Social Media Usage During COVID-19: Friend or Foe?

Mental health is one of the primary concerns on college campuses across the country, with a concerning number of students reporting mental distress. The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened this mental health crisis, resulting in a country-wide increase in mental health concerns. While the internet helped people stay in contact with one another, the increase in social media usage could have exacerbated college students’ existent mental distress. The broad goal of the current study is to highlight the relationship between social media usage and mental health among college students. In addition, the study also seeks to evaluate students’ self-reported changes in their mental health and social media usage as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study utilized online surveys to collect data on individuals’ perceived impact of the pandemic on their social media behavior, and subsequently, their overall mental health. This research will contribute to our knowledge about mental health among college students by providing greater insight into the psychological state of students today, thus allowing future researchers to address the mental health concerns of those who have lived through a global pandemic.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/3596/thumbnail.jp