The Negative Psychological Effects of Instagram on Adolescents

Growing up in a digital native age, adolescents face the continuous conflict of high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying, fear of missing out, poor body image and sleep habits––we owe it all to Instagram for causing adolescent’s mental health issues.

The problem with Instagram is the unrealistic life expectations it portrays to the world; a young mind is easily influenced by this display of perfect lives, bodies, and relationships. This is an important problem at hand for the developing mind. This research paper will examine the negative psychological effects Instagram has on adolescents and explore the cause and effect. Why do we feel the need to document our lives so publicly? How did we let boredom control our addiction to fear of missing out? Who are we really trying to impress by living up to other peoples standards? And why are we using such a toxic platform, so frequently? By stepping away from Instagram we can create a new sense of normality for the young and developing mind of an adolescent and show them the digital age does not need to have negative connotations.

The more social networks young adults use, the more likely they are to report depression or anxiety. According to a survey, Instagram is the worst social media platform for mental health. When comparing Instagram to Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat, Instagram was reported with the lowest marks for health and wellbeing (MacMillan, 2017). Most importantly, there is a need to look into adolescents' mental health. In the article “Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health: Statistics, Tips & Resources,” it mentions how social media in this day in age, with high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying, and fear of missing out, there are new terms surrounding this phenomenon. There is “social media anxiety disorder” which includes symptoms of lying about the amount of time spent on social media, neglecting or losing interest in school, work, and favorite activities, and experiencing withdrawal symptoms when not able to check social media. Another mental health disorder related to this is “Facebook depression” which is when adolescents who spend time on social media begin to exhibit symptoms of depression as a result of the intensity of the online world (2019). This topic is being addressed but what I don't understand is why it seems no one is doing anything to help. There are initiatives in place but those are all from word of mouth; society needs to implement changes on social media, specifically Instagram, to reduce the harmful effects it has on the developing mind.

The young mind is easily influenced by the display of the perfect lives, bodies and relationships they see on Instagram. The influence Instagram usage has on body image satisfaction among adolescents resembles with lower levels of self-esteem in these individuals (Ahadzadeh et al., 2017). When you are presented with an endless stream of perfectly-filtered images it is nearly impossible to not compare your life to theirs. This is an important problem at hand for the developing mind. No one can match the picture-perfect Instagram lifestyle: what you are seeing on Instagram is a lie. To keep your Instagram experience positive it is important to take initiatives like reviewing who you follow, limiting your social media usage, think about what you're posting, and most importantly, stop comparing yourself to others (Peer, 2021). With the overwhelming impact Instagram has on the way adolescents feel about themselves, pressure needs to be taken away from this influence of society.

I would like to try to understand why we are using this toxic platform, and so frequently at that.

While Instagram posts set unrealistic expectations and create feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem, we need to understand that people add filters and Photoshop their pictures to make themselves look “perfect”. These feelings promote a ‘compare and despair’ attitude (MacMillan, 2017). The Instagram vs. Reality trend needs to be looked at here. Though some are heavily-editing their Instagram posts, some are heavily calling against it to promote body positivity. In this movement, influencers and bloggers are calling out the excessive photoshopping with the #instagramvsreality hashtag to create a buzz around the fact that you should not believe everything you see on social media (Peer, 2021). In this cruel and competitive digital world, people love to lie about who they are to make others envy them and adolescents are too vulnerable to see through this.

Instagram has become essentially a popularity contest where some people's happiness is sacrificed for other peoples fame. By documenting our lives so publicly, Instagram users are constantly comparing themselves to others in the sense of number of followers and likes on posts as well. In the article “Peer Influence Via Instagram: Effects on Brain and Behavior in Adolescence and Young Adulthood,” it mentions how with the feature to “like” posts becomes a contest of who can get the most likes. In the study, participants were more often to “like” photographs that appeared to already have received many likes as opposed to a photograph that had not received as much attention (Sherman et al., 2017). In another study, exploring the links between Instagram popularity and subjective happiness, it was found that adolescents' follower count showed an increase in social media addiction and a negative effect on happiness. Ultimately, “as adolescents become more popular on Instagram, it also increases the risk that they might develop a behavior addiction to Instagram use...which may have a negative impact on their psychological well-being” (Longobardi et al., 2020).

