Introduction
The preservation of the well-being of the young population plays a vital role since the future development of society depends on it. However, there are more and more negative factors that cause concern. One of these aspects is social networks, often used by young adults and teens. Phenomena such as cyberbullying, peer pressure, addiction, and mental health negative impact. Despite this, there is an opposite opinion, which says that they do not affect the well-being of people. Thus, this study aims to provide a counterargument that social networks have a negative contribution to the mental development of young people and adolescents.
Social networks do not have a negative contribution to the mental development
Thus, many studies show that the excessive involvement of adolescents in the world of social networks contributes to the development of depression. It is emphasized that this is facilitated by bullying that occurs on online platforms or due to peer pressure, which is rugged for vulnerable people to withstand. However, as a counterargument, it should be emphasized that research papers also say the opposite. Thus, an eight-year study showed that “time spent on social media was not associated with increased mental health issues across development when examined at the individual level” (Coyne et al., 2020, p. 2). Thus, the researchers showed that the phenomenon of online presence does not have a full justification for changes in the mental well-being of young adolescents and teenagers on the opposing side.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this work has proved that there is an opinion that social networks are not the leading cause of the deterioration of the psychological health of the younger generation. Despite an extensive number of sources proving the opposite, long-term scientific experiments also support this point of view. However, it is worth noting that it is impossible to completely deny the undesirable impact of cyberbullying and peer pressure in social networks on the overall well-being of young adults and adolescents.
References
Coyne, S. M., Rogers, A. A., Zurcher, J. D., Stockdale, L., & Booth, M. (2020). Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in Human Behavior, 104.