Social Media Use and Mental Well-Being: Examining Behavioral Patterns and Psychological Outcomes

Abstract

The emergence of social media in our lives has changed our styles of interaction in many ways and hence there is a need to talk about the implications of social media usage on the mental health of the individuals using them. The aim of this research is to examine the impact that the behavioral trends in social media usage have on the mental health of individuals, through examining the behavioral and psychological trends. This is a quantitative study whereby secondary data will be used. Secondary data will be obtained from an open source database involving many respondents. The behavioral trends to be examined include the frequency of social media usage, aimless surfing, distraction and restlessness. The statistical methods required for both descriptive and inferential analysis were utilized for examining the secondary data. It has been observed from the study that the usage of social media involves habitual and disorganized usage characterized by constant distractions. Moreover, it was found that the social media usage has different impacts on the psychology of individuals. A strong relationship can be established between the behavior and the psychological wellbeing of individuals based on the outcomes of the research, suggesting that the amount and type of usage of social media have their implications on the psychological wellbeing of individuals.