Why 2019 was a MASSIVE year for Social Media and Mental Health

Social media has grown exponentially over the past few years. There are an estimated 3.5 million social media users in 2019 – almost half of the entire population – all of which can connect with each other through the various different platforms no matter where they are from. The fact that this is possible in the modern day shows the true impact that social media can have in terms of connecting people and encouraging keeping in touch, however it comes with its fair share of controversy. Social media has constantly been criticised, this year especially, for the affects it can have on young people’s mental health.

Social media has become some what of a self-advertising platform rather than a way to keep in touch. People online are constantly trying to flaunt the ‘best’ version of themselves, showing off expensive items, fancy clothes and unrealistic lifestyles in the hope of some form of social validity through the medium of ‘likes’ (or whatever metric a site uses). This constant search for approval can be extremely detrimental to a person’s mental health. The constant want for likes and comments leads people to compare themselves to others who are getting more likes or those who have more followers than they do, and it seems the constant comparison will never end. The result of this endless comparison can ruin a person’s confidence and make them feel as though the person who is getting hundreds, thousands or millions of likes is in someway superior, when in reality that is often far from the case. As well as the constant comparison on social media platforms the apps also allow people to spew abuse to others on a daily basis, often from an anonymous account. This harassment can be extremely traumatic to those on the receiving end and can result in a loss of confidence and struggles with mental health.

In the hope of combating the damaging affects social media can have to mental health, a number of the worlds leading social media platforms have introduced methods to cut down on the harassment, bullying and scorekeeping in the hope of improving their user’s well-being. YouTube made the decision to remove their real-time subscriber count and instead displayed a round number in order to combat the ‘cancel culture’ that has plagued 2019. YouTube are also constantly updating their guidelines when it comes to harmful content, harassment and abuse online. Twitter also deployed a series of experiments that attempted to encourage users to engage more positively and cut down on bullying and harassment throughout the website. Possibly the most high-profile change came from Instagram, the Facebook owned photo sharing platform.

Throughout 2019, Instagram began to experiment with removing the like count that is displayed on a user’s post. They carried out tests in a number of countries, including the US, in the hope of alleviating the constant comparison and focus on numbers, instead encouraging users to feel free to share whatever they want in the hopes of improving their experience on the app. The validation people receive from the number of likes on their photo can be a large source of anxiety, with people often feeling disappointed at their posts getting less likes than usual. This shows the true affect that the exponential growth of social media has had on the modern world - with it becoming an increasingly dominant force in most people’s lives - and the effects of it can be truly detrimental for a large number of people.

These recent changes from YouTube, Twitter and Instagram in particular offer hope for the future with the feedback from such tests being overwhelmingly positive. Users from all over the internet praised Instagram in particular for its bold attempt to remove the constant need for affirmation when posting on the platform. It seems social media platforms are really starting to take into account their users wellbeing and truly want to improve the experience they have when using their app. With 2020 just around the corner its time for other platforms to follow suite and attempt to rediscover the beauty of social media and its ability to connect people from all around the world.