Social Media Use and Its Effect on the Mental Health of Adolescents

Social Media Use and Its Effect on the Mental Health of Adolescents
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Evidence-Based Practice Summative Assignment
Introduction
Social networking had been the main means for people, especially teenagers, to communicate various information and connect to other people even at a distance with the use of the internet. The use of social networking sites has been considered as a necessity by the current generation, taking up a few minutes to several hours of their daily routine (Fulk & Connie, 2017).
Communication is the system that is used to transfer information between one person to another. It is used to express thoughts and ideas, which may involve speech (Ruesch, et al., 2017). Interaction between two or more people is an important aspect when defining communication, and it is the desired quality for the process to be considered effective. Interaction is one of the key things that people can gain with social networking sites to be able to communicate with people all over the globe (Fulk & Connie, 2017).
The use of social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, enables the information and message to flow from many-to-many from different sources of knowledge from other people participating in the interactive system (Fulk & Connie, 2017). Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the most trusted sites of students. The preference towards the sites depends on many factors such a privacy concern, age, and gender. These sites are used as a form of self-expression and the formation of public image (Shane, Gaggi, & Gillespie-Lynch, 2018). There are several advantages and disadvantages regarding social media usage for teenagers. This enables the building of friendships and relationships through the communication that they can form with the use of these technologies. But the downside of frequent use of social media is negative self and body-image, addiction, unhealthy lifestyles, and cyberbullying (Monroe, 2019).
The adolescents or those who are in a phase of growth between ages 13 to 18 years old (WHO, 2017). Due to the neurological and hormonal development occurring during the adolescent stage, emotional and psychosocial changes including increased cognitive and intellectual capacities are involved. There are also implications on the changes with health risks that adolescents are now more prone to such as, reproductive issues, and mental illnesses (WHO, 2017). During these years of adolescence, there are external factors including the pressure from the society in addition to the changes that are happening to the body itself as part of its growth and development are overwhelming to the teens, causing mental health issues (Monroe, 2019). Based on the evidence, social media posts, engagement, language, etc. are considered as beneficial tools in identifying behavioral attributes to detect and diagnose mental health disorders (De Choudhury, et al., 2013).  
During the adolescent development, human rights coincide with public health in promoting the safe and healthy process of each adolescent teen to progress into adulthood (WHO, 2017). Public Health involves the prevention of diseases and injuries and wellness promotion...