Author: Jasmina Kasimova

The Dark Side of Social Media

Jasmina Kasimova

Sheldon, Pavica. Rauschnabel, Philipp. James M. Honeycutt. “The Dark Side of Social Media” Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier. 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom 525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States. 50 Hampshire Street, sth Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States. The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom. 2019.

        In the book, Dr. Pavica Sheldon received her Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Louisiana State University, and currently serves as Chair and Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of South Alabama. Philipp Rauschnabel a professor of digital marketing and media innovation at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. With my team, I develop scientifically sound practical and socially relevant answers around new reality formats: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Metaverse. James M. Honeycutt is an American academic who is currently a lecturer on the faculty of Organizational Behavior, Coaching, and Consulting at the UT-Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management. A Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at Louisiana State University. Sheldon, Philipp, and James wrote the book about the dark side of personal use of social media. They talk about different topics including social media and mental and physical health, narcissism as a predictor of self presentation, cyberbullying, bullying, negative social comparisons on social network sites, sex differences, etc. The book in depth examines how social media can negatively affect our lives. In the book it states, “Bevan, Gomez, and Sparks’ (2014) survey of adult Facebook users aged 18-70 revealed that the more time spent on and the more social network memberships, the higher stress and the lower quality of life.” Bevan’s and Sparks’ survey concluded that the more time 18-70 year olds spend time on social media the more anxiety and stress they have. It also states, “In Campisi et al. (2012) study comprising mostly female (88%) US undergraduates, nearly half participants reported delaying responses to Facebook friend requests due to anxiety about the request.” Another experiment about social media and anxiety showed that facebook friend requests cause 88% of US college females anxiety because they’re scared of rejection and waiting for a follow back. Social media puts out unrealistic standards for its users, making people feel insecure, anxious and causing mental problems.

Teens and social media use: What’s the impact?

Jasmina Kasimova

Pruthi, Sandhya. “Teens and social media use: What’s the impact?”. 28 April, 2023.

         In this article, a family physician who works for Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center General Internal Medicine discusses the social media harms and benefits. In the article it states, “ social media use can also negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people’s lives and peer pressure.” Social media has many disadvantages for teenagers, despite the fact that they are addicted to using it constantly, it is extremely harmful to them. In the text it states, “2019 study of more than 6,500 12- to 15-year-olds in the U.S. found that those who spent more than three hours a day using social media might be at heightened risk for mental health problems… 2019 study of more than 12,000 13- to 16-year-olds in England found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.” Both studies, conducted in different nations, revealed that teenagers use social media excessively. Teengagers are unaware of the harm social media does them because of the dopamine it gives them. 

A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society

Jasmina Kasimova

W.Akram. “A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society”. Department of Computer Applications, GDC Mendhar, Poonch, India. 30 October, 2017.

       In this academic journal, the author discusses social media’s advantages and disadvantages, but he focuses on how it affects education. In the academic journal it states, “ Students, while seeking and concentrate on the web, get pulled in to utilizing online networking locales and once in a while they overlook why they are using the internet. Sometimes students are not able to deliver their work in the specified time frame as their time wastes. Social media eats up a lot of time, making it difficult to return to reading or studying once you’ve went online. It also states, “ Students are depending more on the information reachable easily on these social networking sites and the web. This reduces their learning and research capabilities.” The research shows students start depending on social media too much and it prevents them from actually learning from a book, because it’s so easy to just search up whatever they’re looking for online. It also states, “Students generally utilize slang words or abbreviated types of words on long range interpersonal communication locales. They begin depending on the PC language structure and spelling check highlights. This decreases their charge over the dialect and their experimental writing abilities.” Because of social media we usually use slang words, students get used to it which makes it harder to write with proper grammar. In many ways, social media is harmful to education. 

