"Whenever you learn something new or you experience something, it's encoded in your brain, and it's encoded by subtle changes in the strength of connections between neurons," says Dumontheil. 

"The Royal Society listed several suggestions it says could ease the affects of social media on the emotional health of teenagers. Sites like Instagram could highlight when people have digitally altered their image or post warnings about the dangers of too much social media use, the group said. It also suggested that schools teach safe social media use and called for more studies to be conducted on how it affects the mental health of teenagers."

"Before, if you were having a face to face interaction everything is qualitative. You use someone's gestures or facial expressions, that sort of thing, to see how effective your message is," she says. 

"Dr. Steiner-Adair agrees that girls are particularly at risk. 'Girls are socialized more to compare themselves to other people, girls in particular, to develop their identities, so it makes them more vulnerable to the downside of all this.'She warns that a lack of solid self-esteem is often to blame. 'We forget that relational aggression comes from insecurity and feeling awful about yourself, and wanting to put other people down so you feel better.'"

Studies have shown the around-the-clock world of social media takes a mental and emotional toll on some young people. It has been linked to increased anxiety, depression and decreased relationship skills. One study found social media can be more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol for some people. 

"When teens learn that their own pictures have supposedly received a lot of likes, they show significantly greater activation in parts of the brain's reward circuitry," says lead author Lauren Sherman. "This is the same group of regions responding when we see pictures of a person we love or when we win money." 

Reward circuitry 

In a recent study, researchers at the UCLA brain mapping center used an fMRI scanner to image the brains of 32 teenagers as they used a bespoke social media app resembling Instagram. By watching the activity inside different regions of the brain as the teens used the app, the team found certain regions became activated by "likes", with the brain's reward center becoming especially active. 

Some teenagers might need to be weened off social media completely if it is causing intense emotional issues, Pate said. 

I think almost any adolescent who is involved in any social media has probably had some negative affect from it." 

Some teenagers might need to be weened off social media completely if it is causing intense emotional issues, Pate said.