The growing popularity of social media has resulted in an increase of on-line based friendships which can be seen to diminish adolescent’s psychological health. Psychological health is related to the mental or emotional state of a person, not their physical state. In comparison with face-to-face interactions, social networking services (SNSs) allow interactions between a large scale of people. However, the relationships formed via social media are superficial, thus impacting psychological health negatively (Pantic, 2014). This essay will aim to explain how online relationships diminish adolescent’s psychological health by focussing on how social media exacerbates social isolation and loneliness, the higher rates of depression in social media users, the lower levels of self-esteem due to friendships over social networking services and the concern of addiction that comes from on-line communication.
The friendships formed online are linked to an increase in feelings of social isolation, which diminish one’s psychological health. Social isolation is defined as physical isolation or an absence of social communication. This in turn can lead to an increased risk of depression, anxiety and more conditions which diminish psychological health. Caplan (2007) and Ceyhan and Ceyhan (2008) suggest that the friendships established through SNSs are associated with high levels of social isolation as these relationships take time away from face-to-face friendships. Therefore, as social media develops further, the time adolescents spend on SNSs considerably increases. The result is a reduction of interpersonal face-to-face communications including the user’s family members and social circle. Isolation and loneliness can consequently be considered a by-product of online relationships and high internet use. This is because these users, a majority of which are adolescent, are investing more time into their online relationships at the expense of their face-to-face relationships. A study conducted by Whaite, Shensa, Sidani, Colditz and Primack (2018) aimed to determine and evaluate the associations between social media usage, personality and social isolation. Their results show that there is a greater risk of social isolation in frequent and high social media users. This is especially prevalent in users that have low conscientiousness, who are more likely to use social media carelessly, and engage in online relationships that are negative. It is these less conscientious users who are more at risk of higher levels of social isolation, and therefore their psychological health is diminished. An analysis of social media usage and social isolation can therefore determine that friendships formed on line can be diminishing to one’s psychological health, particularly in adolescents, as these friendships can increase feelings of social isolation and loneliness.
SNSs and the friendships formed online are associated with numerous psychiatric disorders, including depression, which diminishes psychological health. In adolescents, there is substantial evidence of an association between time spent on social media and symptoms of depression. Lima, Marques, Muinos and Camilo (2017) suggests that relationships formed online do not meet the individual’s social connection needs, and are therefore capable of inducing depressive symptoms upon the individual. This is because communication online, while it may be frequent, only involves short communication. This type of communication does not allow for the sharing of emotions and feelings, thus mitigating the opportunity for the development of deep relationships. In comparison to online relationships, a study conducted by Lima et al. (2017) concludes that face-to-face friendships tend to be compassionate and intimate relationships that are essential for good psychological wellbeing. Therefore, it is evident that online relationships, are capable of inducing depressive symptoms. It is also known that many adolescents become emotionally invested in SNSs, which means they experience feelings of disconnectedness when in a situation where social media is unable to be accessed, leading to higher levels of depressive symptoms. Online relationships are also based on limited information, and a large number of users tend to present themselves on social media in a way that gives a more positive impression. This could lead to incorrect conclusions of online friendships, in terms of their physical appearance, moral integrity, and many more characteristics (Pantic, 2014). However, there is no definitive evidence that this causes depression in users with no preceding depressive symptoms. It can however instigate depressive symptoms in users with predisposed depression. When examining how friendships formed over SNSs can lead to depression, it is evident that online relationships do in fact diminish psychological health.
The relationships formed online are also associated with a decrease in self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as ‘the extent to which one prizes, values, approves or likes oneself’ (Blascovich and Tomaka, 1991). It is one of the indicators and central components of psychological health, and therefore lower self-esteem can diminish psychological health. In interactions or relationships over SNSs, there are many chances for people to learn about other people’s lives and characteristics. However, information presented about a person online is not always truthful. It is in these online relationships, in which it is difficult to distinguish the truth, that social comparisons can be made, including self-evaluation. The quality of relationships can also influence self-esteem. Gonzales (2014) states that supportive listening, mutual sharing and many other interpersonal processes are effective in maintaining or increasing self-esteem. Thus, online relationships, which are superficial in nature and do not allow for sharing of emotions, have the ability to decrease self-esteem. A study conducted by Baym, Zhang and Lin (2004) found that face-to-face relationships comprised of at least 60% of all social communications, and was shown to be better quality than online relationships. Therefore, in comparison, online relationships are inferior to face-to-face relationships, which allow for a higher quality relationship with the many interpersonal processes that are needed to regulate and increase self-esteem. When assessing how self-esteem changes due to different friendships, it is apparent that online relationships negatively affect individuals, especially adolescents’ self-esteem, thus diminishing their psychological health.
The expanding use of SNSs as a method of communication between individuals, especially adolescents, has increased concern around the issue of social media addiction. According to Smahel, Brown and Blinka (2012) adolescents predominately use SNSs to maintain friendships they have offline, as well as developing new relationships with people they do not know personally. The more time adolescents spend communicating or developing friendships online, the more time they therefore spend on SNSs, thus increasing the opportunities they have to develop an addiction. A study conducted by Smahel et al. (2012) concludes that online friendships and SNS based interactions are a large factor in adolescents’ social media addiction, as it causes them to prefer online rather than face-to-face relationships. This in turn can lead to offline relationships being neglected, therefore fuelling these adolescents’ likelihood to overuse and become addicted to social media. Any addiction is negative towards psychological health, but addiction to social media can be shown to increase levels of stress, mood swings and anxiety, as well as decrease concentration levels (Rayan, Dadoul, Jabereen, Sulieman, Alzayyat and Baker, 2016). Therefore, it can be seen that adolescents use of SNSs as a form of communication can potentially lead to addiction, which can diminish their psychological health.
As social media develops further, and its prevalence in the day to day lives of individuals, especially adolescents, increases, research has proven that the psychological health of these individuals is being diminished. An analysis of the social isolation and loneliness, as well as higher rates of depression, lower self- esteem, and the concern of addiction shows that they come hand in hand with online relationships. This indicates that online relationships are insignificant and short lived in comparison to face-to-face relationships, thus expressing that online relationships diminish psychological health.