Paragraphs for article:

1. Introduction:

• Social media has become extremely popular in the past ten years.
• Bebo/Facebook in the past.
• Now Snapchat/Instagram.
• These apps used by many, especially young people.
• However, evil side to social media.
• Known for being addictive, and causes anxiety/depression.
• Cyber bullying is a big problem.
• Lots of people use social media in Ireland.
• Popularity of Social Media.
• Marie Boran – “The smartphone has played a large part in the rise of social media: widespread internet access and the affordability and portability of the smartphone have pushed use of social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.”
• May use quote/bit of personal experience/a statistic for introduction to attract the reader.

 

2. Anxiety/Depression:

• Will be talking about the dark side of social media.
• Social Media known for causing anxiety, depression, or even suicide.
• Paul McManus on thejournal.ie – “Anxiety is the new disease of our times. It’s very very scary.”
• Alan White – “People feel they can never live up to the unrealistic expectations created online and they feel they constantly have to keep up by posting newer and better images.”
• Addiction is never good.
• Marie Boran – “Our brains are trained over time to keep coming back for the “reward” of replies, likes, share and retweets.”
• Facebook releasing blog post about how Social Media has a negative influence on people’s mental health.
• Cyber bullying causes depression and suicide.
• Nicole Fox Fenlon is an example.
• Suicide rate higher for men than women.
• Ciarán Austin – “Men tend to use more violent or final methods to attempt suicide or harm themselves. They also tend to have less support structures around them, and are less inclined to “ask for help””.
• Find out the exact meaning of anxiety.

 

3. Young people:

• Will be talking about how young people think of social media.
• Young people use social media a lot more than the older generation.
• Asked a few of my friends questions regarding social media and mental health.
• Billy Haran – “I would much rather people not know who I am and I not know them before having met them”.
• Shane Dowling – “What makes social media so addictive is its popularity.”
• Adam Bourke – ” Being away from it causes me stress, as it’s like you’re removed from whatever’s going on in the world”
• Social Media use by 19-24 year olds causes an increased rate of anxiety, depression and poor sleep, according to the UK’s Royal Society for Public Health.

 

4. Statistics:

• Statistics about social media and mental health from organisations.
• ReachOut Ireland have been given insight of what affects young people.
• 43% of people selected social media as a source of stress. Over 8,000 people took part in the surveys that have been released in the past two years.
• CybersafeIreland created an annual report in 2017, with statistics.
• Example: 70% of 8 – 13 year olds are using social media..
• The majority of teachers (62%) are dealing with online safety incidences in the classroom with 35% dealing with between 2 and 5 incidences in the last year.
• Social media use increased for both genders, but use by girls 15 years and older has tripled between 2002-2014, according to the WHO (World Health Organisation)

 

5. Personal Experience:

• Talking about my thoughts and experience on social media.
• Social media has affected my mental health at times.
• Snapchat/Instagram are the biggest culprit.
• Makes me envy people.
• Puts you in a low mood if you “don’t get enough likes on a photo”.
• Seeing hateful comments on the internet can hurt, or just seeing someone who has a different opinion than me but expresses it in a poor way.
• However, after using social media for so many years, there is some good to it.
• Keeping in touch with past friends.
• People giving you entertainment with funny videos and posts on apps such as Facebook and Twitter.
• Making a fake Instagram account (a finsta) was something I do not regret.
• Keeping on top of the daily news around the world.
• Linked in with positives of social media.

6. Positives of social media:

• Talking about the good side of social media.
• Helps you get to know people all around the world.
• Excellent if you want to become a journalist! (That’s the dream)
• Marie Boran – “Social media has connected people around the world in so many positive ways…those who live in isolated areas can feel like part of a community”
• Dave Harris on thejournal.ie – “I use social media to stay in contact with my Australian extended family and friends. Without social media I wouldn’t be in contact with many of them at all. So social media is good for my mental health.”
• Want to find an answer to something.
• Watch episodes of your favourite TV shows on Facebook so you can keep up to date. Walking Dead, this one is for you.
• Having a polite discussion with someone that has the same interests as you.

 

7. Solutions?:

• What can we do to make social media a better place?
• Alan White – “Teaching young people how to manage social media correctly and to help them avoid having their identities wrapped up in the false world that is social media.”
• The Irish Government recently launched “Be Safe Online”, a campaign to highlight ways to help you stay safe online.
• Alex Argue – “I try to turn my 3G off so I don’t get any notifications so that means I won’t be on my phone as much”.
• It’s hard to find a way to reduce your use on social media. We are all different.
• Billy Haran – “I’ve completely cut down on my social media”.
• From the start of this article, I talked about depression. Now that we are at the end of the article, is there hope?
• Social media can be extremely awful, and after pointing out the negative things about it, will I still use it?
• The answer is, absolutely.

 

 

Draft:

The problem with social media:

 

Introduction:

Social Media has affected my mental health. Seeing a group of people on the Snapchat map in the same area, seeing photos and videos on Instagram, knowing that people are having a great time while I am stuck at home. I am sure we have all had moments like these. Envy can be a big problem with social media, and of course, depression too. We have all seen hateful comments on apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, and if we want to take a trip down the dark memory lane, Yik-Yak.

