. (2019), social media influence should be distinguished into two levels within-person and between-person, which differ in their outcomes. Taking into account the weak and strong sides of the article, it can be recommended as part of the preliminary reading, as it has more general than in-depth information on the issue.
Conclusion
Social media is proven to be not only a huge part of people’s everyday life but also a factor in their mental condition. Sadagheyani and Tatari give an outlook on the issue, presenting negative and positive outcomes. Moreover, the author provided an interesting point on passive and active usage of social media networks, and the difference it makes in the mental state of the person. As the article is based on fifty different scholarly articles on the matter, it presents a broad and fair view of the problem, and the evidence of the article is backed up by other credible research listed on the reference page.
References
Coyne, S.M., Rogers, A.A., Zurcher, J.D., Stockdale, L., & Booth, M. (2019). Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in Human Behavior, 104, 98–132.
Naslund, J.A., Bondre, A., & Torous, J. (2020). Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 5, 245–257.
Sadagheyani, H.E., & Tatari, F. (2021). Investigating the role of social media on mental health. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 25(1), 41–51.