# data[].attributes.body
social midea helps in you´re health by telling you things with bacterias

# data[].attributes.body
you can post healthy recipies

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media is so bad for your eyes.

# data[].attributes.body
social media is very bad because it is bad for your heath

# data[].attributes.body
People are getting adicted

# data[].attributes.body
Social media can be a powerful tool to promote eating better and moving more, especially among youth. Using technology like social media and health-related apps can make school wellness activities, physical activity, and nutrition tracking more engaging and fun for students.

# data[].attributes.body
There is a argument becase the adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on socia media have double risk of developing depression and anxienty

# data[].attributes.body
social media is good for know where to go in

holidays.

# data[].attributes.body
its good because its fun

# data[].attributes.body
If you like to write and enjoy interacting with others, then becoming a blogger may be something to try. Unlike journaling, which keeps your thoughts private, a blog is an online journal where your stories can be shared with others over weeks, months or years. You can also take blogging to the next stage by becoming a video blogger or ‘vlogger’ and tell your story through video.

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad because if you put information to you it can do bad things.

# data[].attributes.body
its good because they thire activitis

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad because it can make your self estem go down because if you see a picture of someone that looks better than you it can make your self estem go down

Juan

# data[].attributes.body
They edited this photo to make people think they have a perfect life.

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad because you cant stop it.

# data[].attributes.body
Social support is a huge factor when it comes to making healthy changes. Facebook groups can open up a new social world where you can find like-minded people to get support from.

# data[].attributes.body
social media is bad because it can cause problems in school life like bulling

# data[].attributes.body
Pin boarding is like having a virtual cork board where you can collect, organise and share all your favourite digital content.

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad because you can see incorrect things and you will copy.

# data[].attributes.body
social media is bad because adolescents who spend more than three hours a day!

# data[].attributes.body
social media is good because it gives you

ideas to do when you do not have nothing to do.

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good because people can learn and sea new things.

# data[].attributes.body
You could inspire other people by becoming a vlogger and people could put good comments, this could motivate your self-esteem. This shows social media is good.

JC

# data[].attributes.body
You can be inspired to be healthy

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media may be bad for your mental health.

Teenager's being addicted for all the time trying to see if they put them a messege.

Cande

# data[].attributes.body
Also you can learn loads of more of things like how to cook or how to help someone in an emergency.

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good because you can learn new things, good food to eat it,exercise and more things.

# data[].attributes.body
Also you can learn loads of more of things like how to cook or how to help someone in an emergency.

# data[].attributes.body
People are getting phones way to young

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad because it can say other peaple like "Where you live?" or "What is your name?" and will take information of you.

# data[].attributes.body
you can track your activity

# data[].attributes.body
The socia media is not good becase your going to be all the time with your movible or other divises and not with friends, family

# data[].attributes.body
social media is bad because if you uset so much your brain is gona exploued

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is often criticised for being bad for our health. It’s blamed for making people less active and feel more isolated. There are also concerns about safety and the accuracy of much information online and it’s certainly worth remembering that not everything you see is safe or even accurate.

Juliet

# data[].attributes.body
It causes Stress

# data[].attributes.body
on facebook it gives you healthy food recepies and special exercise for loosing wheit

# data[].attributes.body
you can see the world around

you and see what is going on

so it is really good

# data[].attributes.body
social media is bad because now most of the people are on the telefone an not having fun

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad to your eyes.

# data[].attributes.body
its good because they nead to eat

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is blamed for causing lonlynes or to not feel safe.

Juan VL

# data[].attributes.body
I think social media is good because it shows you very useful things like what you can feed your pets or healthy foods with not many calories.

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media could cause you stress because you may have a lot of information

Cande

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad because in any moment can hack you.

???

# data[].attributes.body
Three billion people, around 40% of the world’s population, use online social media – and we’re spending an average of two hours every day sharing, liking, tweeting and updating on these platforms, according to some reports.

# data[].attributes.body
social media is bad because you can get adictive and stop playing normal games

Alfonso

# data[].attributes.body
its good because the parents ned to wark

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good because it can let help you to do your exersice

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media is bad because if you are all the time. You cant see.

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good because there you can teach kids and get good ideas for healthy parenting.

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good for your health because you can see your

heart rate beat and make

better your exersise .

