The Topic for the essay will be the following: Social Norms Imposed by Social Media: How Instagram Affects Users’ Life Satisfaction. During the self–isolation social media becomes the only way to communicate with the world. Nevertheless, I am worried how young people are prone to quickly develop an inferiority complex from the imposed standards of wealth, beauty, and success displayed on Instagram, an extremely popular media today.
The paper aims at discussing the detrimental effect of Instagram on the population’s mental health, negative impact on self-esteem, and social anxiety. Its purpose is to prove that the harmful impact of this social media platform surpasses the positive sights.
The problem under consideration is open to discussion, as others might insist that studies exist, demonstrating the positive effect of Instagram’s “good life” modeling on youth through inspiration and role-modeling (Meier et al. 722). The opponents may add that the social network is a vital communication tool nowadays, which facilitates isolation.
The primary sources for research will be articles from The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Sage Journals, and papers in open access in Google Scholars tagged “social media and society.”
The possible subtopics for the essay may include the following: the effect of social comparison imposed by social media, self-esteem, and depression issues affected by Instagram, its influence on loneliness in modern society, and interactions of real and virtual life.
The topic becomes more acute at present as social media life occupies the adult’s significant part of the day due to pandemics and the absence of real communication. Therefore, the youth needs to be aware of its harmful effect on their mental health.
In this essay, I would like to explore the issues that affect Instagram users’ mental health, how new norms imposed by this media affect people’s everyday life, and what can be done to reduce this influence.
Work Cited
Meier, Adrian, et al. “Instagram Inspiration: How Upward Comparison on Social Network Sites Can Contribute to Well-Being.” Journal of Communication, vol. 70, no. 5, 2020, pp. 721-743.