Social Media and Health Outcomes: Challenges and Prospects (A Narrative Review)

Abstract

The impact of social media on health of users has been prominent in the academic discourse in recent times. Because of the significant time people spent on social media, investigations into the health benefits and risks about these platforms have become vital. The present study aimed to conduct a narrative review of social media and its health outcomes. Keywords and phrases such as Social media, mental health, psychological health, Web 2.0, physical health were employed to search literature via google scholar, SCOPUS, NCBI, Science direct, Research gate and PubMed. In addition to the health outcomes of social media, the inclusion criteria also comprised specific social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to increase scope of search.Findings revealed social media present positive outcomes such as promotes physical activities, healthy dietary patterns, sense of belonging, strengthened connections, social and emotional support for mentally ill people, good moods, alleviated stress levels, improved cognitive skills and general wellbeing. However, negative health outcomes such as severe depression, promotion of unhealthy lifestyles, cyberbullying, blackmail and sextortion were associated with social media usage. The study recommends promotion of self-regulation as an efficient tool for deriving maximum health benefits from social media platforms.