How Can Social Media be Beneficial and Destructive?

            Although social media can have a very negative effect on adolescents, it can be an extremely useful tool that can help to solve problems and allow people to be supportive of each other. Many people dislike social media because they only take the negative effects into account. However, social media platforms can create environments that support people that struggle with various problems and can even be used to counteract depression, according to the journal article from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Contrary to the earlier mentioned dependency on comments and likes, this article also claims that users can use friendly comments and responses to their posts to increase their happiness. However, adolescents must be mindful that they are not becoming dependent on responses to their posts. According to a study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, social media platforms can reduce the negative effects of their websites. They can utilize text analyses that “...can be helpful in identifying potentially harmful posts and comments,” as well as network analyses that “...can help to identify starting points to disrupt harmful online communities.” The same study thought that these methods could be used to support and promote positive content while preventing or lessening negative content. Social media use can be beneficial because “...new technologies… are required in order to build digital and interpersonal skills for economies of the future,” according to a journal article in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines. Social media plays an important, and often positive, role in society. Adolescents can use social media to find help and support, and various platforms can be adjusted to promote positive content and eliminate negative content. Additionally, social media can help further future economies and careers of adolescents.