The impact of social media on the mental health of Gen Z
Published in Slideshow World
Our relationship with social media can be summed up in two words: "It's complicated."
Social media apps help us maintain personal connections and provide a platform for self-expression; however, many people—especially younger generations—also say social media has negatively impacted their mental health.
Sandstone Care used McKinsey data to see how social media affects the mental health of young people worldwide.
Social media platforms have been around for over 20 years. Open Diary introduced community blogging to the Web in 1998, the same year Yahoo Pager joined the fold. When Facebook came around in 2004, MySpace had already gained a one-year headstart, with YouTube and Reddit materializing two years later in 2005.
Despite its rapid evolution and prevalent use, researchers are still learning how social media affects people's overall well-being, especially youth who have grown up with social media. As many as 95% of teens ages 13 to 17 use social media, per a 2023 Surgeon General report, and at least 35% of these users spend more than two hours a day on social media, according to McKinsey.
Many worry that social media correlates with mental health decline. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that, in 2021, about 3 in 10 teens experienced poor mental health, and at least 1 in 5 have contemplated suicide. As of 2023, girls have about double the depression symptoms as boys, with nearly 3 in 5 feeling constantly sad or hopeless.
That said, it can be difficult to tie mental health directly to social media use, particularly when Gen Z suffered many ill effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, including isolation, remote learning, and economic insecurity.
Consequentially, the way Gen Z uses social media is different from other generations, which may contribute to poor mental health. Compared to other generations, McKinsey found that Gen Z uses social media more passively: Two in 5 (43%) rarely or never post, compared to 35% of millennials.
Many studies have looked at passive versus active social media use to determine whether it adversely affects mental health. While the jury is still out, there are signs that social media's negative aspects may affect Gen Z more because they're in a critical phase of brain development.
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