Contemporary Social Issues: Multimedia Project

1. Social Media’s Effect On Our Well
Being
Khalyn Levasseur & Gina Ammett

2. What does “Well-Being”
mean?
- a complex combination of a person’s
physical, emotional, mental and social health
factors
- strongly linked to a person’s happiness
- it is how you feel about yourself and your life
as a whole

3. What is Social Media?
- an array of Internet sites that enable people around
the world to interact with one another
- ex. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc.

4. Social Media Statistics
- 1 in 4 people worldwide have accounts
- Facebook: 50+ million active users
- Twitter: 255 million active users
- Instagram: 20 billion active users
- 72% of Internet users are active on social media
- 18-29 year olds: 89%
- 30-49 year olds: 72%
- 50-60 year olds: 60%
- 65 + year olds: 43%

5. factors that lead to enhancing
well-being
- happy and healthy intimate relationship
- network of close friends
- regular exercise
- nutritional diet
- optimistic outlook
- good physical health(ie. no illness/disease)

6. factors leading to a poor well-
being
- unhealthy, unhappy intimate relationship
- no close friends
- poor nutrition
- little/no exercise
- poor self-esteem
- illness/disease (physically or mentally)
- alcohol and/or substance abuse
- addictions

7. Now,
Let’s compare these factors
to social media………..

8. Anxiety
“one of the most common mental health problems on
college campuses”(Anxiety and Depression Association of
America)
Disconnect Anxiety: negative emotional feelings when
unable to be online
- Salford business school at University of Salford:
228 participants
half- social media changed their lives, 51% for the worse

9. Anxiety
Psychology Department at Michigan State University:
- monitored 300+ undergraduate student’s social media use
- those who multitasked= higher rates of anxiety, as well as depression
“One possibility is that the more people multitask,the more anxious they get.
Another is that the more anxious and depressed people are, the more they
multitask.” (Christopher Hopwood,associate professor at Michigan State
University)

10. Anxiety
~ fear of missing out
~ “compare and despair”
~ self consciousness/seeking perfection
lead to……..
SOCIAL ANXIETY:
strong and persistent fear of of social or performance
situations in which humiliation or embarrassment may
occur

11. Depression
● Social media is linked to feelings of social isolation, depression, insecurity, envy, and poor
self esteem
● Viewing photos of family vacations, birthdays, weddings, social gatherings can cause people
to become envious and fall into depression wishing they could be part of those photos
● Shows a false reality of what the world is about
● People anxious about posting their displeasing traits or unflattering pictures online, so they
edit and crop themselves so they appear more attractive than they actually are, which
causes them to be distressed about their appearance
● Spending too much time on social media causes a negative cycle; secluding yourself from
the world and focusing on media, becoming a victim of your own thoughts, being less
attuned to those around you, being swallowed into a chat room surrounded by people who
prompt negative thoughts
● Increase in interaction of social media and networking causes a decrease in face-to-face
interactions, which discourages healthy boundaries

12. Self-Esteem
● loss of confidence
● self-criticism
● isolation
● 298 users- 50% say their self esteem worsened
“Social media can give us a false sense of belonging and connecting that is not built on real-life
exchanges.”
“We compare ourselves to what we see…”
“...Only snapshots of reality….”
(Sherrie Campbell, psychotherapist)
● number of “likes” is valued- it’s a tool of verification for acceptance
● “Teen’s self-esteem is at the mercy of likes, shares, comments, and retweets on social
media websites.”
● emotional well being is potentially destroyed by self-esteem issues

13. Self-Esteem
signs of a weakened self-esteem (from social
media):
● disrupts real world thoughts and interactions
● affects your mood
● being alone is uncomfortable
● becoming envious of what others promote
● relishing in other’s misfortune
● measure your success upon others
● addiction to drama and attention

