Social media – Boon or Bane?

Abstract

Abstract Introduction and aims This literature review examines the complex relationship between social media usage and its subsequent health sequelae while shedding light on fields of research that require further investigation in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Materials and methods Indexing services (SCOPUS and PUBMED) were used to identify pertinent studies, prioritising original research, review articles, and meta-analyses from 2018 to 2024. Papers not published in English (or where full-text translation was not available), research conducted solely on non-human populations, and proposal and opinion papers were excluded. Papers from before 2018 and those that observed an effect in a sample size of 50 participants or less were also omitted. The author then conducted a thorough evaluation of each study to ensure relevance and significance. After deduplication of results and implementation of the exclusion criterion, a total of 50 papers were shortlisted for this review. The keywords used for this literature search were “social media,” “internet usage,” “health,” “depression,” “cyberbullying,” “addiction,” and “misinformation.” Results The findings reveal a complex interplay between social media usage and psychosocial well-being. Social media facilitates global connectivity but correlates with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, especially among adolescents. Cyberbullying, anonymity-driven, escalates mental health risks. Social media usage links with addictive behaviours, substance abuse, misinformation propagation, and racial discrimination, exacerbating public health crises. Conclusion Longitudinal studies are crucial to understand causal relationships and develop targeted interventions. Collaboration among stakeholders is imperative to promote responsible social media usage and protect public health in the digital age.