The Effects of Social Media on the Human Psyche by Keenan Hall A

The Effects of Social Media on The Human Psyche by Keenan Hall A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Business Management (Honors Associate) August 30, 2019 Commencement June 2020 AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Keenan P. Hall for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Business Management presented on August 30th, 2019. Title: The Effects of Social Media on The Human Psyche Abstract approved:_____________________________________________________ Gary Micheau This thesis is a study of the effects of social media and the influence it has over people and their wellbeing. The study within the thesis manipulates the social media habits of Oregon State students, and looks at the changes in their wellbeing. Throughout the background research the evidence supports a reasonable conclusion that social media has negative influences on individual wellbeing. The findings of the thesis research are, however, inconclusive, with data that supports the idea that social media is negative for wellbeing, and some data that contradict that idea. Key Words: Social Media, Wellbeing, Instagram, Snapchat Corresponding e-mail address: [email protected] ©Copyright by Keenan Hall August 30th, 2019 The Effects of Social Media on The Human Psyche by Keenan Hall A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Business Management (Honors Associate) Presented on August 30th, 2019 Commencement June 2020 Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Business Management project of Keenan Hall presented on August 30th, 2019. APPROVED: _____________________________________________________________________ Gary Micheau Mentor, representing The College of Business _____________________________________________________________________ Betsy Rock, Committee Member, representing The College of Business _____________________________________________________________________ Anthony Klotz , Committee Member, representing The College of Business _____________________________________________________________________ Toni Doolen, Dean, Oregon State University Honors College I understand that my project will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University, Honors College. My signature below authorizes release of my project to any reader upon request. _____________________________________________________________________ Keenan Hall, Author Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………1 Background Research…………………………………………………………2 Definitions……………………………………………………………….3 Addiction………………………………………………………………...3 Wellbeing………………………………………………………………...4 Likes………………………………………………………………..……7 Positives………………………………………………………………….9 Thesis Statement………………………………………………………………11 Study Design…………………………………………………………………...12 Study Results……………………………………………………………….….14 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..18 References……………………………………………………………………...20 Page 1 Introduction: It has become very clear to me through my own personal experience, that social media has some effects on how I feel about myself and others. Indeed, prior to the start of the Fall 2018 school term, personally, I would spend hours on social media each day. Often the first thing I would do in the morning would be to wake up, go onto my phone and cycle through Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. I would do this until I was fully caught up on everything I missed in my sleep. Once that was completed, I could get out of bed, and start my day. However, throughout the day, almost religiously, I would check my phone and refresh my media platforms. I would do this on my walk to campus, while I was bored in class, during my meals, probably around 8-10 times throughout the day. Once the day was finished, I would lay in bed and do a deeper dive, I would make sure I had not missed anything until I was all caught up before falling asleep. This turned into an everyday routine for me, and I did not think much of it. I often heard about how social media really was not good for anyone but never paid it much thought or action. One day after returning from a camping trip where I did not use my phone at all for a couple days, I read an article about how social media could negatively affect individuals. I was feeling so refreshed and rejuvenated from a break from the real world, and not having to be tied to my phone, that the article really stuck with me. Maybe it was time I changed some of my routines. I got to thinking about how I have struggled with my own personal demons when it comes to confidence issues in my image and dealing with the social scene of college. It made me think maybe less social media exposure could be a good answer to dealing with these challenges. At the start of the school year Fall 2018, I deleted my Snapchat and my Instagram. I spent months where I did not use them and felt positive effects from not using the platforms. After doing my thesis research and gaining a better understanding on the effects social media has Page 2 on people and on me, I redownloaded the two apps. Being aware of how the platforms can cause negative effects, I wanted to try and be smarter with my social media habits. Since then, I have been careful about how I use social media, and have created better habits to where I can still use the platforms and decrease the negative effects they can cause. This personal experience with my social media practices is what has inspired me to write my thesis on the effects of social media on the human psyche. I truly believe that many people would feel better without social media, and while everyone no longer using social media is unrealistic. I do believe changing how we use social media can be a positive practice for users. I would like to test the idea that social media has negative effects on individual wellbeing throughout my thesis. More specifically, I believe that Snapchat and Instagram are the two with the most negative effects on individuals. In addition, I want to note that I think how a person uses social media has a lot to do with the effects it has on them, and that the mental health of the individual outside of social media is also a big factor in how social media will affect them. Background Research There is an existing stream of research focused on the effects of social media. In order to dive into this literature, it is important to first define what social media is, as well as how to define wellbeing. After defining the terms of the research, the research will be broken into these subtopics. The addictive nature of social media, studies looking at the effects of social media, the role “likes” play in determining wellbeing, and the positives that can come from social media use. Page 3 Definitions ] According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, social media refers to forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). Most commonly though, people recognize social media from major companies like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. The definition according to Merriam Webster for wellbeing is the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous. In terms of this study I will define it more holistically. We will consider wellbeing as how individuals feel about themselves, others, and their outlook on the world. For example, if someone is confident in their appearance, feels connected to others, and has a positive and hopeful outlook on life, they would be considered having good wellbeing. Under these two definitions, we will start to look at current and past research on the effects of social media to gain a better understanding on its relationship to individual wellbeing. Addiction The first thing that should be addressed is the obsessive nature of social media. No matter whether social media is good or bad, too much of anything is not healthy. This is true for social media, and there have been studies that give plausible conclusions that social media is addictive. There was a review study done by Nottingham Trent University, which looked over many studies, including one from Dr. Kimberly Young. Young was a psychology professor at the University of Pittsburgh. According to Young, “From a clinical psychologist’s perspective, it may be plausible to speak specifically of ‘Facebook Addiction Disorder’ (or more generally ‘SNS Addiction Disorder’) because addiction criteria, such as neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, escapism, mood modifying experiences, tolerance, and concealing the addictive Page 4 behavior, appear to be present in some people who use SNSs excessively”[1]. For clarification, SNSs stands for social networking sites, which includes all social media platforms that will be considered in this study. While the Young study was specifically about Facebook, it still sheds light on the potential possibility of addiction to social media in general. Young, who founded the Center for Internet Addiction, is also a licensed psychologist, and considered an expert on internet addiction. After researching the effects of social media and devoting her work to finding the correlation between social media and addiction, Young sees it being very plausible that we as individuals can be addicted to social media. As mentioned before, addiction in any form is not healthy. This possible addiction can be better understood when put into the context of how much time is really being spent on social media throughout the day. According to the GlobalWebIndex, which took the averages from many studies around the world, individuals spend on average about 2 hours and 15 minutes a day on social media [2]. It is clear that social media is a big presence in many people’s lives. While it may not be certain that social media is addictive, it is possible. Regardless, as a society we spend a lot of time on social media. Not only is social media a big part of our lives, it has continued to grow as something that takes up our lives.

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