Project 1: Annotated Bibliography by Kimberly Escobar

The beauty and the beast of social media: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the impact of adolescents' social media experiences on their mental health during the Covid‑19 pandemic

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-27 16:57:51 UTC

When it came covid 19, social media had one of the biggest changes this would have ever seen. One major effect that social media had was on the beauty industry and the way beauty was perceived by adolescents. With social media on the rise with billions of active users, the effect of social media on the mental health of adolescents is not yet understood due to mixed and inconsistent findings both positive and negative points of view. This scholarly article explains how social media positively affects many people by enabling connections from great distances much earlier just at the click of a button. These connections help with social and emotional support which can enhance mental health and reduce the risk of mental health problems (anxiety, depression, and self-harm) as well as protect adolescents against psychological distress caused by the pandemic. This article also explains the negative effect of how social media can be used problematic because social media for some acts as an escape and denying daily life stresses temporarily creates a boundary between the individual and reality, but in the long term can lead to addiction and symptoms of depression and anxiety begin. I find it important how COVID-19 really affects us all and many people are still unaware of the damage that had been caused.

Exploring opportunities to support mental health care using social media: A survey of social media users with mental illness

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-27 17:09:11 UTC

Mental illness is a leading cause of disability worldwide, expanding the reach and availability of mental health services. Social media was an opportunity to further help more people worldwide to gain support, and treatment, and help they need struggling with mental illnesses. There seemed to be a trend when it came to receiving community health services. Throughout this scholarly article, the research shows that young adults aged younger than 35 compared the adults aged between 35 to 65 showed similar demographic and patterns of social media usage. Most of the participants from both age groups showed an interest in accessing programs for helping people with mental illness provided through social media. Throughout the research, it was also found that social media provides programs designed to help multiple different people from all different age demographics. Many people in this study expressed how social media helped them communicate and reach out to professional doctors who can better navigate their treatment process/journey to healing. It's very much helpful to multiple people who may need assistance but can get to a certain location or refuse to leave their homes. Many people are getting used to social media with health problems even if they are the simplest of problems. It's always good to know there is support somewhere for anyone.

Social media and mental health in students: a cross-sectional study during the Covid-19 pandemic

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-27 17:13:52 UTC

When it comes to Social media many people don’t think about the effects it can cause a person even on themselves mentally. Many people may not realize it because it’s such a daily thing in all our lives that we just seem to overlook any flaws that some have with social media. After all, it’s also like an addiction to us and we want to have no reason to stop using it. Everyone has different perspectives and everyone also lives different lives causing some variables when it comes to any kind of research. I believe that some people see social media as beneficial as well since Covid 19. In many ways, it’s helped us stay closer together with each other even if it was just through a screen. But it seems that the article was more considering how we were affected by social media, especially when we were alone. And when there wasn’t much else to do besides being online. I mean there were plenty of things to do physically but it seemed that social media was the easiest thing to do. Just simple scrolling didn’t require much work at all and you could simply just do it anyway with a connection. Almost everyone in the whole world was using social media when the pandemic hit. We were all affected in some way physically and mentally just because of social media.

"Toxic Positivity" by Whitney Goodman

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-27 17:21:09 UTC

Throughout this book, there was one chapter that stuck out to me the most and that was “Stop Shaming Yourself”. It started by explaining how over the years with each new generation coming into play we have learned at such young ages the art of pretending. The art of “faking” makes it seem as if we are picture-perfect. I relate to that very much because it’s so easy today to make it through a screen on social media. How people may seem picture perfect but are falling apart on the other side of the screen without a single person to know the truth. In this passage, they go further to explain how we all tend to suffer alone. How do we compare ourselves with others as “motivation” but is it detrimental to ourselves. One way the author said it is in the simplest word “Toxic positivity”. How many people may feel depressed and anxious which can be hard. But pretending that you're not is much harder.

Limiting Social Media Use in Youths Brings Challenges, Benefits

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-27 17:24:25 UTC

Social media has had the biggest influences on a variety of age groups but most of all my age group is my generation. This article was very informative to understand how much not only social media can affect our well-being but also depends on how much we use social media. Throughout this article, we hear many points of view on this matter from various age groups.

There was also a controlled study they conducted and explained through this article. Iowa State University limited a group of students to have a max time of 30 minutes on social media. At the end of this study, they compared their tests to assess their anxiety, depression, loneliness, fear of missing gout, and negative and positive feelings. Noticing that those levels were much lower after the experiment. As well, their sleep improved, and their overall physical and mental health. There was also another study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania where college students were told to limit the use of certain social media platforms to 10 minutes per platform for 3 weeks. Which showed similar results as the other experiment deciles in anxiety and fear of missing out. I believe that Kathleen Doheny the author of this article was very informative and good that she shared these studies/experiments. It puts it all into perspective that it is possible to make changes for your benefit and overall well-being.

Importance of Social Media in 2024 and Beyond

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-27 17:27:12 UTC

Social media may seem to have many problems but “if used intelligently” can open many doors for an individual personally and professionally. Throughout this article, it expresses how hectic the world can be today and how little time we have with everything going on. Social media helps us stay connected with family and friends from often great distances with a click of a button. It also helps you voice your opinions and find other people who may share those same opinions. It also provides entertainment giving you a break/time to relax. Professional social media helps you in several ways. Helps you reach your target audience for a business much easier if you just post and allow social media to do all the rest. With any luck, your business may start to go viral and gain popularity. With social media, you can reach a variety of people, and collaborate with many others. As well as gain experience and knowledge from others who use social media as well as a place to market their business. All these topics are very true Simplilearn introduced social media as a very professional platform that has many resources to help any trying to gain investments or connections globally and virtually.

The Future of Social Media Is a Lot Less Social

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-29 16:55:26 UTC

The way social media has evolved it has also lost its sense of direction for evolving for the better. This article talks about how social media has lost its focus on what its overall goal was. Which for many of the platforms was to connect with others such as families and friends. To have entertainment and find communities that you connect to. In today's world, all our platforms are overflowing with advertisements and influences trying to make you buy a certain production that they have “collaboration” with. It's honestly sad that the places we used to see our families post are now growing fewer and fewer because it’s almost as if there are standards and requirements you must meet to post. Like it must be a big event, you better have a good outfit that you've never posted in before, or that you must pose perfectly at the perfect angle with perfect lighting, and the perfect filter of course. I feel as if many people are just scared now to post what is happening in their lives because they see all these extravagant posts and begin to compare and feel insecure leading you to not post anything at all.

Future Scope of Social Media 2050

kescobar2023 — 2024-02-29 17:00:44 UTC

When it comes to the future no one can honestly predict the future but we can always make educated guesses. In this article, it talks about some predictions for social media in the year 2050. Pretty long way away but still very intriguing to start thinking about this for social media. In the article, the main changes and innovations in social media would be artificial intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR). They explain how social media will be very personalized and tailored to you. How VR will be much more engaging and interactive. Giving users more control over their data and privacy, which I have no clue how they are going to do. But they go on to explain how it could change education for students in virtual classrooms still interacting and engaging with access to resources across the globe. How work would be virtually as well making it easier to work on projects remotely. How healthcare will have a huge change as well as managing medications and health progress. How you will be able to enter a contract and get to experience it virtually in your own home for entertainment. All these sound incredible and almost unbelievable but it also saddens me to think that we won't have physical connections. To me, I feel as if that is something a screen or virtual reality can't give. Not to mention the cost of all these amazing things many people will probably be unable to afford.