In today’s digital age, social media has become an integral part of teenage girls’ lives. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snap-chat offer ways for young people to share memories, make new friends, and find new interests. However, the widespread use of social media also raises worries about its impacts on mental health, emotions, and relationships. Danika Quinn from the class of 2025 states, “Social media can have a detrimental effect on teen girls mental health and their view on themselves.” For teenage girls, whose identities and self-esteem are still developing, social media can serve as both a source of empowerment and a potential trigger for harm.
Leanne Roy, mind and body gym teacher and field hockey coach states “Social media platforms offer a multitude of benefits, including the ability to connect with friends and family, share experiences, and stay informed about current events. These platforms can foster a sense of community and facilitate the exchange of ideas. However, excessive use of social media can have negative consequences, such as addiction, cyber bullying, false sense of reality, and privacy concerns. It’s important to use social media responsibly and be mindful of its potential drawbacks.” This is showing that there are two effects of social media, one being a positive thing where girls can connect, share, and find new ideas to form new hobbies or interests. However, like Leanne Roy states, social media can have a very negative impact on girls like experiencing cyber-bullying, people hacking their account or even hiding things from other people, and addiction to the phone where girls’ faces are always stuck in their phone and their phone is everything to them. The addiction can get really bad and takes them away from what’s out in the world and experiences that they are missing out on.
Some teenage girls post just because they want to feel validation from others. It starts with the likes, then comments, then the views and shares. Girls feel like if their likes aren’t high enough then something is wrong with how they look or the way they are acting, so they will change the way they look or act to get more validation. The more validation from others, the more confident they feel.
FOMO, the fear of missing out, can be the worst feeling for some girls and this is because the feeling they get when they see their friends hanging out and watching them all have fun together in a video without them can lead to feeling lonely and left out. The girl will often think to herself why she wasn’t invited and think something is wrong with her and possibly the way she acts. 52% of teenage girls report feelings of exclusion or inadequacy when they see others enjoying activities they weren’t invited to. Cecelia Sears from the class of 2027 stated, “Sometimes when I look at my friends’ posts, if I decide to not go somewhere I’ll feel left out and it can affect my mood.”
Social media is also a place where negative things happen to a girl’s self esteem and self worth, such as cyber-bullying and online harassment. Cyber-bullying and online harassment can be a huge problem to teenage girls in particular, such as body shaming, negative comments, and bullying. This is because it can cause their mental health to be so bad and it can also cause health issues. A 2019 study found that 25% of teen girls who used social media heavily showed signs of depression, compared to 11% of boys. Suicide is also an effect of online harassment and cyber bullying. Those two things can make a person feel like they are stuck and feeling like so many things are wrong with them. According to socialmediavictims.org “Over the last ten years, there has been a significant rise in the risk of teenage suicide. Although several factors play a role in an individual’s choice to take their life, recent studies have established connections between mental health issues such as depression and suicidal idealization, and social media usage.” This shows that social media has a big part in suicidal rates. Social media is a place where people can tear down other people in a matter of seconds, just from a text over the phone or a simple comment.
Social media has taken over so many young girls, girls who don’t even know what’s out in the world yet. They look at themselves in the mirror and wish they could look like someone who is just a small picture on their phone. About 59% of girls aged 10-17 report that social media pressures them to look a certain way, according to a Dove Global Beauty report. Around 35% of girls frequently compare their appearance to influencers and celebrities they see online, often leading to negative body image. They try many times to get themselves to look like them and when they can’t they become insecure. Social media is a terrible thing and most people, if not everyone, can agree. This world would be a much better place if social media was never invented.
Although social media has a ton of negative impacts on teenage girls, social media can have several positive impacts on teenage girls when used mindfully and maturely. Social media provides girls to stay connected to their friends, family, and find things they are interested in. Guliana Cuchii, from the class of 2026, says “It inspires a creative mind and innovative ways to live” It can help girls stay involved, find communities they are welcomed in, and hobbies they have in common with others. It also can help girls find role models, such as athletes, women leaders, and activists. Social media can give them a voice in causes they care about, boosting their confidence and learning how to get their voice out into the world.
Social media is a very negative thing, and can cause so many problems, with self worth, insecurities, and feeling less then. Yet, there are some positive things that come with social media but in the long run, social media is just a place where people feel confident behind a screen and say anything they want to make themselves feel better about themselves.