2nd draft: Envy is a problem with social media, and of course, depression. People feeling envy and depressed when on social media is a problem in today’s society. We have all seen hateful comments on apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, and if we want to take a trip down the dark memory lane, Yik-Yak. Seeing a group of people on the Snapchat map in the same area, seeing photos and videos on Instagram, knowing that people are having a great time while I am stuck at home. I am sure we have all had moments like these. My mental health has been negatively affected by social media.

According to the Central Statistics Office, 89% of households have access to the internet. Open wifi is all around us, and it is difficult to run away from it.

Marie Boran (1), a journalist for the Irish Times told me: “The smartphone has played a large part in the rise of social media: widespread internet access and the affordability and portability of smartphones have pushed use of social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook“.

The dark side of social media:

We have easy access to social media and to the darkness it brings us. (2) A person posted a comment on an article published by thejournal.ie, regarding social media and mental health. It reads: “Anxiety is the new disease of our times. It’s very very scary.”

Anxiety is a word thrown around a lot, but what exactly does it mean? I believe it is a word that makes people worry about certain things. One of those certain things is social media. We start to become anxious when we see videos of people having a great time at a party you could not go to, or weren’t even invited to. We fear of missing out, which is why we have the desire to go out, because if we don’t, we will see all those Snapchat stories, and that will put us in a sad mood.

Social media causes depression. Alan White (1), a well-being writer and campaigner: says “people feel they can never live up to the unrealistic expectations created online and they feel they constantly have to keep up by posting newer and better images“. This makes people envy other people on social media, and they then post photos which make other people jealous. It is a never ending cycle.

Cyberbullying has contributed to suicide.

Last January, Nicole Fox Fenlon took her own life, due to specific social media pages being created to “slag” her. Cyberbullying can be done in public and private.

Marie Boran (1) says: “the bully has a potentially large online audience and online records can be preserved“. It is incredibly hard to stand up to any kind of bullying, as we are nervous of getting involved, and we do not know what the consequences will be when we defend ourselves.

Suicides are a huge problem in Ireland today. The suicide rate is higher for men than for women in Ireland. Ciarán Austin (1), who works in the national office for suicide prevention at the HSE: says “men tend to use more violent or final methods to attempt suicide or harm themselves. They also tend to have less support structures around them, and are less inclined to “ask for help”“.

Young people:

Young people use social media a lot more than the older generation. In CyberSafe Ireland’s annual report in 2017, they state that 70% of 8 – 13 year olds are using social media. They are being born in an era where technology is advancing.

Shane Dowling (18) who studies… (1): says “popularity is what makes social media so addictive“. Everyone wants to be on social media as you feel completely isolated if you are not apart of it. Adam Bourke (18) who studies Theoretical Physics (1): says “being away from social media causes me stress, as it’s like you’re removed from whatever’s going on in the world“.

A lot of health organisations have released statistics to show how much we use social media, from national organisations such as ReachOut Ireland and CyberSafe Ireland, to international organisations, for example, the World Health Organisation. The WHO reports that there has been a continuous steep increase between 2002 and 2014 with children and young people using technology for more than two hours per day for social media, surfing the internet, and homework. Between 2015 and 2017, over 8000 people took part in the surveys that ReachOut Ireland created. 43% of people selected social media as a source of stress.

The good side of social media:

Conversely, social media does have its benefits. I love watching entertaining videos and posts on social media apps, like Facebook or Twitter.

(2) A poster on an article on thejournal.ie: comments that he “uses social media to stay in contact with my Australian extended family and friends. Without social media I wouldn’t be in contact with many of them at all.” It is fantastic if you want to search for news that is happening around the world, wanting to find an answer to something, or simply being able to have a polite discussion with someone who has the same interests as you.

Marie Boran (1) told me: “social media has connected people around the world in so many positive ways…those who live in isolated areas can feel like part of a community“. We all know people who are living abroad and social media gives us the access to communicate with these people. However, despite these positives, the bad side of social media absolutely outweighs the good side.

Solutions:

Social media affects people’s mental health in Ireland. However, there are solutions to this crisis. It is up to you to reduce your time on social media if you believe that your mental health is being negatively affected. Alan White (1) says: “We can make social media healthy for our mental health by using social media to maintain positive relationships. Good relationships are at the core of mental health and happiness and social media platforms if used correctly can help this“.

A social media user, Billy Haran (18) (1) told me: he “has completely cut down on my social media”. Another user, Alex Argue (19) (1) told me: he “turns my 3G off so I don’t get any notifications as that means I won’t be on my phone as much“. Ciarán Austin (1) says: “the Irish Government recently launched “Be Safe Online”, a campaign to highlight ways to help you stay safe online“. When you are nervous about being on social media, you will be able to go to this website to help you with any problems on social media.

It is extremely difficult for us to cut down on using social media. We have different ways to reduce our use on social media. We are all different. Alan White believes: that we should be “teaching young people how to manage social media correctly and to help them avoid having their identities wrapped up in the false world that is social media.“ Social media is a dark place, but if you fight the darkness, you will be able to find the light.

 

(1) Information was gathered by myself.

(2) Information was gathered online.