Instagram and Snapchat are the most detrimental social mediato young people’s mental health and wellbeing, says a report from Royal Societyfor Public Health.
The report ranking social media according to impact onmental health found that YouTube had the most positive impact.
Social media has been linked to increased rates of anxiety,depression and poor sleep and 7 in 10 young people say they have experiencedcyber bullying.
The report highlighted studies that show young women who useFacebook even for a short period of time have more body image concerns thanthose who don’t use Facebook.
The report also found that social media can improve youngpeople’s access to health information and help them feel emotionally supported.
The society called for an introduction of a pop-up heavy usagewarning, social media platforms to identify users experiencing mental healthproblems and discretely signpost support and for platforms to highlight whenphotos of people have been digitally manipulated.
Shirley Cramer from the Royal Society for Public Healthsaid: “Social media has become a space in which we form and buildrelationships, shape self-identity, express ourselves, and learn about theworld around us; it is intrinsically linked to mental health.”