Adolescents are being stripped of their subjective happiness at a young age while documenting their lives publicly at the cost of appearing more “liked” on Instagram.

Instagram is creating virtual peer pressure where adolescents are being ‘forced’ to do activities that will appear ‘cool’ on social media. In the blog “Peer Pressure Goes Viral: How To Keep Social Media A Positive Influence,” Isaac Alexis addresses how “whether you’re 13 or 30, this social phenomenon [of peer pressure] applies to you” (Alexis, 2020). When people see accounts with hundreds of likes, comments, shares, and followers, how can they not be jealous? The peer influence and the crave to appear popular on Instagram leads adolescents to feel compelled to share a post that will make them feel just as popular, even if it means doing something unhealthy or dangerous (Alexis, 2020). We are letting boredom control our addiction to ‘fear of missing out’ as no one wants to be the friend that does not appear to do activities that are ‘cool’. While seeing your friends on vacation, hanging out, or quite literally, doing anything together when you weren't invited, young people feel like they are missing out while others are enjoying their lives. In this compare and despair attitude, adolescents will go out to make their life look just as interesting even though they might not be satisfied. This peer influence to constantly want others to be jealous of you, not for you to be jealous of them, is a harmful nature full of unrealistic expectations.

The key takeaway here is the word ‘appear’. Instagram is all about how you appear, not about how you actually are, not about what activities you are doing that make you happy but are not deemed ‘cool’, and not about being satisfied with your life. We are trying to impress by living up to other peoples standards. But as mentors for young children, it is time to make a change to set adolescents up for success through genuine happiness. Social pressure is deceiving. Before we realize we have lost control of our lives, we end up envying how other people live. In the blog “Live Your Life for You, Not to Please Expectations,” Gustavo Ruzzetti makes it clear to conquer social pressure before it conquers you. People will always expect you to be different, especially growing up, but to bridge that void, you must reframe your relationship with people's expectations (Razzetti, 2018). By removing expectations, it is easier to become more appreciative of your life as is: adolescents need to understand that by trying to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one, including ourselves.

Adolescents are constantly facing problems like anxiety, depression, bullying, fear of missing out, poor body image, and sleep habits, which Instagram has made to appear as the norm. Changes need to be implemented on Instagram to reduce these harmful effects on the developing mind. With an endless stream of perfectly-filtered photographs, it's important to acknowledge that not everything you are seeing on Instagram is a display of a perfect life. In this digital native age, people love to make others envy them but adolescents are too vulnerable to see through this comparative tactic. Peer influence while living up to others standards is full of unrealistic expectations. At the cost of appearing more “liked” on Instagram, adolescents are being deprived of their subjective happiness. It's time to create a new sense of normality for adolescents and shine light on the fact Instagram does not need to have negative implications.

Sources

Ahadzadeh, A. S., Pahlevan Sharif, S., & Ong, F. S. (2017). Self-schema and self-discrepancy mediate the influence of Instagram usage on body image satisfaction among youth. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.011

Alexis, I. (2020, May 7). Peer Pressure Goes Viral: How To Keep Social Media A Positive Influence. Vertava Health. https://vertavahealth.com/blog/social-media-peer-pressure/.

Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health. University of Nevada, Reno. (2019, December 30). https://onlinedegrees.unr.edu/online-master-of-public-health/impact-of-social-media-on-youth-mental-health/.

Longobardi, C., Settanni, M., Fabris, M. A., & Marengo, D. (2020). Follow or be followed: Exploring the links between Instagram popularity, social media addiction, cyber victimization, and subjective happiness in Italian adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review, 113, 104955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104955

MacMillan, A. (2017, May 25). Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health. Time. https://time.com/4793331/instagram-social-media-mental-health/.

Peer, M. (2021, April 29). Instagram vs. Reality - How Social Media Affects Self-Esteem. Marisa Peer. https://marisapeer.com/instagram-vs-reality-how-social-media-affects-self-esteem/.

Razzetti, G. (2018, October 24). Live Your Life for You, Not to Please Expectations. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-adaptive-mind/201810/live-your-life-you-not-please-expectations.

Sherman, L. E., Greenfield, P. M., Hernandez, L. M., & Dapretto, M. (2017). Peer Influence Via Instagram: Effects on Brain and Behavior in Adolescence and Young Adulthood. Child Development, 89(1), 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12838