Building and Maintaining Healthy Relationships Online: How Social Media Supports Student Well-being
Are you concerned about the impact of social media on your student’s mental health and well-being? A recent study by Cardiff University’s public health body, Decipher, suggests that spending time online can actually have a positive impact on student well-being.
Social media often gets a bad rap when it comes to student well-being and is the scapegoat for many challenges students face, from the mental health crisis to being a source of FOMO or peer pressure. Because of this, many educators choose to scare and restrict students’ social media and tech use. However, when viewed as a whole, social media platforms provide students with opportunities to build and maintain friendships and seek support, which actually promotes better well-being.
Research highlights positive outcomes for students on social media
The Student Health and Wellbeing Survey, which surveyed more than 100,000 students, provides data that shows young people who spoke online to groups of friends they already knew offline had better well-being. Conversely, time spent speaking to strangers online was associated with “much poorer well-being,” particularly for teenage girls who only messaged people online. These findings suggest that social media can have a positive impact on students’ mental health and relationships, especially when they communicate with friends they established relationships with offline.
Students use social media to build friendships
The BBC recently highlighted the experiences of three friends to illustrate how students can use social media to build and maintain friendships. They highlighted three girls who used WhatsApp in middle school to stay in touch with each other. As they moved up to high school, they expanded their social circle and created messaging groups, and WhatsApp continued to be a useful tool in navigating their way through their new schools. As they grew older, they started using other apps as well. Snapchat took over as the primary mode of communication for larger groups, but for their more intimate circle of friends, they still relied on WhatsApp.
The experiences of these three friends demonstrate the importance of social media as a tool for students to build and maintain friendships, especially in a rapidly changing social environment, like going to school. Moving from one school to the next can be a daunting experience for many students, as they are suddenly thrown into a new and unfamiliar environment. Social media helped these girls, as it helps students all over the world, navigate these transitions by providing a way to stay connected to old friends, as well as meet new people.
TSI’s Take
As the experiences of the three friends show, social media can be used to build and maintain healthy relationships. It provides the “comfort” of constant contact and can enhance positive experiences for students. The key to ensuring social media supports student well-being is empowering students to live up to high standards as they navigate social media and tech.
Here at The Social Institute, we focus on Seven Social Standards that, when lived up to, empower and equip students to use social media and tech as tools that help them live happier and fuller lives. Learn more about The Social Institute’s Seven Social Standards and reach out to us to learn how you can help your students live up to them to fuel their health, happiness, and future success.
Always stay up-to-date with the latest and greatest trends online by subscribing to our newsletter where we talk about trending tech and social media news weekly! In the meantime, check out our Instagram and TikTok @thesocialinst for tips, trends, and highlights when it comes to social media.
The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in understanding student experiences and creator of #WinAtSocial, a gamified, online learning platform that equips students, educators, and families to navigate social experiences — online and offline — in healthy ways. Our unique, student-respected approach incorporates topics like social media, technology use, and current events that have a significant impact on student well-being. Lessons teach life skills for the modern day to inspire high-character decisions that support the health, happiness, and future success of students, while capturing data that provides insights to school leaders to inform school policy and communications, and enable high-impact teaching and a healthy learning environment. For schools, our turnkey technology allows for easy implementation and a comprehensive game plan to support the well-being of school communities. For schools, our turnkey technology allows for easy implementation and a comprehensive game plan to support the well-being of school communities.