The Power of Social Media Likes: A Radio Documentary Exploring the Impact of Social Media on the Psychology of 18 – 24 year olds.

One of the biggest changes in the society over the last 20 years has been the development of social media. Since its inception, social media has worked its way into every element of our day to day lives. As we continue to witness more people born in the post internet era, known as the ‘technology generation’, there has been an upsurge in screen time. Social networking sites were largely seen as means to enhance communication but today, these platforms are also known for their negative impacts. In the last few years, the number of younger people suffering from mental health issues have increased. Could there be a correlation between the development of social media and this rise in young adults’ psychological behaviours? With easy access to social networking sites and increased screen time, how can addiction level be determined? And what role does tech companies play in how people have become so engaged to social media? Through the medium of radio documentary, this dissertation explores these questions by focusing on the experiences of 18 – 24-year olds. The viewpoints from three contributors in that age group were attained. A clinical psychotherapist, an online safety campaigner and a social media influencer were spoken to. Through their voices, the 25 – minutes piece gives an insight into how social media affects the mind and behaviours of young people, how it is being used as well as threshold for problematic use. This paper establishes that there is a rise in problematic social media use among youngsters who are naïve to understand how excessive social media use can negatively affect their mental health. It unearths facts that increased screen time has the most impact on our sleep pattern besides depression, anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem. Ultimately, while there may be no hard evidence that prolonged social media use or addiction causes mental health issues it is a heavy contributor