ABSTRACT

Social media is a digital platform that allows users to share, interact, and
collaborate with others in real-time. Social media has benefits and impacts for
adolescents, both in terms of social interaction and mental health. This study aims
to investigate the influence of social media on the mental health of adolescents.
This study uses a quantitative method with a survey design. The sample of this
study is 100 adolescents aged 15-18 years who live in Jakarta. The instrument of
this study is a questionnaire consisting of three parts: (1) demographic data, (2)
social media use scale, and (3) mental health scale. The hypothesis of this study is
that there is a negative relationship between social media use and mental health of
adolescents. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the
development of digital education, parental supervision, and safe and responsible
social media usage policies.

Keywords: social media, mental health, adolescents, digital education, parental

supervision, social media policies.
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Problem

Social media is one of the most interesting and influential phenomena

in the digital era today. Social media is an online platform that allows users to
share, interact, and collaborate with others in real-time. Social media has
various benefits, such as expanding social networks, increasing knowledge,
and expressing oneself. However, social media also has negative impacts,
especially for the mental health of adolescents.

Adolescents are the age group that is most active and vulnerable in
using social media. Adolescents spend an average of 3 hours per day to access
social media, according to a survey conducted by the American Psychological
Association in 2020. Excessive use of social media can cause adolescents to
experience disorders such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, cyberbullying, and
FOMO (fear of missing out). In addition, social media can also affect body
image, self-esteem, and psychological well-being of adolescents.

Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influence of social media

on the mental health of adolescents. This study uses a quantitative method
with a survey design. The sample of this study is 100 adolescents aged 15-18
years who live in Jakarta. The instrument of this study is a questionnaire
consisting of three parts: (1) demographic data, (2) social media use scale, and
(3) mental health scale. The hypothesis of this study is that there is a negative
relationship between social media use and mental health of adolescents.

B. Problem Formulation
1. What is meant by social media
2. How is the development of social media among adolescents
3. What are the impacts of social media
 4. How does social media influence the mental health of adolescents
5. How to solve the problem.
C. Purpose of the Writing

This mini research aims to:

1. understand the definition of social media

2. know the development of social media among adolescents
3. know the impacts of social media
4. know the influence of social media on the mental health of adolescents
5. know the solutions to overcome the problem.
 CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A. Definition of Social Media

Social media can be understood as a digital platform that provides

facilities for doing social activities for each user. Some activities that can be
done on social media, for example, are communicating or interacting and
providing information or content in the form of writing, photos and videos.
Various information in the shared content can be open to all users for 24
hours.

Social media itself is basically part of the development of the internet.

Its presence a few decades ago has made social media grow and expand
widely and quickly as it is now. This is what makes all users who are
connected to the internet can do the process of spreading information or
content anytime and anywhere.

Definition of Social Media According to Experts

1. B.K. Lewis (2010)

B.K. Lewis in his work titled Social Media and Strategic

Communication Attitudes and Perceptions among College Students
published in 2010 stated that social media is a label that refers to digital
technology that has the potential to make everyone connect and interact,
produce and share messages.

2. Chris Brogan (2010)

Furthermore, in 2010, Chris Brogan in his book titled Social Media

101: Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business, mentioned that social
 media is a communication tool that contains various possibilities for
creating new forms of interaction.

B. The Development Of Social Media Among Adolescents

Social media provides facilities for users, especially adolescents, to

identify other users who have similar interests. That way we can easily express
ourselves. But for introverts, they can also express themselves freely without
exposing their true selves (anonymous). Because this identification has a very
large role in the development of adolescents.

The use of social media can also specifically be used to channel our
creativity, such as making video tutorials on how to make crafts from used
goods, or just looking at photos and videos posted by other users. Social
media can also be a means of entrepreneurship and learning activities.

The information we get from social media is also diverse, both in

general and just for entertainment. But there are also those who share personal
information that can be seen by other users.

These social media users, especially adolescents, must be more

collective in choosing content and avoiding misuse of features and
vulgarization of content. Therefore, parents and children must have good
communication so that children know the limits of using social media.

