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Consequences of Virtual Networks on Society and Psychology
Lê Thị Hậu
Department of Languages, International University
EN011IU: Writing AE2
Ms. Mai Thanh Bui
August 22, 2024
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Consequences of Virtual Networks on Society and Psychology
Nowadays, social media plays an essential role in human lives and tends
to vast. Besides, virtual networks face-to-face with both pos and cons effects.
Mental health, social well-being and personal behaviors are affected by social
media, which will be discussed in the literature review throughout the various
studies.
Social Platform causes 2-dimentional Impacts on Mental Health
Both benefits and drawbacks significantly affected the relationship between
social media usage and mental health. The duality of virtual network illustrates
that not only improvement, but it also makes adolescents’ mental health
weaknesses (e.g. individual demographic, online platform contents or usage
(Sala et al, 2024), and according to Anguyo et al. (2023), identifying connectivity
advantages and disadvantages like cyberbullying and body image concerns.
These findings confirm the necessity of context, which belongs to the social
media usage on psychologica. So, one-size-fits-all approach to analyzing these
effects is insufficient.
Psychology is likely to be exacerbated by Social Netwok.
Many researchers point out the negative psychological states related to
social media usage, such as anxiety, depression and the fear of missing out. Dhir
et al. (2018) discusses that overusing social media usage leads to burn-out,
which causes serious anxiety and depression in young adults. Simmilarly,
Valkenburg et al. (2022) argues that the correlations between social media usage
and mental health are “weak” and “insconsistent”, some studies show markable
impacts and harmful effects. Moreover, Astleitner et al. (2023) supplies the
different side by combining pesonality traits and social media experiences to
mental health results throughout the fear of missing out or ghosting. The potential
of social network during the spread of negative psychological states, highlighted
by these studies.
Positve Correlation from Social Media to Wocial well-being
In comparison, virtual networks also bring beneficial impacts, especially in
boosting many connections and expanding well-being. Mathews (2010) show a
good point of view
Noting that online social networking has generally enhanced people’s
relationships and social connections across age groups.
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According to Bekalu et al. (2019) provide a more certain point of view by
differentiating between frequency social media usage and connecting emotional
behaviors to it. They notice that daily use can not considerably affect mental
health, social well-being and health are enhanced by emotional connections to
social media usage. Therefore, how to engage personally in these platforms and
connect to emotional approach are one of the efficient ways to positive and
negative consequences of social media usage.
Effects of Virtual Network on the variety of Culture and Demography
The factors of culture and demography contribute to shaping the impacts
of digital networks. The researchers concentrate on the Indian context, where
yields suach as colorism ans social comparison are serious by social media
usage, result in many kinds of challenges in mental health (Sharma et al, 2022,
Dar & Nagrath, 2022). Belong to the diversity of social fabric of India, their study
pays attenttion to the need for culturally sensitive research. Additionally, Dar &
Nagrath (2022) also check the Indian adolescents, disclosing that social network
can have both positive and negative results according to the socio-cultural
context. These studies support the understanding of how cultural and
demographic variations influence the psychological effects of the socail media
usage.
Conclusion
Limitaions of Existing Research
Despite the extensive research on the psychological and cocial impacts of
social media, significant gaps remain. Many studies, like those by Sharma et al.
(2022) and Valkenburg et al. (2022), point out the limitations of their samples,
often small and homogeneous, which restric the generalizability of their findings.
Furthermore, there is a need for longitudunal studies that can trcak the long-term
psychologucal effects of social medis usage across different populations. Future
research should alos explore the impacts of emerging social media platforms and
technologies, such as vritual reality, on mental health.
Directions for Future Research
Additionally, more work is needed to understand the role of cultural and
socio-economic factors in shaping individuals’ experiences with social mdia.
Addressing these gaps will require interdisiplinary ways that combine
psychological, sociological, and technological perspectives to fully understand
References
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Aparna Sharma, Kavish Sanghvi, Prathamesh Churi (2022). The impact of
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2022.100057
Patti M. Valkenburg, Adrian Meier, Ine Beyens (2022). Social media use and its
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Hermann Astleitner, Amrit Bains, Sandra Hormann (2023). The effects of
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Dr. Rebecca Mathews (2010). The social and psychological impact of online
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Milton Anguyo, Joel Masete, Magdalen Akia, Henry Drasiku (2023). The Impact
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