Social Media Is a Public Health Crisis. Let’s Treat It Like One

Jasmina Kasimova

 Lee, Helen Bouygues. “Social Media Is a Public Health Crisis. Let’s Treat It Like One”. 20 July, 2021

          In this digital newspaper, founder and president of the Reboot Foundation, which develops tools and resources to help people cultivate critical thinking, media literacy and reflective thought discusses the red flags of social media. In the newspaper it states, “ need to start treating these platforms like we do cigarettes and alcohol. That means implementing warning labels and age restrictions, and conducting better research into the health effects of long-term usage.” Social media has become an addiction for society as serious as cigarettes and alcohol. In the newspaper it states, “ Social media’s threat to our national mental health is at least as dangerous as anti-vaccine disinformation”. Social media is really bad for mental health and spreads misleading information. It also states, “Our research has shown that some 40% of social media users would give up their pet or car before they’d give up their accounts. And shockingly, more than 70% said they would not permanently scrap their social media for anything less than $10,000.” It is imprudent for people to place greater value on a digital platform than on physical possessions like their car, pet, or money. Social Media has become a serious issue in society. 

The negative effects of social media on the social identity of adolescents from the perspective of social work

Jasmina Kasimova

Elsayed, Walaa. “The negative effects of social media on the social identity of adolescents from the perspective of social work”. College of Humanities and Science, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates,  21 February, 2021.

         In this article, the head of Arabic and Islamic Studies Walaa Elsayed focused on the side effects of social media on society. In the article it states, Threat and harassment through the Internet: through the dissemination of false information, embarrassing or hostile interaction from others. This is one of the biggest risks of using the internet for adolescents, it is a risk from peer to peer and can cause profound social and psychological consequences such as depression, anxiety, isolation, and tragic suicide.” Social media has a risk of users getting harassed, discriminated,  embarrassed and false rumors being spread causing mental health issues. In the article it also states, “ promote addiction or sexual relations and/or destructive, self-aggressive behaviors. Social media sites lead to the isolation and destruction of family relations” This shows that social media can lead to family destruction , aggression, addictions and sexual relations such as human trafficking. Social media has very dangerous side effects. 

Analysis of negative effects on social media

Jasmina Kasimova

Wei, Ru. “Analysis of negative effects on social media”. School of Management Science,                                                                                                                         Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan. 

              In this article, an associate professor who has a PhD in Management Science and Engineering University of Science and Technology of China discusses the negative impact of social media, in order to provide a useful reference for social media platforms to reduce the scope of negative impact, and for public institutions to formulate social media management solutions. In the article on page 179 paragraph 2 it states, “overuse of social media may cause psychological distress and self-concept objectification. Controlled by for-profit company, social media’s initial mission to addict users to earn profits, which may bring severe psychological problems.”Companies use strategies to get users addicted to social media, which leads to people developing mental issues. In the article on page 179 paragraph 2 it also states, “not only decrease empathy, but also increase a sense of isolation and the risk of later depression, even strengthen suicide ideation”. Social media has really bad negative effects on people including mental health problems such as; mood swings, depression, isolation, suicide thoughts.   

Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth

Jasmina Kasimova

Riehm, Kira E. “Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth”. Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg    School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 624 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD,14 June, 2019.

           In this research article, epidemiologist with expertise in quantitative science, mental health, and substance use. Who studied in McGill University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Columbia University and currently works as the Clinical Research Lead at Eleanor Health discusses if time spent using social media is associated with mental health problems among adolescents. Even after controlling for the history of mental health issues in this cohort study of 6595 US adolescents, more time spent on social media per day was prospectively linked to higher odds of reporting high levels of internalizing and comorbid internalizing and externalizing difficulties. In the text it states, “ Adolescents who spend more than 3 hours per day using social media may be at heightened risk for mental health problems, particularly internalizing problems. “ This proves that social media has a risk of causing mental health problems in teenagers. In the text it also states,” concerns are increasingly raised about potential harms of social media use.One-quarter of adolescents think social media has a mostly negative influence on people their age, pointing to reasons like rumor spreading, lack of in-person contact, unrealistic views of others’ lives, peer pressure, and mental health issues.” Kira believes that social media has a negative effect on adolescents which include rumor spreading, lack of in-person contact, unrealistic views of others’ lives, peer pressure, and mental health issues.