# data[].attributes.body
I think it better is to be outside

# data[].attributes.body
There are lots of studies which show that social media is as bad a gabbling

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is bad because it addict to you and if somebody stop you ,you going to be furios.

# data[].attributes.body
social media is bad because 40% of people use it 2 houres a day and it can get addicted

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good because you can encourage people to be healthy by showing them healthy recipes.

Sabe

# data[].attributes.body
social media helps people to go on trips and be in the outside

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media is bad because it could make you addicted and you may be sad because some bad comments

Cande

# data[].attributes.body
its good because they injoy plaing vidio gams

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media is good because if someone you really like takes action yo maybe can follow because their your role-model. :-)

# data[].attributes.body
Its good because other people can put food that are healthy and and it can inspire you to eat good. Xabitxu

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good because you could learn new things and inspire other people.

JC

# data[].attributes.body
Social media is good at motivating people healthy because you can create inspiration boards on Pinterest to encourage you to try healthy recipes.

Emma

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Related Topic Page | National Geographic

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All about how the body works, staying health, homework help, and more - just for kids.

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What are the risks of social media to teenage health and what can be done about them? Beth and Neil discuss this and teach you some useful vocabulary.

This week's question

What percentage of 13 to 24-year-olds use Snapchat?

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

Vocabulary

adolescent
a person aged 10 to 19: between childhood and adulthood

fed
given content by a social media platform

algorithms
a complex set of rules and calculations that prioritise and personalise online content

revenue
the money a company earns, which could come from sales or advertising

onus
responsibility or duty

a losing battle
a fight you cannot win
TRANSCRIPT
Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. ... Beth? What are you doing? Get off your phone!

Beth
Oh, sorry. And I'm Beth.

Neil
Are you addicted to social media? It wouldn't be a surprise. With so many different apps out there, Snapchat, TikTok, and the latest, Threads, it's easy to spend a lot more time on your phone than ever before.

Beth
Yes. I don't think I'm addicted, but I definitely spend more time on social media than I would like to. However, there are plenty of studies out there looking at how social media affects mental health with some saying it can be as addictive as gambling.

Neil
Research in the US has found that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media have double the risk of developing depression and anxiety. An adolescent is someone aged 10 to 19, between childhood and adulthood. With that in mind, it's no wonder parents are worried. To help with this, the US is currently in the process of regulating social media apps for teenagers. Some scientists think the UK should do the same.

Beth
There has been growing agreement among health experts about the negative, chronic health effects of social media use on teenagers. They have revealed in surveys that social media makes them feel worse about their body image, and 64% of teens have said they are regularly exposed to hate-based content. In this programme, we'll be discussing how social media affects teenagers, and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

Neil
But first I have a question for you, Beth. The app Snapchat is a very common way that teenagers communicate these days. This is partly because messages and photos disappear after a certain time period. But, what percentage of 13 to 24-year-olds use Snapchat? Is it:

Neil
OK, Beth, I'll reveal the answer later in the programme. Now, a lot of social media platforms, such as TikTok, work by showing and suggesting similar accounts and content to those someone has already searched for. Professor Devi Sridhar, the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, thinks this can be concerning, as she told BBC World Service programme, Inside Science:

Professor Devi Sridhar
And this is worrying for example, with young girls and eating disorders, that they're being fed that in an addictive way and the algorithm is saying 'oh they like that content. We want to keep giving it to them because it keeps them on their phones', and I think that's the really vital message here, of any of these apps, is that their revenue comes from advertising.

Beth
Teenagers are being fed content in a way that is addictive. If you are fed something, it means you are given something. In this case, it refers to content, not food. The content is addictive because social media uses algorithms. Algorithms are a complex set of rules and calculations that prioritise and personalise the content a user sees.

Neil
But we need to remember that social media platforms use algorithms to keep users on the platforms for as long as possible because the revenue comes from advertising. Revenue is the money a company earns. They are paid by other companies to use the social media space to promote their products.

Beth
This could be seen as social media platforms prioritising making money over the mental health of users - a worry for parents. Professor Devi Sridhar talked about the challenges of having a teenager addicted to social media on BBC World Service programme, Inside Science:

Professor Devi Sridhar
And so, I think the challenge here, as a parent, listening to this is what do you do about it. And I think the onus has really been put on parents and concerned adults to find solutions on their own. And that means debates with your child over what are you on, are you using this, but it's a losing battle because it's their entire social network.

