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PMP - CW3 Model Essay 2022-23
“It has been suggested that social media use may be harmful to the wellbeing and health of young people”. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? You may wish to reference aspects of physical and mental health and consider the effects of social media on lifestyle habits and general quality of life.
Since the founding of internet-based social networking sites (SNS) in the early 2000s, global use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Sina Weibo, has expanded rapidly. Van Dijck (2013) defines SNS as online platforms that build and encourage social, business and geographical connections. Perrin (2015) highlights the widespread growth of such sites, reporting that 90% of young adults used social media in 2015, whereas in 2005, the figure was just 12%. Due to this huge growth, and the ever increasing significance of social media, it is important to consider whether the effects of SNS are more beneficial or harmful to the wellbeing and health of young people. This essay will argue that the use of SNS is more positive than harmful to the younger generation. In addressing this point, the effects of SNS on relationship development and social capital, mental health, and education will be examined in detail.
Forming and maintaining a range of types of relationships is of huge importance, especially for young people. One of the most recognised advantages of using SNS, is that it can support relationship development and help young people to build and maintain social capital. Social capital has been defined as the ability of people to work together for common purposes in groups and organisations (Fukuyama, 1995). It refers to the networks people build through social ties, shared values and norms, and how these networks help groups to function effectively. It has also been defined as the resources available to an individual from the relations formed with others (Ellison et al., 2007; Valenzuela et al., 2009).
A number of different types of social capital that are relevant to social media use have been identified. Bonding social capital, refers to the close bonds individuals form with other people in their social group - family, friends, or classmates. These are the strong and close relationships formed with people from similar backgrounds to the individual (Williams, 2006). Bridging social capital, refers to resources gained from relationships that are not as close (sometimes referred to as ‘weak tie’ relationships), and might include connections with people from outside the individual’s normal social group, such as people from a different race, religion or social class, or relationships with colleagues and with those that have similar interests, rather than with close friends and relatives (Williams, 2006). Although not necessarily providing the emotional support found in friendships (Ellison et al., 2007), these types of relationships help users acquire knowledge, and provide better access to opportunities, as relationships can be formed regardless of societal background. Donath and Boyd (2004) note that due to the ease of making connections through social media, SNS are especially well-suited to increasing bridging social capital. Lastly, Ellison et al. (2007) identify the final category of social capital relations as maintained social capital, referring to relationships started early in life that are continued into adulthood. Use of SNS is particularly useful for this form of social capital. For example, it has been found that university students use these platforms to maintain relationships with high school friends to help combat the emotional upset of losing connections with friends when moving away from home to study or work, sometimes referred to as ‘friendsickness’ (Paul, 2001; Cummings, 2006). Thus, research seems to suggest that use of social media is closely connected to building and maintaining relationships and the development of different types of social capital.
The benefits of building social capital are numerous, with research reporting that it can have a positive effect in areas as diverse as length of time spent in education, academic achievement and intellectual development in children, health, employment opportunities and financial prospects, and the prevention of criminal behaviour (Coleman, 1988; Ellison et al., 2007; Mckenzie, 2002; Portes, 1998; Putnam, 2000). In terms of the effects of social media use on social capital, a Pew Internet survey reported that internet users are likely to benefit more from online relationships than they would from the equivalent connections established offline ("The Strength of Internet Ties", 2020). In addition, as Ellison et al. (2007) highlight, SNS such as Facebook provide low-risk social interaction without the fear of rejection that may accompany face-to-face interaction. This implies that those who lack the confidence to form relationships with others in an offline setting may be more encouraged to do this online, thus increasing their social capital. For younger users, even as far back as 1996, Wellman et al. (1996 as cited in Ahn, 2011) suggested that the use of SNS significantly expands their social networks, particularly ‘weak tie’ relationships with casual acquaintances they rarely meet, and Ahn (2011) drew a similar conclusion from a study of social capital amongst high school students. Therefore, it seems that use of SNS can have a significant positive impact on the social capital of young people.