Considering that most of the social media users are adolescents, at the
age where their psychosocial development will greatly influence their growth.
We also need to be aware of ourselves to use the internet wisely so as not to
fall into bad things.

Studies have shown that adolescents are the most frequent users of
social media compared to other age groups. This can be seen from the survey
results of the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII) with a
percentage rate of 99.16% in the age group of 13-18 in 2021-2022.
 Research has observed the use of social media as entertainment,
information seekers, and interpersonal searches that are most often done by
adolescents. The research also suggested that the reason why adolescents are
the most frequent users of social media is to satisfy the sense of inadequacy
that they experience.

On the other hand, social media can also be very helpful if used wisely,
for example as a learning tool for students who are still in school, such as
learning using online media, sharing learning materials, and watching
educational videos.

The increasingly sophisticated era of digitalization can also cause

various negative impacts, such as adolescents who become lazy to study and
socialize because they are addicted to playing gadgets, and also adolescents
who are often carried away by emotions due to the spread of false news
without checking the truth.

Therefore, we as wise users must pay more attention to what we will

consume through the internet so as not to be affected by the bad effects of
social media. Pay attention to the good ethics of using social media because
the country has set limits and rules for social media. Because if you violate the
rules of social media, you will be caught by the ITE law.

C. Impacts of Social Media

 Positive Impacts of Social Media on Adolescent Interaction
1. It makes it easier to interact with many people. Through social media,
you can arrange your steps and strategies without fear of looking like a
worm in the heat. Communication flows more easily than when you
speak directly.
2. Adolescents will be motivated to learn to develop themselves through
the friends they meet online, because here they interact and receive
feedback from each other.
 3. Social networking sites make adolescents more friendly, attentive, and
empathetic, for example by giving attention when their friends have
birthdays, commenting on photos, videos and statuses of their friends,
maintaining friendships even though they cannot meet physically.
4. Helps adolescents in self-appreciation
5. Distance and Time are not a problem. In the era of social media like
today, long-distance relationships are no longer a big obstacle
(although still difficult). You no longer have to send letters every week
to your partner who is working out of town or abroad because social
media has eliminated the distance and time constraints for those who
have to build long-distance relationships.
6. Data exchange media: by using email, newsgroup, ftp and www (world
wide web: network of web sites) internet users around the world can
exchange information quickly and cheaply.
7. Makes it easier for adolescents to consult their lessons and assignments
that they do not understand
8. Ease of obtaining information: the ease of obtaining information on the
internet helps humans so that humans know what is happening. In
addition, the internet can also be used as a source of information for
education, culture, and others.
 Negative Impacts of Social Media on Adolescent Interaction
1. Children and adolescents become lazy to learn to communicate in the
real world. The level of language comprehension is also impaired. If
children communicate too much in cyberspace, their knowledge of the
ins and outs of communication in real life, such as body language and
tone of voice, will decrease.
2. Social networking sites will make children and adolescents more self-
centered. They become unaware of their surroundings, because they
spend most of their time on the internet. This can cause children to
become less empathetic in the real world.
 3. For children and adolescents, there are no spelling and grammar rules
on social networks. This will make them more difficult to distinguish
between communicating on social networking sites and the real world.
4. Decreased academic achievement of adolescents in school. Most of the
adolescents who have used social media, spend more time
communicating on social media than studying at home
5. Adolescents are most likely to be kidnapped. This is happening a lot,
namely the case of kidnapping adolescents.
6. Easy access to pornography networks will damage the morals and
behavior of adolescents as students. The ease of access to social media
also makes it easier for adolescents to access pornography networks.
7. Lack of courtesy of adolescents today. With the existence of social
media, more and more adolescents use inappropriate language. And for
adolescents who are still innocent, they will certainly assume that the
language is the modern language of today's children.
D. Social Media Influence the Mental Health of Adolescents

According to the results of a study conducted by the Pew Research

Center, social media is almost inseparable from the lives of adolescents. On
the one hand, the existence of social media can help adolescents develop
communication skills, make friends, pursue fields of interest, and share
thoughts and ideas.

