Social Media and Emotions Literature Review How Does Social Media Affect Emotional Wellbeing?

Abstract

This paper discusses the research on the influence of social media on wellbeing revealing both costs and benefits. Social media as a powerful new technology can promote connections between people, facilitate adolescents’ development of relationships, and improve people’s depressive symptoms. On the other hand, social media may also increase social comparison, which may lead to depression and anxiety; affect adolescents’ identity formation; and induce feelings of loneliness. This paper explores the mechanisms behind these influences, concluding that most harms social media have on wellbeing is due to the lack of an accurate understanding of social media. This paper first explores the benefits of social media, then discusses its negative effects on wellbeing, and finally provides some suggests on ways to use social media to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs.