An Annotated Bibliography : Social Media And Depression

A brain-scanning study at the University of California-Los Angeles showed that the repeated exposure to technology alters the brain’s circuitry, creating a gap between the younger digital native generation and the older digital immigrant generation. The brain is very malleable, able to be changed with the media it consumes. The result is that people’s brains are adapting to social networking and a multitasking culture (Small). Also, I can see this effect in my own experiences as a student. There are many times where, in order to properly study, I have to put my computer and smartphone completely out of sight; otherwise, they will be a distraction to what I need to really concentrate on.

Looking back at how the stigma surrounding mental illness impact on people in results of media portrayal, there is an urgent need in reducing stigma and raising awareness in order to prevent social discrimination of people with mental illness and to encourage those with mental illness to speak up what they are going through. Patrick Corrigan Illinois Institute of Technology psychologist stated that it was as bad as it is 20 years ago (Yuhas, 2014). Benefiting the convenience of social media in our today’s world, Betton, Borschmann, Docherty, Coleman, Brown and Henderson (2015), taking into account the capability of social media in overcoming this matter.

The brain has it limits to the “cognitive load” that it can handle when multitasking. The brain then has trouble processing these multiple tasks accurately (Cain et al., 2016). A study of 74 participants from middle school and afterschool programs were given a Media Use Questionnaire that asked how often they were multitasking with primary media. The questionnaire asked how many hour per week they spent on electronic media use. At the end of the study, the participants reported being occupied by media for a great amount of time. The results of the study found that increased multitasking with social media is linked to poor performance in academics (Cain et al., 2016)

Firstly, I noticed how much media speeds up our everyday lives. Essentially everyone is multitasking; it is a way of life in our society. I noticed multitasking at its finest when I went to the library later that day. People are researching online, writing papers, Facebook stalking, instant messaging and listening to their iPods all instantaneously. The instant access to everything has formed our culture. I find myself running on autopilot when it comes to using media. It took the full 24 hour fast for me to realize how dependent I really am on media to make it though the day. The stress I was feeling without the security of my phone or ability to communicate whenever I wanted to left me feeling helpless. Media not only speeds up daily activities, but it has given

Some of the issues that result from dependency on modern media are the increase of becoming withdrawn from society, the loss of social skills and personal relationships with friends, family and other loved ones. Another issue that can arise as a result of dependency is the chance of becoming what is known as a “media junkie” where the modern media takes preference over anything else (losing touch with reality). The cell phone has taken away our ability to properly communicate with each other by using slang and abbreviations in place of proper English. People are becoming less active, less visible, and trusting with each other. Studies have shown that “gamers” or people who play games (game tournaments) over the internet for hours and hours without stopping are likely to lose social skills. People with addictions or dependency on modern media are similar to those of a drug addict. It has been shown to produce distress and isolation in many people who are deprived from these devices. I think that this a major concern for parents of students and this younger generation.

Although a lot of it may seem to be positive advancement and nothing but an advancement, there are always underlying concerns that should, per the author, be addressed. The author explores the issues hiding behind digital entertainment and multitasking, with a focus on the ferocity of the dangers (which range from inconvenience to large amounts of death). The author wants to argue that recent technological advancements in entertainment are a double edged-sword and have been proven to carry with them a large set of negative implications. Although no thesis statement was expressly stated, an implied thesis might be, “Modern entertainment mediums bring with them a multitude of negative neurological and sociological implications that society needs to consider and address.” The author seems to assume that almost everyone who uses fast entertainment also engages in multitasking, which is already known to lead to a variety of negative consequences. This perspective only amplifies the apparent ferocity of the situation. This piece is written in a very one-sided fashion and opts to include no counter-arguments (presumably to tighten the focus on why this topic is such an issue). The author relates multiple examples throughout the text to larger ideas, such as the fact that one billion applications were downloaded on iPhone devices

Sherry Turkle, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, acknowledges the effects media possesses in her book Growing Up Tethered. Today’s adolescents have an excessive want to feel connected, and not alone, which is why they turn to the connections they feel media provides. Roman, eighteen, so badly wants to stay connected that he will actively be on his phone while driving and doesn’t even care about all of the lives that could potentially be in danger just because he needs to read a new Facebook message. Kids will do everything in their power to not feel alone. Cell phones can stunt an adolescent’s maturity by providing too many opportunities to stay connected and never getting out on their own. Other kids use their cell phone

Mr. Rick concludes that “Although the present findings [don’t] demonstrate a cause-effect relationship, the finding suggest that media multitasking may positively influence certain cognitive abilities including multisensory integration.” Although it can awaken certain senses, it only really works effectively on about 5% the population (Weimer). I feel that if a student or employee is multitasking all the time and nothing is learned it shows that multitasking can be damaging. And Although

As social media can have a major impact in our lives when it comes to communication, it can also bring many negative effects to several young adults and adolescences such as depression; depression often develops around young adulthood. Although, there are many factors that lead up to depression, there is a growing interest in the potential influence of social media use on physiological well-being (Lin, Liu, 2016 ) Social Media is forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, private messages, pictures, videos, and other content (Merriam-Webster dictionary). Social networks sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram has attracted millions of users world-wide and are simply applied to an individual’s daily life routine

When someone is multitasking they are not doing multiple things at once, they are simply switching tasks at a rapid pace. This puts strain on the brain, which creates mental fog, anxiety, and stress. It also reduces impulse control. With a lowered impulse control, it is easy for social media to hijack our brains with the promise of stimulating our dopamine-powered reward centers. Stress, anxiety, multitasking, and social media are intricately intertwined in our modern world. Research has proven that multitasking is detrimental to our mental health, however, I constantly am switching from one task to another.

The effects of media have been a topic of interest and research for many years (Viet, Štulhofer, & Hald, 2016). Multiple studies show the harmful effects of media on adolescents and young adults. It is a dominant force in our current world, with the average number of hours online up to 23.6 hours per week, as compared to the 9.4 hours per week in 2000 (Cole, Suman, Schramm, & Zhou, 2017). Excessive screen time and internet use alone has been linked to increased levels of depression and anxiety, and is discouraged for all age groups.

Unlike previous generations who were “introduced” to the internet, television and social media, the present generation is “born” in it. By this statement, it is implied that children today are much closer to technology and media than adults are, and so, are more likely to be affected by it. Perhaps, the highest impact on the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development of children and adolescents is by media due to its ready availability through Smart phones, tablet PCs and other portable devices. This paper attempts to evaluate some of the influences of media on various aspects of child and adolescent development.

With the increase in use of various electronic media, such as television, computers, video games, mobile telephones and audio devices, it is becoming increasingly important to investigate how media use is affecting individuals lifestyles.

In today society, different media types are used more frequently than everyday chore. The average American spends five hours a day watching television overall eight hours a day per household. Drivers spend about six hours per day listening to radio averaging seven hundred and fifty hours a year listening to music or news/talk radio. Like radio people listen to music on their portable devices while exercising, walking, or studying. Individuals that love to read spend their spare time to reading magazines, newspaper, or books. Like magazines, new media covers all of media which attracts people from different age groups. New media is constantly being use on a daily basis especially social media. Social media gives people access to communicate with others around the world. With twenty four hours in a day and eight hours being the average sleep time people spend most of their day consuming media. People have experience hours and days without television, music, and film, but not all media. If everyone in the world went a day avoiding all types of media, how would it affect their attitudes, beliefs, and values? In this project, I avoided all types of media including video games and mobile devices. Although this experience was very challenging, I learned that avoiding the media keeps me focus on responsibilities and physically associating myself with friends.

So eventually when the emerging media came about, this was considered a good influence on the American culture. It became easier to access things and people could media multi task. Media multitasking can be considered a positive influence and could also be looked at as a negative influence on the American culture. Media multi task can be considered a positive influence because you are able to have access to all the latest news right then and there even when you are on another social media site. A negative influence on American culture would be that media multitasking can also take away from your social skills. You are so caught up in your phone, tablet or computer that you do not know how to socialize in person anymore (Campbell, Martin & Fabos, 2016).