SNS are also commonly used to strengthen existing relationships. Two studies related to the effects of SNS use on social capital found a low probability of young adults using social media to meet completely new people, instead revealing that sites such as Facebook are mainly used to build relationships with existing friends and to become closer to new acquaintances (Acquisti, 2006; Ellison et al., 2007). The investment of effort into these relationships leads to an increase in trust, which has been identified as vital for effective collaborative actions such as participation in political groups. Additional evidence of the benefits of SNS in this context comes from a thorough study of Facebook use of 2,603 college students in Texas (Valenzuela et al., 2009). The results of this study show that life satisfaction, trust in others, and participation in political and social groups increases as intensity of Facebook use increases. Examples of this increased participation effect include collective political action in Canada to protest a government copyright reform bill (Nowak, 2008) and, more recently, wide-ranging environmental, political and anti-racist campaigns by young K-pop and TikTok activists in Indonesia, Thailand and the US (Andini & Akhni, 2021). Finally, a recent study by Huang et al. (2021) found that SNS use is positively related to life satisfaction and social capital. All of this evidence seems to confirm that SNS use exerts a strongly positive influence on building social capital among this demographic.
Life satisfaction is one key element of mental health, which also includes psychological wellbeing and self-esteem. In fact, there has been sustained discussion of how SNS use impacts young people’s mental health. Ellison et al. (2007) argue that Facebook use increases all these important indicators of mental health. Their research among frequent users of Facebook indicates that participants with low self esteem had more bridging social capital than participants who reported that they had high self-esteem. This implies that Facebook use may be particularly beneficial for students lacking in self-confidence. Furthermore, Valkenburg et al. (2006), reported that teenagers who use SNS intensely have more friends and more interactions, which may further support the argument that increased use of SNS leads to higher self-esteem. Notably, it was concluded that users who received a high number of positive reactions on social media usually had higher self-esteem, and therefore, life satisfaction, suggesting that it may not be the use of SNS in itself that provides these positive effects, but the social development that occurs as a result of receiving positive reactions (Valkenburg et al., 2006). Ellison et al. (2007) support this idea, adding that students with low levels of happiness or satisfaction in life should be encouraged to engage more frequently in online social networks. Thus, the active use of Facebook and other SNS among young people could lead to an increased sense of strong connection to their social network and, as a result, increased levels of happiness.
Despite the obvious benefits of SNS use to the psychological wellbeing of young people, potentially harmful effects have been identified across a range of studies. For instance, Dumas et al. (2017) found that six out of ten 18-25 year-olds admitted to engaging in dishonest actions to gain likes on social media sites. Those with lower self-esteem are more likely to be influenced by peer norms amongst their friendship group for this type of behaviour. This behavioural trend is supported by findings from previous research, in which young people with low self-esteem are identified as being highly susceptible to peer influence (DuBois, 2004; Zimmerman, 1997). Additional issues which may have an effect on the mental health of users of SNS are those related to a potential over-dependence on sites such as Facebook. Satici and Uysal (2015) reported that Facebook addiction can lower levels of wellbeing and may lead to mental health issues such as depression. The most likely cause of these issues is stress caused by dependence on Facebook, as highlighted by Naeemi and Taman (2016). In this research, the problems identified included jealousy resulting from comparisons with friends, relationship issues caused by Facebook interactions, addiction to the platform, privacy issues and being overwhelmed by content. These are identified as increasing the levels of stress in teenagers. To explain the root cause of Facebook dependence, Przybylski et al. (2013) point to fear of missing out (FoMO), which they define as a feeling of dread that one might be absent from rewarding experiences. Findings from both these studies suggest that the psychological dangers of overusing social media should be considered, and that young people should be encouraged to spend time interacting socially offline. However, in spite of these possible risks, the benefits of social media use on mental health do seem to outweigh the drawbacks.
