The effects of social media usage on teenager’s mental health in Kazakhstan

      Nazarbayev Intellectual School[pic 1]

      Physics and Mathematics in Shymkent

      Global Perspectives and Project Work

                       2020-2021  

Topic: The effects of social media usage on teenager’s mental                                                                      health in Kazakhstan

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Research work done by: Nauryzbay Tasbulat

Checked by:  Erlan Iskanderov

Word count: 3419

Introduction  

           The next generation will enter adulthood wired by life online. There are plenty of debates about the effects of social media on teens. While scientists work to figure out exactly what all of today’s technology is doing to our bodies and brains, the Smart Social team believes social media has turned into an unhealthy obsession for society.

         Some scientists also have been concerned about the impact of social network to teenager’s mental health. These concerns have been recognised by people all over the world. For instance, an English television presenter and social critic, Charlie Brooker, has produced a TV series about current technologies and social media that highlights the bad impact of it to people’s brain and thinking ability (Black Mirror 2011-2019). This TV series created my concern for online life issues and is one of the reasons for the choice of topic for this research.

       Read enough of the current research and you will find that the negatives tend to feel bigger than the positives. While teens can use social media to connect and create friendships with others, they also confront cyberbullying, trolls, toxic comparisons, sleep deprivation, and less frequent face-to-face interactions, to name a few. Too much time spent scrolling through social media can result in symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. I also believe that social media is like drugs and make teens addicted.

         All over the world, the usage of social networks among young people is growing every day, and Kazakhstan is no exception. Recently, the BRIEF Research Group team conducted a large-scale study of youth trends in our country. The results of the study showed that 91% of adolescents in Kazakhstan are registered on at least one social network.

         The focus of research is upon the impacts of social media to teens in Kazakhstan and effective ways to solve this problem. As a student of Nazarbayev Intellectual school I prone to fairly fulfill its mission to bring up global patriots who are responsible as for motherland so for the entire world. In this case, I want to help all parents and educators understand how big the online addiction problem is, so we can all work together to help kids around the world stay safe and healthy from the negative effects of social media.

        According to the purposes and general assignment of this project work, it can be used for conducting new advanced studies by other students and teachers. Moreover, it is beneficial to use for spread information among the stuff by publishing in the school journal or website. Research outcomes namely indicated solutions and ways of avoiding from the bad impact of social networks to teenager’s mental health, especially in Kazakhstan.

Context

             From MySpace to Instagram, social media has rapidly grown in popularity over the past twenty years. Using social media comes with positives as well as negatives. On one hand, social media can connect you to new opportunities both personally and professionally. You can also use your platform to create positive change in your community. On the other hand, it is easy to be confused by false information on social media. Just as positivity can be spread quickly on social media, negativity can be spread quickly as well. Just as Mark Twain once said, “too much of anything is bad.” This is especially true with social media.

             Human beings are social creatures. We need the companionship of others to thrive in life, and the strength of our connections has a huge impact on our mental health and happiness. Being socially connected to others can ease stress, anxiety, and depression, boost self-worth, provide comfort and joy, prevent loneliness, and even add years to your life. On the flip side, lacking strong social connections can pose a serious risk to your mental and emotional health.

              Since it is a relatively new technology, there’s little research to establish the long-term consequences, good or bad, of social media use. However, multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts. Social media may promote negative experiences such as:

• Inadequacy about your life or appearance.
• Isolation
• Depression and anxiety
• Cyberbullying
• Self-absorption

              Whether it is one day classified or not – it is clear that there are downsides to using social media platforms. Research has suggested that young people who spend more than two hours a day on social networking sites are more likely to report poor mental health. If you’re on Instagram, there are examples aplenty of overly-filtered simulations of life that are supposed to be ‘aspirational’ but instead make many users feel like we’re having a worse life than our peers. It is of little surprise that Instagram was rated as the worst social media platform for young people’s mental health in a UK survey. Yet its audience is growing – there are now over 800 million users worldwide.

                We do know there is a direct link between social-media use and depression but other research shows that social media use is not always negative. One 2017 study found that the relationship between digital screen time and mental well-being works in a sort of upside-down u-curve. They call it the Goldilocks Hypothesis: - increasing doses of time on your smartphone or your computer is actually positively associated with well-being, but only to a point. Then, the dose is associated with lower levels of well-being, as the graph below shows.