Beth
Professor Sridhar says that, when it comes to helping teenagers navigate social media, the onus has been put on parents to find solutions. The onus means the responsibility or duty. Parents need to be able to challenge their children when they need to, even if this is a losing battle, a fight they cannot win, as teenagers have their 'entire life' on social networks.

Neil
OK, Beth. I think it's time I revealed the answer to my question. I asked you what percentage of 13 to 24-year-olds use Snapchat?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Learning English - 6 Minute English / Social media and teenage health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What are the health risks of social media for teenagers?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In some cases, social media may enhance well-being (Credit: Getty Images)

What the science suggests so far about the impact of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram on your mental well-being.

#LikeMinded

A special series about social media and well-being

This month, BBC Future is exploring social media's impact on mental health and well-being - and seeking solutions for a happier, healthier experience on these platforms. Stay tuned for more stories, coming soon...

Share your tips for a happy life on social media with the hashtag #LikeMinded on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This story is featured in BBC Future's "Best of 2018" collection. Discover more of our picks.

Three billion people, around 40% of the world's population, use online social media - and we're spending an average of two hours every day sharing, liking, tweeting and updating on these platforms, according to some reports. That breaks down to around half a million tweets and Snapchat photos shared every minute.

With social media playing such a big part in our lives, could we be sacrificing our mental health and well-being as well as our time? What does the evidence actually suggest?

Since social media is relatively new to us, conclusive findings are limited. The research that does exist mainly relies on self-reporting, which can often be flawed, and the majority of studies focus on Facebook. That said, this is a fast-growing area of research, and clues are beginning to emerge. BBC Future reviewed the findings of some of the science so far:

People use social media to vent about everything from customer service to politics, but the downside to this is that our feeds often resemble an endless stream of stress. In 2015, researchers at the Pew Research Center based in Washington DC sought to find out if social media induces more stress than it relieves.

In the survey of 1,800 people, women reported being more stressed than men. Twitter was found to be a "significant contributor" because it increased their awareness of other people's stress.

But Twitter also acted as a coping mechanism - and the more women used it, the less stressed they were. The same effect wasn't found for men, whom the researchers said had a more distant relationship with social media. Overall, the researchers concluded that social media use was linked to "modestly lower levels" of stress.

The presence of a phone affects the quality of conversation, some studies suggest (Credit: Getty Images)

In 2014, researchers in Austria found that participants reported lower moods after using Facebook for 20 minutes compared to those who just browsed the internet. The study suggested that people felt that way because they saw it as a waste of time.

A good or bad mood may also spread between people on social media, according to researchers from the University of California, who assessed the emotional content of over a billion status updates from more than 100 million Facebook users between 2009 and 2012.

Bad weather increased the number of negative posts by 1%, and the researchers found that one negative post by someone in a rainy city influenced another 1.3 negative posts by friends living in dry cities. The better news is that happy posts had a stronger influence; each one inspired 1.75 more happy posts. Whether a happy post translates to a genuine boost in mood, however, remains unclear.

Researchers have looked at general anxiety provoked by social media, characterised by feelings of restlessness and worry, and trouble sleeping and concentrating. A study published in the journal Computers and Human Behaviour found that people who report using seven or more social media platforms were more than three times as likely as people using 0-2 platforms to have high levels of general anxiety symptoms.

That said, it's unclear if and how social media causes anxiety. Researchers from Babes-Bolyai University in Romania reviewed existing research on the relationship between social anxiety and social networking in 2016, and said the results were mixed. They concluded that more research needs to be done.

Social media mimics many of the rewards of games and play, which can pose an attractive lure (Credit: Getty Images)

While some studies have found a link between depression and social media use, there is emerging research into how social media can actually be a force for good.

Two studies involving more than 700 students found that depressive symptoms, such as low mood and feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, were linked to the quality of online interactions. Researchers found higher levels of depressive symptoms among those who reported having more negative interactions.

A similar study conducted in 2016 involving 1,700 people found a threefold risk of depression and anxiety among people who used the most social media platforms. Reasons for this, they suggested, include cyber-bullying, having a distorted view of other people's lives, and feeling like time spent on social media is a waste.