But on the other hand, social media has a negative impact on

adolescents, including the risk of mental illness. The National Institute of
Mental Health reported that the use of social media can increase the risk of
mental disorders in adolescents aged 18-25 years.

Duration Affects Mental Health Risk

The three most popular social media platforms among adolescents

are YouTube (used by 85 percent of adolescents, according to a 2018 Pew
Research Center survey), Instagram (72 percent) and SnapChat (69
percent). According to a 2018 report issued by GlobalWebIndex, people
aged 16-24 years spend an average of three hours using social media every
day.

Research reported in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found that

adolescents who use social media more than three hours per day are at
high risk of mental health problems, especially internalization problems or
self-image.

Social media does have a positive effect on children and

adolescents, both by teaching social skills, strengthening relationships, and
having fun. However, continuous use of these platforms can also have a
negative impact, especially on the mental health and well-being of young
users.

How can the use of social media increase the risk of mental health
problems in adolescents? The fact is that adolescents also experience bad
treatment on social media. A 2018 Pew Research Center survey of
American adolescents (US) showed that one in six adolescents had
experienced at least one of six forms of online harassment, ranging from

 Name calling (42 percent).

 Spreading false rumors (32 percent).
 Receiving explicit images that were not requested (25 percent).
 Getting physical threats (16 percent).

What makes this condition worse is when adolescents consider the

negative things that happen on social media as commonplace and a "risk"
of playing on social media. If this continues to be justified, it can trigger
more serious problems.

It is not impossible that adolescents who become victims of online

harassment will instead do the same thing to others. Using social media in
 a smart way is one of the efforts to protect yourself from the negative
effects of social media consumption on mental health.

Maintaining Mental Health While Social Media

Efforts to prevent the negative effects of social media use by

adolescents begin by educating adolescents about the dangers of social
media. Another most effective way is to ensure that the use of social media
by adolescents has a positive impact on life.

Research published in the Journal of Social and Clinical

Psychology found that undergraduate students who limited their time on
Facebook, Instagram, and SnapChat, to 10 minutes each day or a total of
30 minutes of use for all social media generally had a more positive self-
image.

Students who limited their use of social media to 30 minutes a day

reported less depression and loneliness after three weeks. In addition, there
was an improvement in mood that reduced the level of depression.

Adolescents generally use social media as a comparison of

themselves and others. This can damage a healthy self-image. Many
women feel their appearance is bad when they see the appearance of
people on social media.

The biggest challenge for parents today is to ensure that their

adolescent children use social media positively. Often the pattern of social
media consumption in adolescents mimics their parents.

When parents spend more time on gadgets and rarely involve their
children in activities in the real world, then children will spend more time
in the online world.

E. Solve the Problem

 To overcome the negative effects of social media for adolescents,
consider the following steps:

 Digital Education: Socialize the importance of digital education to

adolescents. Teach them media literacy skills, including how to filter
information and recognize fake news.
 Parental Supervision: Parents need to monitor and actively participate in
the use of social media by their children. Discuss healthy and unhealthy
online behavior.
 Time Limit: Set a daily time limit for using social media. This helps
prevent addiction and ensures adolescents have time for other activities.
 Promote Positive Self: Encourage adolescents to share positive,
inspirational, and supportive content. Focus on the understanding that
social media can be a positive means of sharing experiences and spreading
inspiration.
 Self-Understanding: Teach adolescents to understand the psychological
impact of social comparison and judgment from others. Encourage self-
acceptance and self-confidence building.
 Positive Behavior Model: Adults, including parents and teachers, should
be positive examples in using social media. Show how to interact with
social media wisely and ethically.
 Professional Help: If adolescents experience significant negative effects,
consider professional help such as psychological counseling or family
support.
 Regulations and Policies: Actively involve yourself in the discussion of
social media usage policies. Social media companies and governments can
have regulations that support safe and responsible use.