The final area of impact relevant to SNS use amongst young people is education. In terms of high school students, existing studies have mainly focused on whether use of SNS predicts academic achievement, with research being generally inconclusive. Some studies have identified a negative relationship between social media use and assessment grades (Karpinski, 2013; Sendurur, 2015), others have concluded that assessment grades increase with use of SNS (Asante, 2015; Leung, 2015), whilst others have found no link (Brubaker, 2014; Huang, 2014). Studies that have identified a negative link between SNS use and school achievement have tended to find that time spent engaging in one activity, particularly media-based, replaces time spent on another activity. In line with this theory, known as time displacement theory, it has been considered whether time spent on SNS additionally takes time away from studying. Although a number of researchers, such as Karpinski et al. (2013), have found that this may be the case, a recent study found no relationship between general SNS use and academic achievement, concluding that the time displacement theory has no empirical basis (Marker et al., 2017). In other words, time spent on SNS does not, in fact, take time away from studying. These differing conclusions suggest that further research needs to be conducted into the relationship between use of SNS and academic performance.
Two further concerns over SNS use and its relationship with education are multi-tasking and quality of sleep. In terms of multi-tasking, Van der Schuur et al. (2015) have found that students often check their social media accounts on their phones whilst in school and studying at home, and that this behaviour reduces the amount of working memory, and thus reduces a students’ ability to complete a task efficiently. In addition, quality of sleep can also be affected by use of SNS. Levenson et al. (2016) report that the 25% of students who used social media most were also twice as likely to disclose that they had issues sleeping. This is important because sleep quality is known to be closely related to academic success (Dewald et al., 2010). Therefore, while in many areas, SNS use has not been confirmed as being negative to a student’s educational experience, findings suggest that students should be aware of the dangers of overuse of SNS.
The use of social networks for educational purposes has become increasingly common within higher education in particular (Sánchez et al., 2014). SNS are particularly effective in higher education for a number of reasons. Firstly, the community-oriented nature of SNS means they are ideal platforms to encourage information sharing and the exchange of ideas between groups of students on similar paths of study, and thus, an efficient tool for collaborative learning (Menzies et al., 2017). This is highlighted by the fact that 80% of University-level educators use Facebook as a communication tool with students in the US (Tinti-Kane et al., 2010). Secondly, it appears that students show an increased willingness to engage with their peers and instructors, and higher levels of enjoyment when using SNS for educational purposes: there is a greater interaction between students and teachers, more rapid adjustment to university life and a higher proportion of students remaining on their courses when using Facebook (Nalbone et al., 2016). Furthermore, the use of SNS tends to foster a strong sense of community amongst students. This tendency was highlighted by Whittaker et al. (2014) who surveyed American students and found that when Facebook is used as an online learning community, emotional connections increase and learners feel more empowered to problem-solve as a group. In the same vein, Chen (2015) conducted a study of Taiwanese students, and concluded that Facebook encourages the sharing of practical experiences and group learning. Thus, evidence strongly indicates that SNS use at university level has a positive effect on learners.
In conclusion, there is widespread evidence that the use of SNS can result in a multitude of benefits for young people. Many of these benefits are centred around the capability of SNS to support development of relationships and promote social capital, especially with ‘weak tie’ associates. This translates into a better network of resources for SNS users and is particularly beneficial for those with low self-confidence. In addition, SNS can increase life satisfaction and self-esteem, which are key to mental health. Finally, in terms of education, it seems clear that SNS offer a different platform for both educators and students where they can share information, build strong networks and improve levels of engagement, especially in the higher education sector. Conversely, these benefits do not come without potential drawbacks, mainly those related to dependency on SNS and the potential negative impacts overuse of SNS may have on academic achievement. Considering this, the dangers of spending too much time on SNS, such as Facebook, should be highlighted by educators, parents and by SNS themselves. Educational institutions should promote the use of SNS for learning, perhaps by developing training courses for educators on the most effective methods for applying this powerful tool. Finally, as SNS are still a relatively new and evolving concept, further studies should continue to explore and monitor their effects on young people and to find ways to ensure their use by young people outweighs any potential harm.
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