However, as BBC Future will explore this month in our #LikeMinded season, scientists are also looking at how social media can be used to diagnose depression, which could help people receive treatment earlier. Researchers for Microsoft surveyed 476 people and analysed their Twitter profiles for depressive language, linguistic style, engagement and emotion. From this, they developed a classifier that can accurately predict depression before it causes symptoms in seven out of 10 cases.

Researchers from Harvard and Vermont Universities analysed 166 people's Instagram photos to create a similar tool last year with the same success rate.

Humans used to spend their evenings in darkness, but now we're surrounded by artificial lighting all day and night. Research has found that this can inhibit the body's production of the hormone melatonin, which facilitates sleep - and blue light, which is emitted by smartphone and laptop screens, is said to be the worst culprit. In other words, if you lie on the pillow at night checking Facebook and Twitter, you're headed for restless slumber.

Last year, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh asked 1,700 18- to 30-year-olds about their social media and sleeping habits. They found a link with sleep disturbances - and concluded blue light had a part to play. How often they logged on, rather than time spent on social media sites, was a higher predictor of disturbed sleep, suggesting "an obsessive 'checking'", the researchers said.

The researchers say this could be caused by physiological arousal before sleep, and the bright lights of our devices can delay circadian rhythms. But they couldn't clarify whether social media causes disturbed sleep, or if those who have disturbed sleep spend more time on social media.

One of the worst times to use social media may be just before bed (Credit: Getty Images)

Despite the argument from a few researchers that tweeting may be harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol, social media addiction isn't included in the latest diagnostic manual for mental health disorders.

That said, social media is changing faster than scientists can keep up with, so various groups are trying to study compulsive behaviours related to its use - for example, scientists from the Netherlands have invented their own scale to identify possible addiction.

And if social media addiction does exist, it would be a type of internet addiction - and that is a classified disorder. In 2011, Daria Kuss and Mark Griffiths from Nottingham Trent University in the UK have analysed 43 previous studies on the matter, and conclude that social media addiction is a mental health problem that "may" require professional treatment. They found that excessive usage was linked to relationship problems, worse academic achievement and less participation in offline communities, and found that those who could be more vulnerable to a social media addiction include those dependent on alcohol, the highly extroverted, and those who use social media to compensate for fewer ties in real life.

Women's magazines and their use of underweight and Photoshopped models have been long maligned for stirring self-esteem issues among young women. But now, social media, with its filters and lighting and clever angles, is taking over as a primary concern among some campaigning groups and charities.

Social media sites make more than half of users feel inadequate, according to a survey of 1,500 people by disability charity Scope, and half of 18- to 34-year-olds say it makes them feel unattractive.

A 2016 study by researchers at Penn State University suggested that viewing other people's selfies lowered self-esteem, because users compare themselves to photos of people looking their happiest. Research from the University of Strathclyde, Ohio University and University of Iowa also found that women compare themselves negatively to selfies of other women.

Selfies may have downsides for the viewer (Credit: Getty Images)

But it's not just selfies that have the potential to dent self-esteem. A study of 1,000 Swedish Facebook users found that women who spent more time on Facebook reported feeling less happy and confident. The researchers concluded: "When Facebook users compare their own lives with others' seemingly more successful careers and happy relationships, they may feel that their own lives are less successful in comparison."

But one small study hinted that viewing your own profile, not others, might offer ego boosts. Researchers at Cornell University in New York put 63 students into different groups. Some sat with a mirror placed against a computer screen, for instance, while others sat in front of their own Facebook profile.

Facebook had a positive effect on self-esteem compared to other activities that boost self-awareness. Mirrors and photos, the researchers explained, make us compare ourselves to social standards, whereas looking at our own Facebook profiles might boost self-esteem because it is easier to control how we're presented to the world.

In a study from 2013, researchers texted 79 participants five times a day for 14 days, asking them how they felt and how much they'd used Facebook since the last text. The more time people spent on the site, the worse they felt later on, and the more their life satisfaction declined over time.

But other research has found, that for some people, social media can help boost their well-being. Marketing researchers Jonah Berger and Eva Buechel found that people who are emotionally unstable are more likely to post about their emotions, which can help them receive support and bounce back after negative experiences.

Overall, social media's effects on well-being are ambiguous, according to a paper written last year by researchers from the Netherlands. However, they suggested there is clearer evidence for the impact on one group of people: social media has a more negative effect on the well-being of those who are more socially isolated.