14. Self-Image
● A result from a survey taken on school aged children showed that girls as young as 5 years
old were worried about their size and appearance
● Cosmetic surgery rates increased 20% since 2008
● Adolescent females are suffering from thin ideal internalization, self-objectification and
weight dissatisfaction caused by photos and ads of the ideal image of beauty scattered
over the places a teenager would constantly be around
● Women who read fashion magazines are more likely to have the desire to be thin, are
dissatisfied with their body and have a fear of gaining weight than those who aren’t
interested in these magazines
● ‘Body image’ is thought to be a complex phenomenon influenced by family, friends and social
media
● We believe that in order to be considered as beautiful or be an icon of desire, we need to
be thin, beautiful and perfect

15. Relationships
● “Social media networks are the primary way young people communicate and their main
channel to the outside world” (Caroline Nokes, 2014). Teenagers nature is becoming distant
as they chose to converse with individuals through the use of social media; they use
texting, Facebook, emoticons as their primary way of communicating
● Social media creates a competition to see who is the most population; the most likes, most
friends, most expensive things
● Begins and ends relationships (friendly and intimate)
● The more we spent time attached to social media and networks, we become de-attached to
those around us
● Encompasses friends, family, co-workers, distant relatives, former classmates etc.
● Creates an easy bridge for connecting, befriending, communicating, collaborating

16. Structural Functionalist
Theory- views society a complex, interconnected system
- each part works together as a functional whole
How would it relate to this issue?
- as a whole, our society needs to work on making our everyday social
interactions more important than what is happening over a website
- everyone needs to try to cut down their time on accounts-causing a “chain-
link effect”
IDEA:
Next time you go for dinner with friends, have everyone put their phone in
a pile on the table. The first to grab their phone pays everyone’s bill!

17. Structural Functionalist
Theory:
This theory explains why our society functions the way it does by focusing on the
relationships between different associations that makes up our society. It sees our society as a complex
system that works together to promote solidarity and stability. It relates to our topic (technology affecting
our well being) since technology is the broad focus on social structures that shape and evolve our society.
As our time is consumed and drawn into the ways of social media, it begins to shape the way our
community runs and affects the people within it. A common analogy by Hebert Spencer (who developed
this theory) claims the parts of the society works as ‘organs’ that work together toward the proper
functioning of the ‘body’ as a whole. The ‘organs’ are us in our community and the ‘body’ is our
society/community. We aim to all work together toward a goal of a proper function society, but the issues
of our technology and social media come across as a barrier and get in the way.

18. References
Beattie, A. (2013, August 15). Social media and its effects on our emotional-well being. Retrieved
from METRO website: http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/15/social-media-and-its-effects-on-our-emotional-well-being-3924915
Bennett, S. (2014, June 9). Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat – Social Media
Stats 2014 [INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved from SocialTimes website: http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/social-media-statistics-2014/499230
Bullas, J. (2015). 22 Social Media Facts and Statistics You Should Know in 2014. Retrieved from jeffbullas.com website:
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/01/17/20-social-media-facts-and-statistics-you-should-know-in-2014/
Durlofsky, P. (2014). Can too much social media cause depression? Retrieved from http://www.mainlinetoday.com/Blogs/Thinking-
Forward/February-2014/Can-Too-Much-Social-Media-Cause-Depression/
Fitzgerald, B. (2012, November 7). Social Media is Causing Anxiety, Study Finds. Retrieved December 7, 2012, from Huff Post TECH website:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/social-media-anxiety_n_1662224.html
Gavin. (2014). Study examines cyberbullying and online aggression among college students. Retrieved from http://www.geeknado.com/study-
examines-cyberbullying-online-aggression-among-college-students/

19. Gummow, J. (2014, March 7). 7 Telltale Signs Social Media is Killing Your Self-Esteem. Retrieved
from ALTERNET website: http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/7-telltale-signs-social-media-killing-your-self-esteem
Roxby, P. (2014). Does social media impact on body image? Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29569473
Sunstrum, K. (2014). How social media affects our self-perception. Retrieved from: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/03/14/how-social-
media-affects-our-self-perception/
Theobald, M. (2014). Depression and Social media. Retrieved from http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-report/major-depression-resource-
center/depression-social-media.aspx
Tolly, K. (2014, October 21). Does social media affect student's self-esteem? Retrieved from USA Today website: http://college.usatoday.com/2014/10/21/does-
social-media-affect-students-self-esteem/