“Most members of Generation Z can’t imagine life without Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter,” Carolyn Gregoire reports for The Huffington Post. “Nearly one in four teens reports being online ‘almost constantly,’ with much of that online time dominated by social media.”
“But the effect of social networking on teens’ mental health has been largely unclear, since so little research has been conducted on the matter. A new study warns, however, that frequent social media use may indeed take a toll on a young person’s psychological well-being,” Gregoire reports. “The research comes from Ottawa Public Health, the city of Ottawa’s agency for health information, programs and services.”
“To conduct the study, the researchers analyzed data from 750 students in grades seven through 12, collected for the 2013 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. The students were asked to answer questions about their social media habits, mental health and psychological well-being, and mental health support. Of those students, 25 percent said that they spent at least two hours a day on social networking sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook,” Gregoire reports. “The researchers found that these heavy social media users were more likely to report having poor mental health, psychological distress (symptoms of anxiety and depression), suicidal thoughts and unmet mental health needs.”
“While the study doesn’t prove causality, it’s likely that the direction of influence runs both ways,” Gregoire reports. “Teens who are struggling with their mental health may be more likely to use social media frequently, while excessive use of social media use may over time contribute to poor mental health.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Who doesn’t know by now that Facebook is a land of make-believe, an unending stream of ridiculous self-created advertisements for perfect lives that do not exist. No wonder it attracts the mentally ill and exacerbates mental illness. It’s a beehive for those suffering from narcissistic personality disorder – and NSA spooks.
SEE ALSO:
FYI: Facebook collects all the text you typed but decided against posting – April 22, 2015
European Commission: Don’t use Facebook if you don’t want to be spied on – March 27, 2015
Facebook, Google, and Amazon are getting even creepier – December 9, 2014
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014
Tim Berners-Lee: You should own your personal data, not Google, Facebook, Amazon, and advertisers – October 8, 2014
How to hide Twitter, Facebook buttons in iOS 8 sharing panel – October 2, 2014
Facebook’s scary Messenger app highlights iOS security vs. Android security – August 8, 2014
Facebook conducts massive psychology experiment on 700,000 unaware users, and you may have been a guinea pig – June 28, 2014
Why Apple really values your privacy – unlike Google, Facebook, or Amazon – June 25, 2014
U.S. NSA used Facebook to hack into computers – March 12, 2014
Young users see Facebook as ‘dead and buried’ – December 27, 2013
How to permanently delete your Facebook account – December 16, 2013
Study finds link between number of Facebook friends and ‘socially disruptive’ narcissism – April 10, 2012
Facebook is stupid and for old people – April 10, 2012