In some cases, social media may enhance well-being (Credit: Getty Images)

If you've ever been talking to a friend who's pulled their phone out to scroll through Instagram, you might have wondered what social media is doing to relationships.

Even the mere presence of a phone can interfere with our interactions, particularly when we're talking about something meaningful, according to one small study. Researchers writing in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships tasked 34 pairs of strangers with having a 10-minute conversation about an interesting event that had happened to them recently. Each pair sat in private booths, and half had a mobile phone on the top of their table.

Those with a phone in eyeshot were less positive when recalling their interaction afterwards, had less meaningful conversations and reported feeling less close to their partner than the others, who had a notebook on top of the table instead.

Romantic relationships aren't immune, either. Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada surveyed 300 people aged 17-24 in 2009 about any jealousy they felt when on Facebook, asking questions such as, 'How likely are you to become jealous after your partner has added an unknown member of the opposite sex?'.

Women spent much more time on Facebook then men, and experienced significantly more jealousy when doing so. The researchers concluded they "felt the Facebook environment created these feelings and enhanced concerns about the quality of their relationship".

In one survey of 1,800 people, women reported being more stressed by social media than men (Credit: Getty Images)

In a study involving 600 adults, roughly a third said social media made them feel negative emotions - mainly frustration - and envy was the main cause. This was triggered by comparing their lives to others', and the biggest culprit was other people's travel photos. Feeling envious caused an "envy spiral", where people react to envy by adding to their profiles more of the same sort of content that made them jealous in the first place.

However, envy isn't necessarily a destructive emotion - it can often make us work harder, according to researchers from Michigan University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They asked 380 students to look at "envy-eliciting" photos and texts from Facebook and Twitter, including posts about buying expensive goods, travelling and getting engaged. But the type of envy the researchers found is "benign envy", which they say is more likely to make a person work harder.

A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine last year surveyed 7,000 19- to 32-year-olds and found that those who spend the most time on social media were twice as likely to report experiencing social isolation, which can include a lack of a sense of social belonging, engagement with others and fulfilling relationships.

Spending more time on social media, the researchers said, could displace face-to-face interaction, and can also make people feel excluded.

"Exposure to such highly idealised representations of peers' lives may elicit feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier and more successful lives, which may increase perceived social isolation."

It's clear that in many areas, not enough is known yet to draw many strong conclusions. However, the evidence does point one way: social media affects people differently, depending on pre-existing conditions and personality traits.

As with food, gambling and many other temptations of the modern age, excessive use for some individuals is probably inadvisable. But at the same time, it would be wrong to say social media is a universally bad thing, because clearly it brings myriad benefits to our lives.

We'll be exploring this tension more over the next month, in a series of articles and videos in our special series #LikeMinded - and hopefully providing solutions that could help us all live a happier, healthier digital life.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "If You Only Read 6 Things This Week". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Capital, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

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What the science suggests so far about the impact of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram on your mental well-being.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
To find out, we set up a small-scale experiment. Ten volunteers were asked to scroll through 100 posts on their own social media news feed and respond to the emotion triggered by each item (excluding adverts). The options they were asked to choose from were positive, negative or neutral.

All our participants experienced more positive or neutral responses than negative. These results are consistent with larger scientific studies.

We spoke to Prof. Andrew Przybylski from The University of Oxford. His recent work suggests that there is a tipping point with time spent online. Using smartphones for up to 2 hours a day on weekdays, or 4 hours at weekends, has a generally positive effect on mental wellbeing, but beyond that it leads to a decline in mood.

A similar trend was noted with our results. After 20 minutes of scrolling through their news feeds, our participants were progressively less likely to experience positive reactions.

Some studies have shown that when we share information about ourselves, parts of the reward centres in our brain are activated and other studies have shown that when people see their posts with different amounts of 'likes' their brains responded differently. Many studies have shown that social media can also help reduce loneliness, especially in older people by allowing them to keep in touch.

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BBC Two - Trust Me, I'm a Doctor, Mental Health Special - Is social media bad for mental health?

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Is using social media mainly good for our mood, or bad?

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8 ways to use social media to stay healthy

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Eight top tips on how you can use social media to help you maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle

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Social Media to Promote Health - Action for Healthy Kids

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Social media can be a powerful tool to promote eating better and moving more, especially among youth.